NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS ARE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!!!

It wasn’t the best Super Bowl….but it did have some drama.  The biggest lead was 10 points...and it seemed both teams played well defensively, cautious offensively and solid on special teams.  I’ll touch on some moments to remember from this Super Bowl….excluding the site of Patriots owner Robert Kraft being interviewed celebratory and drunk on NFL Network. 

12-ADAM VINITIERI

Let's see.  Three Super Bowls.  Three wins.  All by three points.  And the final three points that the Pats scored in each Super Bowl came off Adam's leg.  I guess the guy has some job security.

11-PATRIOTS DEFENSE

I don’t think they played that great….but they were very opportunistic. They picked McNabb off 3 times….had another pick overturned due to penalty….and recovered a fumble. New England showed, at times, a 3-5-3 defense.  Yep....5 linebackers.  Hey, nothing is sacred on  team where a #80 is playing defense and a #50 is catching TD passes.  They shut down any sort of running game the Eagles might have wanted to bring.  They focused Westbrook, leaving their young corners to hang with Pinkston [who left the game early] and Mitchell. They did have some lapses when Lewis caught the TD pass and underestimating TO [hey, who didn't]??

10-HISTORY

As the Roman numerals at the end of the Super Bowl get larger [hey, next year we get an ?L?!!!], the fact that certain rare things occurring are quite astonishing. Before this Super Bowl, only one game was tied at halftime [Niners and Bengals were tied at 3 in SB 23]. The Pats and Eagles were tied at 7. Deion Branch tied the Super Bowl record for receptions [11]. This was the first Super Bowl EVER that was tied going into the fourth quarter.  The team that scored first lost.  Other than the logos around the stadium....it didn't really feel like a Super Bowl.  But, judging by some numbers put up, it most certainly was.

9-COMMERICALS

WATCH THE ADS AT IFILM - Super Bowl Ads

Hey?that?s what many people tune in for. So let?s see?.I like the one with every driving a Diet Pepsi truck because Puffy got a lift to an awards show. I like the FedEx spot of the 10 Things You Need In A Super Bowl commercial. The only thing, I thought, they missed was a monkey. Rest assured, CareerBuilder.com had plenty of them in there. I liked the one with the guy was at his buddy?s place with ?Sharon? [why do I remember the name?] while Sharon?s man had the guy?s tickets to the game. I also liked the guy getting maced at the convenience store, Hammer getting his pad taken away [he also was in a Lays one], NFL players singing?Tomorrow?. The ones I didn?t like?.McDonald?s Lincoln fry, that Diana Pearl commercial, any of the car commercials. I also don?t see why chicks hangin? with talking babies and chicks hangin? with talking birds are so cool. 

8-TERRELL OWENS

 

When the game started....he was jogging onto the field. Two plays into the game?.he had a catch. The first week of the Super Bowl was centered around whether TO would make it a go in Jacksonville. It had been just 6 weeks since he had surgery on his lower leg. In the second week?.we pretty much knew he?d play?.but would he just be a decoy? Would he actually make a difference?? How is 9 catches and 122 yards for ya??  Only 5 different guys caught more passes in a Super Bowl game [Jerry Rice and Deion Branch caught more than his twice]. He was crisp and pretty moblie for a guy on one wheel.  He caught a pass, twisted, and headed up field.  Ouch!  Don't underscore how amazing a feat that was out there.  He didn't have a good game for a guy that was hurt.....he had a great day that should be placed in the annals of Super Bowl lore.  I also agree with Owens when he says if Brett Favre played with an injury?he?d ?be called a warrior? while Owens is, instead, called ?selfish?. I agree whole-heartedly.

7-DONOVAN MCNABB

There are MVPs and the like?.but this game was centered around Donovan McNabb. For one reason or another?he was the man in the spotlight. He threw 30-for-51 for 357 yards and 3 TD. Not bad. He also had 3 passes picked off. Not good. Two of those picks came because he underthrew open receivers.  When McNabb missed, he missed high or low. He seemed to aim passes instead of throwing them?.and he seemed rather nervous since he tried to make passes that would may Brett Favre say ?wow!? He also took a HUGE 16-yard sack when the Eagles were 1st and goal on the 8 yard line?.which he eventually threw an interception moments later. And that is the story of this Super Bowl. I?m not saying McNabb cost the Eagles this game?..but if he had calmed down and made better throws [read: regular tosses and not Randy Johnson fastballs], the outcome of this game could be much different. All week, we said that McNabb didn?t have to play perfect?but he couldn?t play shaky for Philadelphia to win.  At times, he looked great....at times he looked rattled.  He found guys open....he just couldn't get it to them. 

