New England: Here's a question: Would the Patriots' players and coaches exchange their 2007 season with the 2007 season of the Giants? Of course, in public, to a man, they'd say, "Forget the records we set, we'd rather have won the Super Bowl." But my guess is that they'd rather have their 2007 season, oh-so-incomplete as it was, than the Giants' trophy. Twenty years from now, football purists will be hard-pressed to remember much about the 2007 Giants. The 2007 Patriots, on the other hand, will never be forgotten. The first 16-0 regular season; the highest-scoring team in football history; more touchdown passes than Buffalo, Miami, Minnesota and San Francisco combined; 39 seconds shy of perfection. In terms of memory power, New England's accomplishments exceeded what the Giants did, even if Jersey/A got to stand in the confetti shower on the sliding tray in Arizona. All New England needed to do was stop a third-and-11 snap with 45 seconds showing, and the word "perfect" would have shimmered into view. The snap was not stopped, because nobody's ever been 19-0 and most likely nobody ever will be. But to come so close -- that will not be forgotten.
As for the conventional wisdom that New England had its day and will now decline, consider the following. Currently the Patriots are on a 23-2 run, with their only losses being final-play defeats by that year's Super Bowl champions: the Colts and then the Giants. Decline? The Patriots are one terrific football team. Tuesday Morning Quarterback thinks the Colts are the club to beat this year, because the football gods will exact vengeance on the Patriots for all the bad karma they created with poor sportsmanship in 2007. But if you asked me the team I would rather not play in September, I would say New England.
One reason the Flying Elvii got to 16-0 in the 2007 regular season was a schedule without any West Coast trips; the Super Bowl was the sole time the team had to kick off west of the Rockies last season. In 2008, New England faces four trips to the West Coast. Good omen: The Patriots have 12 straight home postseason victories -- the record is 13, held by Green Bay. Bad omen: In this decade, Seattle is the only Super Bowl loser to make the playoffs the following season. Since 2001, Super Bowl losers are 47-65 in the season following their losses.
Cognomen note: Reader Sean Skierski of Collingswood, N.J., proposes that the TMQ cognomen Flying Elvii be changed to Spying Elvii.
:banned:
