Off the Unbeaten Pat January 1, 2008
Posted by boydzone in : points, sports , trackbackSo, what exactly will it take for the Pats to lose, if there is anything that can stop them? I pretty much figured they would go undefeated once I saw them destroy the opening few games of the season. And like everyone else, was lured into a false hope that the Eagles, Colts, and Ravens would actually pull off the upset.
Playing the Pats is like having a staring contest. If you blink they will beat you, and Saturday night, the Giants, who were perched on the brink of victory, blinked and their victory slipped right away.
They were able to hold the victory for the first 30 minutes as they managed the clock well, held the Pats to a few field goals, and made a great special teams play.
The second half saw some of that great ball management/movement, but also the type of minor inconsistancies that the Pats will feast on: a muffed snap, a dropped pass (jacobs), an interception, and totally chaotic clock management within the last few minutes of gameplay.
That game should not have come down to an onside kick, had these factors been a little better controlled, but the Giants found themselves like all the other teams that had led the Pats before them, scrambling to stop a Pats comeback towards invetiable victory.
Before this game, I was wondering what would be a bigger motivator for the Pats;
the taste of a loss to remind them how bitter that feeling is and just how much they want to avoid it, or that feeling of invincibiliy and momentum.
Hopefully they will plan to coast on this momentum while someone (jags, colts, bolts, and ideally Steelers, but I don’t see it in them this year, bless em’) will be able to act just that bit more inhuman than the Giants, in the Pat’s image, and beat them at their game.
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What will it take to beat the Pats, you ask? Any of the following:
(1) The Fridge, McMahon, and a little Sweetness.
(2) Successful subterfuge of certain of the NFL’s rules, particularly (perhaps) a Bush-ordered wiretapping of Belichick’s office, or a secret taping of the signal calls during practice.
(3) If none of the above, the successful execution of (a) a strong pass rush, sacking Brady multiple times and getting pressure on him when not sacking him, (b) sure tackling, and (c) a consistent and powerful running attack.