Stats on Pats Weekly - A Eulogy to Patriot Nation: New York 17, New England 14 Article by Raleigh Dugal, southcoast247.com assistant editor
First of all, stop kidding yourself that eighteen wins means anything at all. Without a Super Bowl to punctuate the perfect season, the 2007 Patriots, along with all their glitzy offensive records, are a historical laughingstock. That's not sour grapes on my part, it's just a plain fact. This type of blunder puts them on par with the hapless Buffalo Bills and the Yankees in 2004 when they dropped the ball against the Sox. Aside from the fact that we all got to witness and anticipate possibly the greatest season in football history, and one of the most exciting Super Bowls, there isn't any comfort to be had.
Second, quit crying foul on the officials. Yes, they sucked. Pierre Wood's fumble recovery should have been whistled dead long before two Giants players turned him over and ripped the ball from his hands at the bottom of the pile (in plain view of an official). Refs didn't waste any time making the call on a New York recovery just a few minutes later. Amani Toomer stuck Ellis Hobbs right in the face mask before his big-time gain. Before the startling pass that set up the winning touchdown, Eli Manning was clearly in the Patriot grasp, and again no whistle.
This kind of says it all
Forget all that shit. Sure, it's true, but any real athlete will tell you that winners don't put themselves in a position for the refs to beat them. In any case, it wasn't the refs, it was the Giants' defensive line. Tom Brady was sacked five times for a loss of 37 yards and, with the exception of their final offensive drive, looked like a Pop Warner QB who couldn't put his pads on straight. Wes Welker caught 11 passes for 103 yards and Maroney put together a 94 yard performance, but the Pats scored less than the Chess Club on prom night.
In the end, it was the Giants who bought into their own destiny. The Patriots didn't play like a team that had never lost. To be honest, Bill Belichick didn't coach them like one either. Opting to throw on fourth and thirteen instead of kick a 47-yarder for three points is either hubris or stupidity, and I hate to believe either one of the guy who's given me so much as a fan for the past six years. The waning seconds of the game were a sad perversion of the Patriots success all year, as America watched Tom Brady tragically hurl the ball at Randy Moss over and over, and all of Boston's insides squirmed at the thought of fucking New York ever winning anything.
Yes, this is a bitter column.
A postscript to Giants' fans native to New England: There isn't an instrument small enough to measure your integrity. And don't ever let me catch you rooting for the fucking Red Sox.
First of all, stop kidding yourself that eighteen wins means anything at all. Without a Super Bowl to punctuate the perfect season, the 2007 Patriots, along with all their glitzy offensive records, are a historical laughingstock. That's not sour grapes on my part, it's just a plain fact. This type of blunder puts them on par with the hapless Buffalo Bills and the Yankees in 2004 when they dropped the ball against the Sox. Aside from the fact that we all got to witness and anticipate possibly the greatest season in football history, and one of the most exciting Super Bowls, there isn't any comfort to be had.