6-SLOPPY SLOPPY GAME

I touched on Donovan McNabb, but there were plenty other mistakes out there as well. The Patriots were uncharacteristically jumpy all game?..seven penalties. The false starts, botched hand-off and a very odd defensive call that the Eagles capitalized for a 30 yard TD pass, could have cost New England in most games....but the Eagles kept giving it back.   The Pats had an interception taken away because of illegal contact. The Eagles also did a very curious thing of not hurrying up in their final scoring drive, which may haunt coach Andy Reid for quite some time. They huddled instead of hurried up. And all this doesn?t just pertain to the teams. The officials had three calls reversed with instant replay and they missed a very obvious pick that got Terrell Owens wide open. Not to mention the memorable moment when the officials were trying to sort out a pile after a fumble?.meanwhile the Eagle with the football was standing 25 yards away celebrating.

5-BILL BILICHICK

Doesn't this guy look like he's going to go jogging?  Or coaching a little league team?  Or at the grocery store at 4 in the morning?  Tom Landry had his coat and hat.  Joe Gibbs has his Redskin hat and sweater.  Bill Walsh had his nice polo shirt.  Parcells has that windbreaker look.  Big Bill looks like he pulled this out of the hamper to pick up the kids from day care.  I mean, he's only the most accomplished head coach currently in the NFL [save Joe Gibbs].  Either way, he now has his 5th Super Bowl ring to bling on his hands.  His mentor, Bill Parcells, has yet to win one without Bilichick.  I guess he was worth those draft picks to the Jets, eh?? 

4-DEION BRANCH SHOULD HAVE 2 MVPS

He was named the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIX. He very well could have been named MVP of last year?s Super Bowl. Branch tied the Super Bowl record for receptions in a game?..with 11. Only the Niners? Jerry Rice and Bengals? Dan Ross has caught that many. Last year, he caught 11 passes for 143 yards and a TD against the Panthers. In two Super Bowls, he has 21 catches [3rd all time?trailing only Rice and Andre Reed] and 286 yards [5th all time?trailing only Rice, Lynn Swann, Reed and Michael Irvin]. He outshone Owens in this game?.and many people forget that Branch missed seven games this season due to a knee injury. Branch also caught a TD and 116 yards in the AFC title game against the Steelers. If Brady is lauded for his calm in pressure situations?.Branch should be lauded as a receiver who thrives on the biggest stages.

3-THIS PICTURE

Sorry.....but isn't this the most symbolic thing you've seen??  At this time last year, Terrell Owens wanted to get away from San Francisco and QB Jeff Garcia, who TO repeatedly calls "gay". 

2-DYNASTY?

Yes. How can a team that wins 3 titles in 4 years not be a dynasty? The beat every team they played this season. Heck, repeating as a Super Bowl champion is quite an accomplishment. HOWEVER, I currently do place them behind the 80s Niners, 70s Steelers and 90s Cowboys. I could almost place them behind the 60s Packers. Aside from Dallas, all won more titles in their ?eras? than the Pats currently have. I also think those teams had better talent and equally good coaching. And each of the Pats Super Bowl victories were by a mere 3 pts apiece. But, there is no reason New England cannot stay on top. Yes, coordinators are moving on?.but the players, Bilichick and the attitude stays. They could win a few more?.and if they win Super Bowl XL next February, I?ll sing a different tune.

1-FINALLY, ME ROOTING FOR THE EAGLES

Yeah?I did. Why? Cuz I went around telling people they were going to win. And nothing would be finer than going to work telling people you were right when, I don?t know, 95% of the people said you were a moron for pickingPhilly. They didn?t win?.but it was closer than people gave the Eagles credit for. Truth be told, I did pick Philly to win [which was wrong] but everything I said that needed to happen was true.  When they got to Brady...they were rolling.  They could work that secondary and get plays on them [they got a couple of 30-yarders on 'em].  You just can't turn the ball over like that....certainly not against the AFC Champions.  All I know is that it will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever happen again.  The Eagles go back on the board as the #2 hated team, safely behind the Cowpokes.  I can't believe I actually was clapping when they scored?.which made me physically ill. Or was that all the hot wings, cheese fries, meatballs, chips, salsa and mozzarella sticks I ate?? Anyways?.

....at least Joe Carter didn't hit this one out.