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The Red Sox pulled off the most remarkable and meaningful comeback victory in the history of the major leagues, and the Patriots have turned into arguably the greatest football dynasty ever produced. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Take a moment to reflect on that. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> One more road victory, which will set an NFL record for the most in a single season, and the Pats are on their way to their fourth Super Bowl in six years. Without knowing what else to say, it�s a fucking marvel, and I for one see all of this as a very special thing to be a part of. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> And since I�ve already aligned myself as a complete hometown yahoo, why stop there? Yes sir, the New England Patriots have defied conventional wisdom in their half-decade domination of the NFL, namely that which says a pro football team has to have big name talent and marquee athleticism in order to have success. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Without question, the San Diego Chargers were the better team, at least on paper, right Sean Merriman? With double digit pro-bowlers, the league�s most valuable player, the league�s best record, a first round bye, and home field advantage three thousand miles away from the visitors; didn�t every possible angle point to a San Diego victory? <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> The point is, the Patriot�s have so much more than just singular talent- they have cohesion, they have discipline, they have the ability to adapt and to change face, to seize opportunity, to maintain under pressure. They have the intangibles, they have great coaching, great ownership. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Over the past two days or so, I�ve been noticing an inordinate amount of press surrounding the whole post-game disrespect card that Ladainlian Thomlinson and his band of self-righteous cronies have played, saying that the Pats showed no class in the way they celebrated the victory at the end of the game. Granted, Vince Wilfork imitating the Sean Merriman �lights out� dance over the Chargers emblem mid-field, or Roosevelt Colvin parading down the Charger�s sideline grasping his craned neck in the �choke� symbol is a little disrespectful (and funny). But I�m not here to condone or condemn what allegedly happened, hell if I wanted to do that I�d talk about how the Chargers showed the Pats absolutely no respect when they came into Gillette last year. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> �When we went in and beat their heads in New England last year, we did nothing but compliment them, we would never disrespect a team like that,� said Chargers LB Shaun Philips on the incident, which is a lie on both counts. Again, that�s neither here nor there, and personally I don�t care the least bit about off-field melodramatics. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> But obviously the national media has a different agenda. The Patriots have been vilified for the act, being marked as �classless� and �disrespectful,� with writers saying �they should have acted like they�ve been there before,� and �this franchise has won three Super Bowls, there is no need for the sore winner.� I paraphrase, but you get the idea. Anyway, I couldn�t figure out why that was; why one isolated incident has drawn so much attention, and subsequently why the Pat�s have become the NFL�s most loathsome current event. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> And then it dawned on me. The Pats have become the Steelers of the 70�s, the 49ers of the 80�s, (the godamn New York Yankees, if you want to go over the top with it). The media never likes the dynasties, the sports monopolies, for the most selfish of reasons- there is nothing left to be said about a team that occupies the spotlight year after year, and simply won�t go away. What�s more is that national sports writers have nothing left to spin on the Patriot�s franchise- a team that from a media standpoint offers up absolutely nothing in terms of inside information. Furthermore, the local or national press has never really gotten a handle on why the Patriot�s are what they are. In other words, what accounts for their supreme success. I mean, how many times can you use abstract terms to identify a team alongside their win percentage? <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Which all leads to why the national media jumped on the Patriots liked jackals. But so what. If that�s the way it has to be, then that�s the way it is. All I can say is that the Pat�s are moving on, and the San Diego Chargers are not. And If the Pat�s go on to Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Sunday�s game will go down as one of the legendary games in the Patriot�s recently storied franchise, right up there with the �snow bowl� vs. the Oakland Raiders in 01. It was history in the making, as they say, and my gut feeling tells me that in the weeks to come, we will all be looking back on this game as one of the most significant of the Belichick coached era. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> And so ends my rant. Before we close out, let�s take a look ahead at this week�s AFC championship game against the Colts. In the interest of brevity, here are three key points the Pats need to zero in on for the win. <BR> <BR> 1. <B>Upfront Protection-</B> if the Pat�s O-line does what it did in the Colt�s 27-20 week 9 victory at Gillette, Tom Brady is in for a long day. The speed and pass rush of the Colt�s front seven, namely Defensive Ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, is one area the Colt�s pride themselves on. So the strength of Kaczur, Neal, Light, and Koppen will be decisive.<BR> 2. <B>Establish the Run-</B> If Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney have big games, the Pats have a big game, end of story. By establishing a ground offense, the Pats will force the regular season�s most porous run defense to stack up, leaving Brady with a host of other options on offense. Also, the Colt�s secondary, aside from Bob Sanders is nothing spectacular. Again, this all depends on the effectiveness of the offensive linemen.<BR> 3. <B>Coverage-</B> Obviously Peyton Manning, although he�s been off his game as of recent, is still lethal in the air. The Pat�s linebackers and secondary will have to come up big to harness Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, and the rest of the Colt�s very talented tight-end and receiving core. If the Pat�s can minimize the big plays, they can contain the Colt�s offense. <BR> <BR> <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> So what�s to come of this matchup? Is Peyton Manning doomed to the likes of Dan Marino- an all-time great who never won a super bowl? I think yes, the difference between the two, Peyton might not ever get to one. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Pat�s win by 10 in a high scoring game. <BR> <BR> <B>Tell me, Tell me. <A HREF="mailto:josh@southcoast247.com">josh@southcoast247.com</A>.</B> <BR><BR><BR> <SPAN CLASS="LARGETEXT"><A HREF="pats.shtml">Read more from STATS ON PATS WEEKLY...</A></SPAN> <BR><BR> </SPAN> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <DIV ALIGN="CENTER">  <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JavaScript>  </SCRIPT>  <BR></DIV> </TD> <TD VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH=225 BGCOLOR="#CC9900"> <SPAN CLASS="TEXT"> <IMG SRC="http://www.southcoast247.com/column_images/ev_calx.gif"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.trumba.com/scripts/spuds.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $Trumba.addSpud({ webName: "southcoast-calendar-arts-entertainment-nightlife-clubs", spudType : "upcomingfader" , teaserBase : "http://www.southcoasttoday.com/static/247calendar.html" }); document.write('<br /><a href="http://www.southcoasttoday.com/static/247calendar.html"><font color="#ffffff">View All Events</font></a>'); </script> <noscript>Your browser must support JavaScript to view this content. 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