With one week left before what we all hope will be the perfect end to the perfect season.  Matt and I thought we’d go back and revisit some of the more exceptional moments of this season.  We’ll post the top 7 plays of the season, starting with number 7 today.  This was the play that truly set the tone for what was to become an incredible year.  It shows up around 2:25 in to the video.

Shocking news out of Foxboro today, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick declined to say anything about Tom Brady and his boot.  Supposedly Brady did not come out for the first 15 minutes of practice when the media are allowed to watch, but no reports on what happened once the practice became closed off.  The players took the same tone as their coach and brushed it aside.  Bottom line: nothing’s wrong, Brady will play February 3rd.

The dirtiest player on the Patriots? No, not Rodney Harrison. Not Vince Wilfork. No. The drtiest player on the Patriots is…Richard Seymour?

According to San Diego center NICK HARDWICK, Richard Seymour does not play well with others. Another year, another angry outburst of comments from a losing Chargers team. Below is a link to an article about the Patriot’s superstar.

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2008/01/22/seymour_stands_ground/

TOM BRADY IN A CAST?

Calm down. It appears Brady’s brief stint in a cast is due to an ankle sprain. But not to fear, it would take a severed limb to keep this man off the field. The injury appears not to be too serious, as Brady was later seen on the club circuit– with Gisele, but without his cast.

Specifically, the injury is a high ankle sprain, the more serious type of ankle sprain. When this happened to me in football I was out for weeks. But I am not and have never been Tom Brady. A cortizone shot or two later, and he’ll be firing away (gingerly) and forget about his bumb ankle.

For those fans headed to Arizona or anyone just interested in learning more about Super Bowl XLII check out my interview with Kevin Kellam of sportstraveller.net.

Congrats to the AFC Champion New England Patriots! Two weeks until 19-0 happens. Stay tuned to special Super Bowl XLII coverage from Ben and Matt coming this week and next.

Check out this new article from Bill Simmons a.k.a the Sports Guy, comparing the ‘07 Patriots to the ‘86 Celtics.

San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24.  Quite possibly one of the worst things that could’ve happened to the Patriots potential run at 19-0. 

First, let me answer those Patriot fans who demand otherwise.  Strategically, it’s a great thing.  The Chargers with almost all of their major offensive weapons at less than 100% health?  The AFC title game at the Big Razor?  Norv Turner vs. Bill Belichick? Sign me up.  It’s almost as if Zeus looked down on the Patriots mountain of a playoff road to the Super Bowl and threw a gynormous lightning bolt into it, cutting the sucker in half.

The problem is that this mini-hurdle of the Chargers provides people like Mercury Morris with an excuse should New England run the table.  “Well sure, they won every game, but they didn’t have to play the Colts in the playoffs.”  This is a stupid argument for two very obvious reasons.

1. San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24.  That’s right, haters.  See that score there?  Guess what that means.  It means the Colts blew it, choked, screwed up.  For those of you that don’t understand the playoff system, it’s win or go home.  There are no second chances in the NFL.  If the Patriots should’ve had to play the Colts again, maybe Indy’s pathetic defense should’ve made more of an effort to stop Billy Volek.  Yes, you read that correctly, Billy Volek led the Chargers winning touchdown drive.  New England didn’t duck Indy, Indy decided not to show up when it mattered, plain and simple.

2. Patriots 24, Colts 20.  Yeah, remember that game.  See these two played during the regular season and look who won.  Don’t forget this game was also in the RCA Dome.  Would the result really change with the venue?  Granted Peyton was forced to play without Marvin Harrison in that game, but what exactly did the future Hall of Famer do against the Chargers?  2 catches, 27 yards, and a crucial lost fumble on a drive that would’ve put the Colts in the driver’s seat at 14-0 and spread Norv Turner faces across every Chargers player.

So now New England has what appears to be a much easier road to perfection with a banged up Chargers team in the AFC title game.  Sorry folks, it’s not the game everyone wanted to see but the Patriots held up their end of the deal, don’t hold it against them. 

I can’t believe this really happened.  Are you sure there isn’t a special 17th game this year?  I know everyone else in the NFL does.  The fact that a team was able to accomplish another undefeated regular season isn’t entirely astonishing.  Basic stats will tell you that eventually someone was bound to do it, but not in this “new era” of free agency.  The rules were supposed to ensure that dynasties would be rare, let alone the thought of an undefeated season.

 These facts ensure that the 2007 New England Patriots belong right in the discussion with the 1972 Dolphins and 1985 Bears as the best teams in football history.  I’m sure people who read this will wax poetic about the 1970s Steelers and the 1989 49ers and maybe even Cowboys of the early 1990s.  Heck, someone can throw an argument about the old, old, old, old, old-school Browns or Bears in the mix.  I’ll gladly throw all those teams right back in your face.

First of all, let’s eliminate any teams prior to the first Super Bowl.  Basic rule, if there’s more than one league declaring its team champions, then there’s no real champion unless they actually play one another (hope the NCAA is listening).  That brings us to the first real dynasty, the Green Bay Packers, talented yes, coached by one of the best ever, but not overwhelming by any means.

Now we move into the 1970s where the Dolphins won their perfect season, but the Steelers ruled the decade.  Perfect reasoning why they don’t belong in the discussion.  They set a standard for long-term excellence, but can you really distinguish the 1975 team, from the 1976 team, or the 1978 team? Me neither.  Which brings us to the 1989 49ers.  A team built with parts very similar to this year’s Patriots (Montana/Brady, Rice/Moss), but also a team that finished 11-5, not overly impressive despite their blowout win in the Super Bowl.  If you can’t even go 13-3, you don’t belong in the “best team” discussion.

As for the 1990s Cowboys, you could use the same argument as the Steelers.  Their best finish was 13-3.  Anyone wanna take a guess what this year’s Cowboys team finished at? That’s right, 13-3.  Know who beat the 13-3 Cowboys by more than 20? That’s right, the Patriots.  I think my point’s been made.

This leaves us with three teams in the circle, the ‘72 Dolphins, the ‘85 Bears and the ‘07 Pats.  Granted, it’s difficult to truly compare the Dolphins and the Patriots because the players today are so much bigger.  But based on their weak schedule of that season, their nailbiters in the playoffs and the fact that the season itself was shorter, I have to put the Dolphins third.  Call it futuristic bias, but that’s just the way it works.

As for the Bears, I have a friends who is a Chicago Superfan like the guys in the SNL skit, he adores anything Windy City and probably has a shrine to the great Ditka in his room.  Even he admitted after the Ravens victory that New England would run the table and surpass his beloved Bears as the greatest team in history.  However, to show that I have the ability to reason, I’ll hold that title for now.  Should the Pats survive what appears to be a terrible gauntlet of a playoff road and win the Super Bowl, you have to give it to them.  No team’s ever gone 19-0, until then it’s Bears 1, Pats 2.  Hey, at least it’s closer than the ‘86 Super Bowl.

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