Re: So here I sit in Boston... Pizza.
Shortly after Brady got injured, I kept thinking of that great exchange from Apollo 13 when the NASA Director is running through the "what if's" involving the loss of the crew with senior brass and gets overheard by Ed Harris' character who provides a very irritated response to the suggestion of potential failure.
NASA Director: This could be the worst disaster NASA's ever faced.
Gene Kranz: With all due respect, sir, I believe this is gonna be our finest hour.
If this team responds successfully to what everyone outside the Patriots fan base (and some within the fan base) believe is a fatal blow to the success of this organization this season, there will be a banquet of crow served to the doubters who question the reason for this team's past and present successes. If this team does what I believe it is capable of doing, the whimpering of every fan of every other team and every media rat that celebrated this team's downfall prematurely will be tangible.
This will not stop the "cheaters" comments, as it is the only way beaten down fans and media can explain the beatings doled out to their teams, but it will make that whimpering sound all the more pathetic in an attempt to explain what happened. I can say after the fatigue of last season resulting from accusations and intense scrutiny of everything this team does and did that I am more energized than ever to follow this drama as it plays out over the weeks of the season. All the power rankings and articles concluding the injury is game, set and match for the Pats will make fantastic e-mail material to fire back at the source with the subject line "eat it".