SportsGirl

It’s become quite a routine for me. Another Monday morning, another week to re-cap a Patriots victory. 18-0 now, and counting hopefully. It’s a routine I won’t give up without some sadness. Because, win or lose, in two weeks this football season comes to an official close. Thank goodness for the impending draft! But the season is not done yet. The Christmas morning of football games, Super Bowl XLII, has yet to be played. (it’s 10x cooler to write XLII instead of 42)

So, ho hum, the Patriots won their game yesterday. Not necessarily in decisive fashion, but they won. After the game, Bill Belichick showed a rare display of emotion by conceding through those tight lips that this team loves each other. He used the L word! For Belichick, he was positively giddy. I know people knock this franchise for their reluctance to boogie down and celebrate the win, but I can’t blame them. In all honesty, none of this means anything unless they win in two weeks. If they lose in the SB, the sounds of the champagne being uncorked on the other side of the locker room will be echoed by the sound of the ‘72 Dolphins players uncorking their own bubbly. So I applaud Bill for keeping his players focused on the ultimate goal and for not thinking that it’s downhill from here. Because the Giants played them tough in the last week of the regular season and have arguably only improved (especially in terms of Manning’s confidence) since then.

So, the win yesterday wasn’t spectacular for the Pats. Brady was picked three times, including being intercepted once by Antonio Cromartie. Seriously, Cromartie may be replacing Randy Moss for the designation of “freak of nature”. He is so good! The good news from yesterday’s game is that we were reminded that Brady’s strong suit (as well as Belichick’s) is being able to adapt and change up who’s getting the ball in order to maximize the offense’s time on the field. Kevin Faulk had a great game and Laurence Maroney continues to show that he rivals Marion Barber as the hardest runner in the game. They even kind of look alike with those dreads flowing out of their helmets as they power past 3 defenders to gain 15 yards on a play.

But the Patriots defense deserves a lot of credit for this win. Yes, the same defense that is aging and needs revamping according to those who know things. True, they are an older unit. But who cares when you stop a team like the Chargers from ever scoring a touch down when they’ve reached the red zone? I know LaDainian was on the bench but he’s not the only guy on the team. You could tell even in the second quarter that Rivers was getting frustrated and was trying to force some throws. That’s not a good thing when you’re still in the first half. Part of me wishes that Brady would have openly taunted him when Asante Samuel made that pick, but you know, that would be classless so good thing Brady didn’t do it. I know Rivers was playing with a sprained knee and that’s gutty, but to have Luis Castillo say after the game that Rivers is one of the most courageous players Castillo has ever played with made me want to puke. Even as Rivers was conceding defeat in the post-game press conference, I couldn’t help but think, in more ways than one, he’s the loser.

I didn’t get to see all of the second half of the Pats game but was holding my breath until the last seconds ticked off the clock. That’s how good Belichick is–he has his fan based convinced that it’s not a sure thing until the fourth quarter is completely over, even with a 21-12 lead! I just hope they keep that focus and see this thing through to completion.

After the overtime finish in last night’s Green Bay-Giants match-up, we now know who the Patriots will face in Super Bowl Forty-Two. (nah, XLII still wins) The G-Men of New York will represent the NFC, though how well they will represent remains to be seen. This is the part in my weekend re-cap where I have to eat my words–a least-favorite activity of the SportsGirl. I said the Packers would crush the Giants and that Ryan Grant would have a great day. Um, hmm, that didn’t exactly happen. Let’s be clear. Eli Manning still isn’t an “elite” quarterback as I’ve seen some fans posting on espn.com. Green Bay was able to hang around more than they should have based almost solely on the 90-yard TD play to Donald Driver. And let’s not forget Sam Madison’s generous 15-yard personal foul penalty on Vernand Morency after the Giants had stopped Green Bay on a third down in the second half. That kind of kept them afloat longer than they should have been. Oh and the Giants’ kicker couldn’t get it through the uprights when it mattered in regulation. So let me get this straight. I’m supposed to believe the Giants stand a chance against New England after that less-than-inspiring performance? Yes, I know, it was cold. Colder than it was in Moscow, my thanks to Fox for pointing that out. And it should be much warmer in Glendale, so that will be different. And far be it from me to get confident about the Patriots chances to win because on any given Sunday…let’s move on.

Speaking of things that Fox pointed out, someone needs to tell Joe Buck that no one watching the game cares how many time the lead has changed hands. If we’ve been watching the whole game, we know such a fact. If we are just tuning in, it has no bearing on the game that the lead has flip-flopped multiple times. While we’re at it, that same person needs to tell Tom Coughlin to wear some protective gear on his face next time he’s standing in sub-zero weather for hours on end. He looked like his nose was going to fall off. Everyone else had the good sense to cover up a bit, be it in a helmet or one of those ski cap things. I thought someone was going to have to stick some leaches on Coughlin’s face at the end of the game to get that blood circulating once again. Task #3 for this information-distributing person? Tell Terry Bradshaw to either cut his remaining hair or shave it off entirely. His “overall snow pants and greasy wisps of hair grazing the collar” look wasn’t really my favorite. I think that completes the list of things that the people in last night’s game needed to be told.

I will be intrigued to hear how these two teams approach the upcoming game. We know the Patriots should be able to suck any excitement out of their chances to win, and I’m ok with that. How will little Manning handle the pressure of such a big game? His brother needed a few years to get that under his belt. I guess the better question is how will Archie handle the pressure? He looked like he was going to throw up before that game ended last night! I suppose we’re at the point where my picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl is no longer jumping the gun–I actually have to make a prediction and they happen to be one of the participants. Even knowing that? I hate putting this in writing. But I just don’t think the Giants will gel enough to best the Pats. Knowing the Patriots penchant for permitting the score to remain close til the end, I’m predicting a final score of 31-28. No Vinatieri to win the game for them this time, but it won’t matter. Patriots win. Now let’s stop talking about it before I jinx the whole thing.