CMJohnson1's Blog

Super Bowl XVII

By CMJohnson1 | View all Posts
Posted Wednesday, February 13, 2008 12:03 AM   0 comments
I know it's been a little while, but I just had to write about this past season, Super Bowl 42, and the Patriots in general.  First of all I have to say that despite the fact that the Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl, this team easily has to go down as one of the 3 best teams of all-time.  What they were able to accomplish in the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs has never been done before, and the fashion in which they dismantled their opponents has also never been done before.  The 1972 Dolphins went undefeated.  We all know that.  We have heard about that constantly every time a team gets even close to double digit wins without a blemish.  But I looked at that season in depth, and while yes it was absolutely a phenomenal accomplishment, their schedule was average at best, they played a lot of close games, and they didn't have to go through 3 rounds of the playoffs.  There is no question in my mind that the New England Patriots going 16-0 in the regular season in this era of football is more impressive than the run of the 1972 Dolphins.  They broke every conceivable record on the offensive side of the ball.  Their defense was ranked in the Top 10 in several different categories, including 4th in Overall Defense.  Before the season started the big question was how well would Randy Moss fit into this team.  This team that has been at the pinnacle of success and sportsmanship for the better part of this century.  A team that truly believes that no one individual is above the team unit.  It was quite obvious after the first game of the year that he would do just fine.  Even after his breakout game against the Jets in Week 1, there were still doubters.  There was still a vast majority of those who said he would revert to "Old Randy" as soon as they faced a challenge or as soon as Brady didn't feed him the ball 15 times a game.  Well there were more than enough instances at the end of the season where he was not given the ball, and there was not a single complaint out of his mouth the entire season. 

Now unfortunately for most of the country the Patriots will be remembered for the spying scandal that surfaced after their Week 1 victory over the Jets.  I cannot think of another circumstance where something was blown out of proportion more than the whole "Spygate" scandal.  The exact video that was obtained by the NFL was played on the Fox Pre-Game show the following week.  For anybody that saw the video, it is simply random videotaping of signals from the Jets sidelines for brief moments during the 3rd quarter of the game.  This was not against the rules.  Teams routinely video tape the opposing sidelines, it is a major part of their strategy.  The only thing the Patriots did wrong in this situation was they videotaped it from the wrong area of the field.  Now they were notified of this situation in the past, and were told to stop doing it.  They did not stop videotaping from restricted areas, and were punished severely for it.  That should have been the end of the story.  There was absolutely no reason in my mind that this should have been drawn out through the entire season.  Many of the Patriot haters on this website and various other sites have dubbed the Patriots "cheaters", and put an asterisk next to their record.  This is probably the most ridiculous thing I can remember in recent sports.  Like I said earlier, if you saw the videotape the following week, you would realize that there is no way that it could have affected that game against the Jets.  There is simply no way they could have translated the video, figured out what plays were called, deciphered what the signals meant as far as audibles, called them down to the field, recognized them being called in from the sidelines, and made the necessary adjustments.  The Patriots broke the rules by videotaping in the wrong spot.  They did not break the rules by videotaping the sidelines.  They did not use that information to win the game vs. the Jets.  The Patriots were caught, they were punished, they moved on.  It is a damn shame that the rest of the country and a vast majority of the media were not able to do the same.

As far as the Super Bowl goes, it will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, as well as one of the more impressive victories in championship game history.  And deservedly so.  What the Giants were able to accomplish by winning 3 straight road games to make it to the Super Bowl, and then take down what might have been the greatest football team ever is entirely amazing.  The fact that they were able to defeat their rivals the Dallas Cowboys in Texas Stadium, and then travel to Lambeau Field and defeat the Packers in some of the worst conditions ever seen in a football game is stunning.  The fact that this was done on the shoulders of Eli Manning, who was under constant scrutiny the entire season for making poor decisions and wound up tied for the most interceptions in the league, is purely shocking.  I give all the credit in the world to the Giants.  They won the game.  It was disappointing, yes.  But in the grand scheme of things, I cannot possibly complain as a true sports fan at the result.  It was an intense game that came down to the final moments, and the underdog defeated the juggernaut.  It's something that as sports fans we root for without regret.  It is embedded in our subconscious as the right thing to do.  So was I disappointed that the Patriots didn't finish the job and complete the perfect season?  Absolutely.  But as a true fan of sports, I can appreciate the incredible run that the Giants pulled off. 

Most of my fellow New Englanders went through a period of depression over the past week and a half.  The Monday after the Super Bowl was just a little bit gloomier, and time dragged on just a little bit slower.  I looked at the faces of my fellow co-workers and friends, and without saying a word knew exactly what they were thinking.  The radio shows and television programs were flooded with the over-analysis of the game.  Patriot fans vented and voiced their disapproval at the choice to go for it on 4th and 13 rather than kick a 48 yard field goal.  They called shenanigans on Asante Samuel and the entire defensive line for failing to capitalize on that final possession.  They tried to find solice in anything they could, tried to bring reason to the madness.  The Giants just beat us.  That was it, there was no one play that we can point to and say "that was it, right there."  After the game, I was shocked, but I was able to move on relatively quickly.  For one of the very few times in my life, I put the game behind me and moved on with my life.  It may have been that a part of me was glad it was over.  Maybe the 2007 New England Patriots became too big for sports.  Maybe it's a good thing that they didn't complete the perfect season.  If anything, it will give another year to the 1972 Dolphins to lay claim to being the best ever.  No matter what it was, it was the perfect storm and the ultimate advertisement for the NFL.  The biggest sports entity in the free world became that much bigger.  It was Yankees vs. Red Sox on a national scale.  It became the Patriots vs. non-Patriots.  You either loved them or you hated them.  They were either the best team ever, or cheaters. 

Perhaps the biggest reason why I was able to move on from the game so quickly is that I realized that the Giants just played a better game.  Their defensive line was quicker and stronger.  Their receivers caught passes that they simply could not afford to drop.  They just made the plays that they had to make.  The Patriots could not say the same.  The offensive line was pathetic, Tom Brady was painfully ordinary, and Asante Samuel dropped a pass he would normally intercept 8 times out of 10.  Even before the opening kickoff I had a strange feeling about the entire thing.  Bill Belicheck wearing a bright red sweatshirt?  Where was the worn-out gray that we had become accustomed to?  Where was Tom Brady in the tunnel head-butting teammates and slapping them around to get them pumped up?  In my opinion, it looked as though they reached the point of saturation.  All the hype, all the scandals, all the records, everything.  It simply became too much for them.  It looked as though win or lose, they were happy to be done with it.  If they won, they would have been happy that it was over.  They wouldn't have to answer any more talk of whether or not they could do it.  The New England Patriots of 2007 would be the hands-down best team ever.  If they lost, they would be done with the constant barrage of questions.  No more "is this really just another game?" and "do you think you can be perfect".  It would all be over and they could go on with their lives.  As the saying goes, all records were made to be broken.  But I honestly believe that there are just some records that were not meant to be broken.  There are the obvious ones like a 56-game hitting streak or a .400 batting average.  Brett Favre's consecutive games played streak at quarterback, or 2,000 yards rushing.  Perhaps we just need to chalk this up as being one of those things.  Perhaps we just aren't meant to see 19-0.  Either way, it was an unbelievable season that I will remember for the rest of my life.  Good, bad, or indifferent, it was 18-1*.
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User: CMJohnson1
Joined: October 2007
Location: New Hampshire
Team: Boston Celtics
Occupation: Sales/Marketing

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