Oswlek
Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
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I posted this on Patriotsplanet prior to the Buffalo game, but it seems even more fitting to say now.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I have to admit to being glad NE is having a bit of a tumultious first week of the season. Clearly you want the best team on the field, but this team plays better after getting slapped in the face. And I find myself enjoying the games more when there is an air of uncertainty.
Thinking back, my favorite games are those when NE overcame something.
The New Orleans game in 2001 when NE rebounded off the Rams loss by whooping up on the big, bad Saints 34-17. I can still remember the Saint players talking about how tough they were and how NE hadn't faced as physical a team as them. It wasn't NE players that kept limping off the field, though.
In 2004 after NE was pummeled by Pitt and NE had to face the high flying Rams with Troy Brown as the full-time nickle back. The game was marked by a Vinatieri to Brown TD, but NE thouroughly dominated a decent team when all the analysts thought the wheels were coming off.
Same season, when NE walloped the Jets just as people wondered if the Miami loss was a harboringer of NE's collapse. In a game that wasn't even as close as the 23-7 score, we saw NE at their best. Had the Jets beaten them, there was still a legitimate chance of losing the division. Those worries were ended very early, though. The only dark spot on that game was ****ing Mawae intentionally rolling into the side of Seymour's knee. Which of course added an element of difficulty to one of the most enjoyable playoff runs.
Hell, the entire 2003 season felt like this.
After the Redskins loss and Brady's elbow looked like a bizzare new strand of grapefruit, I never thought they would take down a team as strong as the Titans, who had manhandled NE the previous year. And to do it the way they did, with Cloud running all over them. I can feel the old pride swelling up just thinking about it.
The same feeling comes thinking about the Miami game a few weeks later. I broke my remote control slamming it into the ground when the refs completely ignored the receiver being a couple yards out of bounds on Miami's long OT catch. And I can still hear Gil and Geno calling the Brown's game winning catch. True magic, it's getting a bit dusty in here.
Too many games to keep going with all of them. Denver, Indy, the Miami snow game - all games that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
As awesome as 2007 was, I never really felt connected to the team like I was in those years. I was in awe of them, and I defended them like mad to the hoards of camera-gaters and runningupthescore-gaters, but I enjoyed them rather than loved them.
So count me as one who is glad NE has some adversity to start this season. It will be that much sweeter when Kraft and Belichick hold up the Lombardi Trophy with red, white and blue confetti lying on the ground. :rocker:
I don't know about the rest of you, but I have to admit to being glad NE is having a bit of a tumultious first week of the season. Clearly you want the best team on the field, but this team plays better after getting slapped in the face. And I find myself enjoying the games more when there is an air of uncertainty.
Thinking back, my favorite games are those when NE overcame something.
The New Orleans game in 2001 when NE rebounded off the Rams loss by whooping up on the big, bad Saints 34-17. I can still remember the Saint players talking about how tough they were and how NE hadn't faced as physical a team as them. It wasn't NE players that kept limping off the field, though.
In 2004 after NE was pummeled by Pitt and NE had to face the high flying Rams with Troy Brown as the full-time nickle back. The game was marked by a Vinatieri to Brown TD, but NE thouroughly dominated a decent team when all the analysts thought the wheels were coming off.
Same season, when NE walloped the Jets just as people wondered if the Miami loss was a harboringer of NE's collapse. In a game that wasn't even as close as the 23-7 score, we saw NE at their best. Had the Jets beaten them, there was still a legitimate chance of losing the division. Those worries were ended very early, though. The only dark spot on that game was ****ing Mawae intentionally rolling into the side of Seymour's knee. Which of course added an element of difficulty to one of the most enjoyable playoff runs.
Hell, the entire 2003 season felt like this.
After the Redskins loss and Brady's elbow looked like a bizzare new strand of grapefruit, I never thought they would take down a team as strong as the Titans, who had manhandled NE the previous year. And to do it the way they did, with Cloud running all over them. I can feel the old pride swelling up just thinking about it.
The same feeling comes thinking about the Miami game a few weeks later. I broke my remote control slamming it into the ground when the refs completely ignored the receiver being a couple yards out of bounds on Miami's long OT catch. And I can still hear Gil and Geno calling the Brown's game winning catch. True magic, it's getting a bit dusty in here.
Too many games to keep going with all of them. Denver, Indy, the Miami snow game - all games that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
As awesome as 2007 was, I never really felt connected to the team like I was in those years. I was in awe of them, and I defended them like mad to the hoards of camera-gaters and runningupthescore-gaters, but I enjoyed them rather than loved them.
So count me as one who is glad NE has some adversity to start this season. It will be that much sweeter when Kraft and Belichick hold up the Lombardi Trophy with red, white and blue confetti lying on the ground. :rocker: