Originally Posted by reiss

Please, before you wax poetic about the Pats' dismantling of a very poor Green Bay team missing its captain for half the game, let us not forget the Patriots fumbled the ball five times and still could not consistently run the ball. Where are my Patriots and who are these guys imitating the champs? Is it really the end of an era?[/B]
Robert, Wilmington

A: No waxing poetic from this seat. You're right about the fumbles, although the official game sheet noted it was four fumbles, not five. The Patriots recovered three of them and had some bounces go their way, no doubt. Still, aren't we splitting hairs a bit? A 35-0 win on the road is pretty rare, especially when you're shorthanded in the secondary. But I'll take your point as a good one in the sense that even in victory, the performance wasn't across-the-board perfect. As for the Patriots being an imitation of their past championship teams, I'm not sure what you're getting at. Are you suggesting that the Patriots never fumbled in their prior championship seasons? Are you saying that when the Patriots went 14-2 in both 2003 and 2004 that they won all their games cleanly and those games were never in doubt? I covered the teams in those years and I'll tell you, they had their struggles as well.

Originally Posted by reiss

Could you remind me again of that ridiculous excuse you gave someone a few weeks ago about why Belichick keeps Brady in the entire game when it's a blowout? Something about rewarding a QB who worked and prepared all week by allowing him to kneel on the ball to end the game. Mike, are you serious? Do you honestly believe Brady belongs in a game when the outcome has already been decided? Nothing good is going to come out of it. I'm just waiting for Brady to get hurt in one of these situations and see how Belichick defends himself. You're better than that, Mike. Don't drink the kool-aid all the time.
Timothy Brown, Revere

I wouldn't call it an excuse. I was relaying something Brady had said on Boston sports radio station WEEI when asked that question. He told the hosts of the show, John Dennis and Gerry Callahan, that as a quarterback he puts in a lot of preparation time each week and being able to kneel on the ball is the reward, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. So to pin those comments on me is a bit ridiculous. I was simply relaying what Brady was saying.