John Madden was in Dallas to announce a football game one weekend
when he noticed a special telephone near the Cowboys bench. He asked
Quincy Carter what it was used for and was told it was a hotline to God.
John asked if he could use it. Quincy told him, “Sure, but it will cost
you $100.” John scratched his head, then thought, what the heck, I could
use
some help picking games. He pulled out his wallet and paid $100. John’s
picks were perfect that week.
The next week John was in St Louis when he noticed that same kind of
phone on the Rams bench. He asked what the telephone was for and Marc
Bulger
told him, “It’s a hotline to God. If you want to use it, it will cost you
$500.”
Recalling last week, John pulled out his wallet and made the call. =
John’s picks were perfect again that week.
The next weekend John was in Foxboro at Gillette Stadium when he noticed
the same kind of telephone by the Patriot’s bench. He asked Tom Brady,
“Is that the hotline to God?” Tom said, “Yes, and if you want to use it,
it will cost you 35 cents.”
John looked incredulously at Tom and said, “Wait a second, I just paid
$100 in Dallas and $500 in St Louis to use the same phone to God! Why do
the
Patriots only charge 35 cents?”
Tom looked at John and replied, “In Foxboro , it’s a local call.”
Actually, Bill I was agreeing with you overall. I just wanted to point out that a good run D HAS stopped the Panthers run game, which you seemed to suggest was impossible. Of course, the Titans were pretty much the only team to stop Jamal Lewis all year as well. The problem, really in both cases, is, as I said (and you concured), that it gives the QB a wide open passing game. The Panthers have just enough of a passing game to take advantage of that. The real difference this time is that the Patriots pass coverage is excellent. I have heard it called the best in the NFL, but I would argue the Dallas secondary is a bit better. Still, it is VERY good. We’ll see what that does to Delhomme, but so far he has been cool under pressure.
And Solomon, I agree with you on the Patriots WRs. They are way underrated. All year (and still today) the analysts have been saying that are a bunch of nobodies. That’s plain false. Troy Brown is probably one of the 10 best in the league when healthy and they have a lot of depth. Oddly enough, they remind of the Titans WRs. Mason and Brown are very similar, and after Mason, the Titans have some good, underrated, receivers that get things done. My only concern, if I were a Patriots fan, would be the Panthers’s pass rush. If you try to spread them out, who is going to block that rush?
That is the great thing about spreading it out. It gives Tom 2 short almost instant pass rec, plus the option of 2 deep and 1 mid range or some mix of the above. That quick square out Brady throws is very fast, and in almost every 5 wide situation he has that option. they also run 5 wide out of other formations, not just the classic ‘hail mary’ type spread. what happens is not many teams have that many good coverage guys, and you almost always end up with a RB/TE on a LB, and any QB will take that matchup.
What I have seen with Brady is most sacks on him (most not all) are coverage sacks. He sees the field very well, understands how his pocket should build on the play, and seems to feel it when it breaks down. Sadly when it isn’t a coverage sack, he usually fumbles:)
Try it out on ESPN football, it’s cool. Call a kings or flush fromation, 4 wide and motion out the RB. It kicks the shit out of the CPU.
Both Faulk and Smith can catch out of the back, both TE’s can catch.Hell I’ve seen them run pass plays out of a three TE setup. I have noticed Brady has moved away from the slant, which is prolly the most picked off pattern in all of football these days…just ask Ty Law and Bruschi. That is the one play I would stay away from with the Pats D, they jump on the short slant almost every time.
'Boys D is good, wonder where Belicheck learned his stuff from?
Sorry I’m late. Guess I got the score wrong and under estimated Jake Delhomme. People are driving up and down Mass Ave honking their horns right now. Feels real nice living in a championship city. Again.
I’m happy for Boston, but alas, they ain’t the BOSOX. Ask a Bostonian, would you rather have a Pats Superbowl or a Red Sox World Series… neither, a Cubs World Series I say.
MK- bringing up the sox? sad. How’s this- the Sox now have the best starting rotation in the AL. Add a closer and the best hitting O in baseball, I’ll predict a WS win this year.
What a fricking game! That is exactly why football is the greatest sport on the planet.
So much for Tom Brady can’t trhow TD’s.
Jake D. just came into his own tonight. Most impressive.
That goes down as one of the greats. Up there with Pats Rams and Rams Titans.
So is this a Dynasty now?
Tom just got himself in the HOF again. 2 MVP Jerseys.
Adam just got himself into the HOF when he retires. When was the last kicker inducted? Sno Bowl, SB XXXVI and XXXVIII.
That Car Brady got should go to his O line, no sacks in the playoffs. You hear that Mr. Sapp? No sacks.
Car WR are on thier way to being one of the best tandems in the NFL.
I still don’t like He Hate Me.
So will Bill enjoy a couple of days off or will he start planning for opening day?
Hehe, the Patriots played a great game. If you want to brag about your kicker winning Superbowls for you, that’s fine. A win is a win and New England should be proud, but man Delhomme sure could move that ball when he really needed to couldn’t he? Really, it was the Patriots defense that SHOULD have won that game. I don’t know what they were thinking moving into Prevent as much as they did. Belichik had them playing not to lose throughout the fourth quarter and it came dangerously close to Overtime (just like the Colts game). Also, Brady is the one that GOT them in range with 1:08 to go. So Brady is the MVP.
Heh, you know, we could be having this conversation, Mr. O’Boston, with Carolina victorious in OT and you lamenting the two chipshot kicks Viniatieri missed early on… rather than the one that clinched it. And me pointing out that it was the Patriots defense that lost the game for them.
But that’s not what happened and the Pats deserve their success.
But, as the best ad of the night said… “we’re all undefeated now!” Bring on next year!
Better game than I thought it would be. Weird though. At times both defenses were dominant, and at times they were terrible. No way NE’s defense should have allowed Carolina’s lacklustre offense to score that many points.
That game was Carolina’s to win in the 4th when they went ahead and their strength, their defense, let them down.
Yeah, really it was the Patriot’s Special Teams that let them down (but the kicker did win it). The Defense, I think, was hampered by some overly conservative play calling from Belichik (no matter how I spell his name, it looks wrong to me). Delhomme did make some great plays under pressure but the Pats helped by relaxing the pass rush at the end and playing Prevent. I agree with TMQ, Prevent isn’t a good idea if you’ve spent the whole game penetrating the line, like the Pats did.
Carolina’s defense was clearly tired at the end. The Patriot offensive dink and dunk just killed them (which I bet was the Pats plan all along), how many plays was it? A lot. Also Carolina shouldn’t have taken that last Time Out when they were on the tying drive. They left Brady with 1:08 to grab that field goal… they could have whittled that down some, or at least absorbed a Pats TO. Might not have made a difference, but I think that proved fatal (but then again, there are no guarantees in OT).
Can we keep at least one Superbowl thread free from Jackson boob talk please? The other one is in the TV thread. There are even links to pictures… you’ll love it.
