Patriots nearly the greatest
02:52 PM CST on Tuesday, February 5, 2008
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Before we bury the once-perfect New England Patriots, let's ponder their place in history.
No, their 2007 team isn't the greatest ever. Nor is their 2000 decade the greatest dynasty. The other teams of the decade in the Super Bowl era – the 1970s Steelers, 1980s 49ers and 1990s Cowboys – never lost a championship game during their runs of excellence.
But these Patriots were oh so close to becoming the greatest team and greatest dynasty in NFL history. Only 95 seconds separated them from immortality.
From 2001 to '07, the Patriots won six division titles and qualified for the playoffs six times. In the one season (2002) they didn't reach the playoffs, the Patriots tied for first place in the AFC East with the New York Jets with 9-7 records. But New England lost the division title and playoff berth on a tiebreaker.
The Patriots won a league-high 86 games from 2001 to '07, appeared in five conference championship games and four Super Bowls.
In the 2006 season, the Patriots lost the AFC title game to the Indianapolis Colts, 38-34, on a touchdown run by Joseph Addai with 60 seconds remaining. The Colts went on to win the Super Bowl. Had New England held on against Indianapolis, the Patriots probably would have won their fourth Super Bowl of the decade against the Chicago Bears.
And this season, the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, 17-14, on a touchdown reception by Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left. If the Patriots had held on, that conceivably would have been their NFL record fifth Super Bowl of the decade.
So the Patriots came up 95 seconds short of winning five Super Bowls in a span of seven seasons, which would have matched the run by the Lombardi Packers of five NFL championships in seven seasons from 1961 to '67.
That would have opened the door for the great debate: Lombardi and Starr or Belichick and Brady?
Oh, well.
When the Patriots came up short in the AFC title game a year ago, coach Bill Belichick pinpointed the problem – a lack of playmakers on the flank – and aggressively addressed it.
Belichick traded for Randy Moss and Wes Welker and signed Donte Stallworth in free agency. Overnight the Patriots became one of the greatest passing offenses in NFL history. That allowed New England to take the next step – winning the AFC.
When Belichick does his post-mortem this week on the 2007 season, he'll be able to pinpoint the problem immediately – linebacker. Specifically, the age at linebacker.
The 3-4 defense is a linebacker-driven scheme with the pass rush generated by the backers. But New England's aging linebackers were invisible in the Super Bowl. I don't recall hearing the names "Junior Seau" or "Mike Vrabel" the whole game, and my one memory of Tedy Bruschi was him getting steamrolled by Brandon Jacobs on a first-half rush.
Seau is 39, Bruschi 34 and Vrabel 32. The only linebacker who made any noise against the Giants was Adalius Thomas. He's only 30 and used his legs to run down Eli Manning twice on sacks.
Belichick needs younger legs who can get to the quarterback. Look for him to aggressively upgrade his linebacking corps this off-season, just as he did his wideouts in 2007.
Linebackers who weren't good enough to win a Super Bowl at the ages of 39, 34 and 32 in 2007 won't be good enough in 2008 at the ages of 40, 35 and 33. Belichick needs better, younger linebackers for the Patriots to take the next step – winning a Super Bowl.
My lasting impression of Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman did not come from any of his Super Bowl victories. It came in an NFC Championship Game loss at San Francisco in 1995.
The Cowboys, behind big and early, had to throw, throw and throw to get back into the game. The 49ers unleashed the pass rush on Aikman and beat him up, pushed him around and knocked him down. Time and time again Aikman had to pick himself up from the muck at Candlestick Park. He showed his toughness in a valiant but losing effort, throwing 53 times for 380 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-28 loss.
Watching Brady against the Giants in the Super Bowl reminded me of Aikman. That had to be the worst beating Brady has taken in his seven seasons as the starting quarterback of the Patriots. He was sacked five times and was hit on at least half of his 48 throws. Yet Brady kept getting up, standing in against that ferocious rush and throwing.
His 80-yard touchdown drive in the closing minutes that appeared to deliver a championship was vintage Brady. He threw 11 passes in the 12-play drive, culminated by a 6-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss for a 14-10 lead with 2:42 remaining.
Had the New England defense held onto the lead, the Brady legend would have grown to Joe Montana-like proportions. But 10 years from now I won't remember that drive. What I will remember is the toughness Brady displayed.
Just like Aikman.
I'd go with the Patriots and Green Bay Packers. The NFC East is going to be a slugfest between Dallas, New York and Philadelphia. They're going to beat up on each other on the field and in the standings. The Packers have the youngest team in the NFL and will have running back Ryan Grant for a full season. That youth and the competitive nature of the NFC East should deliver the NFC homefield advantage to the Packers. Brett Favre may win his next Super Bowl the same way John Elway won his first – handing the ball off to an elite runner. And as long as Tom Brady is taking the snaps for the Patriots, they'll be the favorite in the AFC. So there's my early, early pick – Packers-Patriots.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee took a step in the right direction last weekend by choosing four defensive players and two offensive players to comprise the Class of 2008. It's only the second time in the last 26 years and first time since 2000 that defensive players have outnumbered offensive players in an induction class.
As it stands now, there are 107 offensive players that have been enshrined in the game's modern era (since 1960) compared to 62 defensive players. The committee needs to continue chipping away at that imbalance.
What heartened me sitting in the meeting was the selection of two pass rushers, Fred Dean and Andre Tippett. Quite a logjam was developing there, and the committee needed to start honoring a few of these difference-makers.
In addition to Dean, Tippett, Derrick Thomas and Richard Dent on this year's ballot, Charles Haley and Kevin Greene are in the bullpen. Chris Doleman and Rickey Jackson need their chance to be discussed in the room, and Bruce Smith is soon to join the crowd.
My guess is Thomas and Dent will be among the favorites for the Class of 2009. You can also pencil in defensive back Rod Woodson as a front-runner. He enters his first year of eligibility.
Finally, the buzz is that one candidate on the 2008 ballot was followed around Phoenix by HBO cameras last Saturday for a "Day in the Life of a Hall of Famer" feature. Except that that candidate failed to make the Hall of Fame.
■ How much of a joke is the Pro Bowl team? The Cowboys had four Pro Bowl offensive linemen and the Patriots three. Yet the New York Giants put a Mike Tyson-like beating on both of them in the playoffs with a defensive line that featured one Pro Bowler (Osi Umenyiora).
■ Wes Welker is a gamer. When New England had nothing else going against the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, and Randy Moss was doing his usual postseason disappearing act, Welker was the one guy on the Patriots with any energy or productivity. Which is why Tom Brady kept feeding him the football. He was the only guy Brady could trust.
■ Here's hoping that one day another NFL team can go unbeaten just so we can stop listening to the 1972 Miami Dolphins yak on about themselves. That act is growing thin.
■ The New York Giants won the Super Bowl on the field, but the New England Patriots definitely won the battle of cheerleaders on the sidelines. That's because the New York Giants don't have any cheerleaders. "We're a football team," Giants PR guru Pat Hanlon said. "We're all about football."
■ Tom Brady and Randy Moss were two of the NFL's brightest lights last season. Brady set an NFL record for touchdown passes (50) and Moss an NFL mark for touchdown receptions (23). But a day after losing the Super Bowl, both have decided to skip the Pro Bowl. Let's see – Brady, Moss, Brett Favre and LaDainian Tomlinson all have bowed out. The Pro Bowl is supposed to showcase the game's best players. But the best players don't want to travel to Hawaii to play in this game. Fourteen players voted to the 2008 team have opted out. It's time to eliminate the Pro Bowl. It's no longer a showcase – it's a charade.
■ I'll be working on my annual NFL special teams rankings this week, and they are schedule to run in this Sunday's paper. Then I'll start doing my homework on the NFL scouting combine the following week. I'll be heading up to Indianapolis on Feb. 20 for the start of the combine. The draft is the fun part of my NFL calendar.