Pats - Giants Recap

Yesterday, I watched way too many NFL shows, including NFL Countdown and the awful Fox Sports Football Preview. I have to think if you're a hater of the Patriots that you have to be a little bit torn about whether to root for them to go 19-0 if you saw Don Shula and Mercury Morris on ESPN's NFL Countdown. Shula never says a sentence that includes a compliment of another team, unless he first compliments his own. Mercury Morris is just downright obnoxious in the worst way...he tries to be funny, fails miserably, and downplays everything the Patriots have done. Even if they win it all, according to Morris, "we'll be on the inside pole, they'll be on the outside."

What is it about NFL players becoming so defensive and bitter about their records. Jerry Rice did the same thing twice this year, complaining about Moss being "given the NFL record" by the NFL for most TD's in a season, when he did it in 12 during a strike year. It's called the "most TD receptions in a season" Jerry, get over it. No one is every going to talk about Moss' record without mentioning how you got 22 in only 12 games, and no one is ever going to call him a better player than you. Get over yourself.

One other thing on the NFL Countdown. Mike Ditka is just as much, probably more so, bitter about the success of the Patriots than Don Shula and the rest of the '72 Dolphins are. He's been hearing for 22 years now how his 85 Bears are the best team ever, and now people are talking about this Patriots team taking that over if they win. That doesn't sit well with Ditka, who apparently isn't aware, that he's only in studio for unintentional comedy, rather than insightful NFL analysis. No talking head hates the Patriots more than Ditka. He was the only one who took the Giants last night, which would be fine considering the outcome, if he actually believed the Giants would play the best game of their year. He downplayed the significance of 16-0 completely.

This was the greatest regular season performance EVER. There is no comparison. The Dolphins played 2 total games against opponents with winning records. The problem is, the people who are writing today that it doesn't mean anything unless they win it all, are missing the point. It's still been 35 years since someone else has won all of their regular season games. The last 8 games, just about every team plays you like its their most important game of the season. If they go on to lose in the playoffs you can't take any of that away. You can't put them in the conversation of the "greatest team of all time" either, but you can't just say it was a complete failure.

Some thoughts on the game last night:

• I have never seen Eli play that well and would be shocked to see it happen two weeks in a row. Rolling out to the right and hitting Plaxico Burress in the endzone like that was something I didn't think he had the capability to do. Maybe this helps him turn the corner, we'll see.
• Rodney needs to relax a bit. Not a lot. Just a bit.
• Won't be talked about much, but it was great to see Gostkowski hit all three field goals in this game, with a lot of pressure on him. He's had a sub-par year, but hopefully this gave him a lot of confidence heading into the playoffs.
• Vince Wilfork was not trying to poke his eye out, he was making the gesture to "wipe the tears out of your eye" because the guy was crying about something.
• It wouldn't be a defeat to the Patriots unless you had someone (Plaxico Burress) complain about the officiating and no calls going their way.
• Ellis Hobbs is that classic player that gets burned all game, then makes a critical interception in the 4th quarter that prevents you from completely tearing into the guy. It's actually kind of maddening.
• I didn't mind Chris Collinsworth last night. He had some decent insight. Bryant Gumbel, however, continues to be beyond awful, and as long as he is there I am perfectly fine not having NFL Network.
• It was very surprising to see that Ben Watson was on the field for 66 of 68 snaps (see Mike Reiss' blog for all the offensives participation stats). I think he'll be fine after those initial two drops, but I hope he gets a lot of work in practice because he'll need it on those few plays where he won't be called on to block.
• Hopefully they'll get healthy before taking the field in two weeks. They've really missed Kyle Brady and Ben Watson, and now the right side of the offensive line.
• I'd like to see a stat on how often Wes Welker has been tackled by the first guy to approach him after the catch this season. It's basically a given that that guy is going to dive at air now. You expect an extra 3-5 yards on every catch.
• Tom Brady, nothing forced, typically great performance. 50 TD. Just unbelievable.
• On the defensive side, there was very little pressure put on Eli, which is a bit concerning, especially considering how important line pressure will be against every team in the AFC playoffs except the Chargers (stuff the run instead). Hopefully some rest will get them where they need to be.

Can't wait for the playoffs. It's going to be a long wait, but until then we can enjoy the back and forth between the writers/talking heads who go overboard with compliments and those that fight back with downplaying it completely. Hopefully we don't have to hear from Mercury Morris again until after the Superbowl.