Tuesday, December 04, 2007

DOZEN That Feel Good?

Winning the game itself is almost as rewarding as shutting up the national media that is salivating for a Patriots' loss. And win it they did, in spectacular fashion, in championship team fashion.

Trailing 24-20 with under a minute to play, The Pats laid it on the trash-yakking Ravens (who lest we forget are really the Cleveland Browns) with a Brady to Gaffney laser in the corner of the end zone that won it 27-24. It was supposed to be an in-route, Gaffney turned it out, Brady saw it. Bingo.

So many other key moments in this one. The missed 4th and 1 that was reprieved with the stupidest timeout in NFL history—as the Ravens D-Coordinator took the T just as Brady failed on the sneak. Wow. How about Mr. Un-Sung, Kevin Faulk, stripping Ed Reed of his interception and preventing a Baltimore score. Wow. Tom Brady scrambling for the first down on 4th and 6 in the last minute leading to the ultimate scoring play. Wow. Ben Watson stretching out to catch a B-B from Brady at mid-field on the final drive.

Not to mention the contribution of the running game—Moroney and Faulk running and catching, even Heath Evans running for a 1-yard TD.

So, Randy caught another TD as well, Tom got two more, and the so-called "blueprint" got smudged again. Truth be told, getting physical on the Pats and running down their old defense (literally) does make them seem somewhat vulnerable. But you have to have talent to execute a smart game plan. So far, no team has had enough. Bring on the Steelers.

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