So?
T.O. Plays?
Rodney Harrison rips that Eagles bigmouth’s head off and eats his brains on national TV?
MVP?
Emmit retires…but Why during SB week?
Sir Paul drops his pants and claims wardrobe malfunction?
Breakdowns?
Mine:
QB- even. Brady more big game experience, Donovan more natural ability.
RB- Pats-Dillion 1600+ yards, leads rushing in the playoffs and is hungry for his first year in the post season.Dillion is the key to the game in my opinion.
WR’s-Pats, if TO does not play and isn’t 100% There is no dropoff of talent between 1-5 in the Pats WR’s. No big play TO type, but no suckage either.
TE-Pats now. With the Eagles injury, I have to give it to the pats. They have been quiet of late as offensive weapons, and more like extra blockers, but both starters can catch.Watson would have been runnerup as rookie of the year if he didn’t get hurt in week 2. Can’t wait to see him play next year.
Pats OL Vs. Eagles DL- Eagles 3 sacks. What they really need to do to screw up Brady is knockdowns. See Miami game.
Pats DL vs Eagles OL-Pats,even without Seymour. J.Green will replace Seymour, and is one of the most underrated members of the Pats. Contain and hurry, forget the sacks-make him throw bad passes.
DB-Eagles
LBs-Pats-Bruschi, Vrabel, Willie. Interesting that all three used to play line.
ST-Pats-one word Adam.Prediction- TD for Adam again.
Coaching-Pats
I think this superbowl is going to be a bit of a yawn. I don’t think the Eagles match up well to the Patriots. Not in a position-vs-position way like some sportwriters have been doing and overdoing but in general levels of discipline and canniness. I’m not doubting that the Eagles are a very talented team but then the Steelers were too and they got spanked. New England has proven they can invent and execute a scheme to beat pretty much anybody.
I love listening to sports wonks fall down their own rabbit hole of hype and overanalysis. “The Patriots don’t have any playmakers! They don’t have a TO or a Westbrook (I love it when they use “a” in front of athlete names)!” Yeah, they really only have one playmaker, I guess: their entire defense.
[q]I don’t think the Eagles match up well to the Patriots. [/q]
This is one of the more interesting aspects of the Eagles. On paper, they kind of suck, yet somehow they keep winning. The only real stars they have are probably Dawkins and McNabb. Everyone else are good to very good (except their receivers) but no definitive stars (yes, the whole secondary are very good, but not superstars). Not sure how effective TO will be coming back.
So can Reid somehow magically pull off a win when he’s not supposed to, or will Belichick crush them mightily for his first SB win that doesn’t come down to a Vinatieri FG?
I’d love for Dillon to get the MVP with 195 yards rushing. Or better yet, have Troy Brown get the MVP for 1 INT for a TD, 4 recs for 87 yards, and 100 punt return yards.
We never really watch the game anyway, but I like to watch the event. It is also the only show where our viewing habits reverse - people chat and wander off for snacks during play, but all run back into the room when the ads start.
This will be the first year we have the HDTV, too.
I’d say their linebackers are all playmakers. In fact, collectively, I think it’s the best linebacking group in the league, and, individually, Vrabel’s play has made him one of the elite linebackers (yeah, he’s an Ohio State guy and I’m biased, but still).
Is it just me, or do the Patriots remind anyone else of the Lombardi era Packers? Not in terms of gameplans (Belichik is inventive, Lombardi preferred to perfect a few plays and run them over and over again), but in terms of attitude, professionalism, execution, and the way the MVP is really the team not individual players.
Jason’s call: Patriots in a walk. I base this on the newspaper photo of the totally-professional Patriots QB showing up in a suit, while McNabb was all in a Hawaiian shirt and fucking around with a handycam.
And yeah, the sports press is so big-name RB, QB, and CB obsessed it’s pathetic. Hey world - you don’t win super bowls with shitty lines.
Not in terms of gameplans (Belichik is inventive, Lombardi preferred to perfect a few plays and run them over and over again), but in terms of attitude, professionalism, execution, and the way the MVP is really the team not individual players.
Yeah, this is why I liked the first couple of years of the new OU football dynasty so much, in spite of my loathing for corrupt college football & OU’s idiotic football fans in general.
I’m one of the few bucking the trend and calling an Eagles victory. I think some people aren’t giving them enough credit. I’ve watched them dominate the hell out of some teams, especially when Donovan has been spot on. Brady doesn’t have the ability to take over a game like he does.
