TMQB Answers the Call for Vitriol!

"New England is solid across the defensive front, if consistently dirty. (How the Patriots' defensive linemen get away with dirty tactics is another of the officiating mysteries surrounding this team; Vince Wilfork stuck his fingers into Brandon Jacobs' eye Saturday night and the zebras, standing there, not only did not toss Wilfork but didn't even flag him.) Plus, the Patriots are adept at varying defensive tactics. Often, they play a conservative coverage-oriented look in the first three quarters, then, having lulled offensive coordinators to sleep, blitz in the fourth."

Thank you Gregg Easterbrook for bringing back the hate. The TMQB Column for today was typically uneven in the sense that some of it was well researched and some of it (namely the first several paragraphs) looked like they were designed to reinforce a preconceived angle at all costs.

For example, pointing out that the passing leader has never won a Superbowl kind of misses the point. You could point to TD passes, which are a better indicator than passing yards, and see that Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Steve Young, Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Kurt Warner, and of course Tom Brady all won Superbowls in a year they led the league in touchdown passes. Pretty good group of players isn't it?

But then he brings up a good conspiracy theory point later in the column:

"Rules note: it was Giants 28, Patriots 16 when linebacker Gerris Wilkinson was called for pass interference against Randy Moss in the end zone, placing New England on the Jersey/A 1; the touchdown made it 28-23 and was key to the Flying Elvii comeback. I didn't see any pass interference on this play, did you? Wilkinson ran in front of Moss and held his hands up, facing away from the ball, but didn't hit Moss. Where was the pass interference? NFL Network announcers Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth declared that the penalty was for faceguarding. But the rule against faceguarding was abolished in 2005! When Collinsworth played, what Wilkinson did was illegal; now, it's perfectly legal. Once again, the Patriots benefit from a mysterious major officiating call in their favor. And NFLN guys, if you're going to represent the league, know the rulebook, OK?"

Easterbrook makes a good point here that I never heard before. Probably helped Plaxico's whining after the game about the bad officiating, but of course he was perfectly fine with the constant no-calls whenever he went to purposefully take out Rodney Harrison's knees the whole game.

TMQB takes the time-tested "Patriots can't run the ball" angle to say why the odds are against them winning the Superbowl. The fact of the matter is, they don't need too and only use it to supplement short yardage and goal-line situations. In another two to three weeks everyone will also remember that the good coaches don't open up the playbook when they're dominating teams, even to get records. Remember the dink and dunk offense? That is your running game and it's easily the equivalent of a good running attack because of the Moss double-coverage deep threat, Wes Welker's quickness, and Stallworth's ability to create yards after the catch.