While it’s certainly not out of the question for the Eagles to win, it’s just hard for me to picture it. Yeah, McNabb and the Eagles smoked some teams last year, but they had a pretty soft schedule (thanks to their division), mostly. They were hard pressed to score over 20 against any team with a good defense (19 against the Bears, 15 against the Ravens, 3 against the Steelers). Brady’s ability seems forever arguable (not to me - the touch he put on those two deeps balls against the Steelers rival any throws made in the postseason) but one thing he has over Donovan: if McNabb is off, it’s hard for him to get back on. Brady runs at a more even keel and when he does make a mistake (a rarity in the postseason), it doesn’t usually knock him too far off his game.
To me though, it comes down to coaching and mistakes. I just think Belicheck can outcoach Reid (but I think more of Reid this season than I have in the past - he made some bold, awesome decisions in the playoffs this year, especially in the NFC championship game), and the Eagles are more prone to mistakes than the Pats (well, who isn’t?). I hope TO plays - I mean, actually plays and doesn’t just act as a decoy all game long. It will be a hell of a lot more fun. The Eagles need to have TO in to make a few key plays, they have to stop Corey Dillon (if Dillon has over 50 yards by the first half, the game is over), and they cannot turn the ball over more than once.
It’s not really Brady - I don’t think he’s that good and his confidence stems only from having a wicked team around him - but losing Brady would shake the Patriots up. Who, off the top of his head, can even name their backup?
Dillon’s going to have more of an individual effect on the game and so will at least 2 or 3 defensive players. But I think Brady is the linchpin because he’s been the constant.
Atlanta would have more of a chance of winning. Vick would be more difficult for the Pats to contain than the relatively normal offense of the Eagles will be. The Steelers, with Maddox, would have been a better match. The Pats defense WILL get tired if run at - they’re human. If it wasn’t for Dillon, I’d risk going down by a touchdown into the 2nd half by running it most of the time just to wear the Pats into submission.
(because I would be the best coach in football, really).
…and having proven repeatedly he can drive his team down the field when he HAS to, even when he has a whole crop of #2 receivers and, until this year, a back that was pretty much back up material.
but losing Brady would shake the Patriots up. Who, off the top of his head, can even name their backup?
(Rohan Davey)
I mean, who was Bledsoe’s backup? Who was Trent Green’s backup with the Rams? People at least remembered Brady from his Michigan days, NO ONE remembered Kurt Warner from his, uh, Gateway Conference days.
While Brady is key, I still think they could win with many others. The problem, of course, is that their last Super Bowls came down to one last drive (and a bad kick by Kasay in the last one) and Brady really made the difference there. But this Super Bowl SHOULD be the one where Brady isn’t needed. In theory.
T.O. is playing. I think we (Eagles) actually have a chance here, although we’re definitely underdogs. I don’t know, I just think people are counting us out a little too early. Guess we’ll see.
If nothing else, though, it should be a really excellent game.
Vick vs. pats- last time the pats played atlanta they had a team record high 7 sacks. Screw containment, just hit him. His arm is practically a non-factor at this point.
Ah the Brady isn’t that good arguement.
What exactly does he not have? Deep Ball? Short ball? Medium ball? Vision? Brains? Risk Taker? Pocket presence?Leadership? Running. that’s it. Even then, when he QB sneaks he always gets that yard needed. Hell, he has even punted,and cought a pass.
He doesn’t have gaudy stats. this year he didn’t need to, and they still pounded most teams for more than 14 points a game. give it to Dillon, give it to Dillon, ok, they stopped that, deep strike, give it to dillon rinse repeat.
All I know is in 2001, if we had Bledsoe all season they wouldn’t have made the playoffs , nevermind the superbowl.
I want no other QB in the game.
Owens, when healthy, sure, but is he really going to be able to make cuts like he needs to? As for Westbrook – he’s good, and he’s versatile, but he’s not even one of the top 10 backs in the league.
FINALLY. Why doesn’t anyone believe me? Tom Brady is this era’s Joe Montana. As you said: leadership, poise (I knew Ben Roethlisberger was doomed when people started throwing around the “P” word), touch, smarts. His deep ball is damned good, although he doesn’t have a big arm. Neither did Joe. He benefits from an awesome system. First, I hate this argument as a detractor from Brady’s talent and ability. People make it sound like Belicheck simply asks Brady to make one decision (or none, like his playbook reads YOU THROW HERE with a large red arrow at Branch in the flat), that any decent QB could do it. I contend that, with what I’ve seen, a good QB could win games and even make the playoffs in the system, but it’s Brady that has them holding 2 rings and going for the 3rd. He doesn’t have the talent around him that Joe did (arguable to some degree), and again that’s attributed to the system. The system doesn’t put the ball square in the hands of pretty-good-but-not-great WRs, Brady’s aim does. Second, I’m pretty sure Joe worked in a good system, only an utterly revolutionary one that changed the face of football forever.
