Glazer: Cats win a street fight
HOUSTON -- There are three things people in New England don't want to hear: Bad things about anybody named Kennedy, winter is going to last until mid-April and Pete Prisco is picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl.
Well, I can't do anything about the first two, but the last one is going to make the entire six-state region angry.
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Tom Brady will try to extend the Patriots' winning streak to an incredible 15 games. (AP) |
The Patriots are my Super Bowl pick.
After weeks and weeks of picking against the Patriots, doubting their ability to win games and keep their winning streak alive, that hard head of mine has softened enough to bring me to the realization that they are destined.
It helps they might be playing one of the worst Super Bowl teams of all time in the Carolina Panthers.
Carolina could easily be 5-11 next year playing the style of play they do. As it is, they have won enough close games -- 7-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less in the regular season -- to find their way into a Super Bowl few thought they would make.
The Patriots have won 14 consecutive games to get here, a streak that is mighty impressive in this modern NFL.
Some have suggested this New England team should rank among the best of all-time if they win Sunday against the Panthers. That's a stretch, especially when you dissect the team as a whole.
They are good, very good in fact, just not great.
But will any of that matter come late Sunday night when the Patriots are celebrating another Super Bowl victory, their second in three years, while those damn Red Sox have waited over eight decades to get a World Series title?
The Red Sox may have that special place in the hearts of the New England fans, but the Patriots are closing fast.
The passion in that region is second to none in the NFL. I know. They have made me public enemy No. 1 -- doing so early in the 2003 season when I didn't put them atop the SportsLine.com Power Rankings.
Or was it back in 2001 when I said they had been one of the worst Super Bowl winners ever?
Or when I said Tom Brady was overrated?
Don't fret anymore, Pats fans. I'm on board with your team -- at least this week.
Of course, now all the New England fans will blame me if they lose to the Panthers on Sunday. They will call me "The Mush," the guy who helped end their 14-game winning streak, but even worse, ruin their Super Bowl dreams.
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They need not worry. The Patriots will be getting fitted for those rings in the spring, and coach Bill Belichick will stake his claim to a future bust in Canton.
That team concept has finally grabbed hold of me. No longer can I just sit here and say they are a team without stars, a team that won't beat teams with stars. Not after they beat the co-MVP's on successive weekends to get to the Super Bowl.
During the week after the AFC Championship Game, my feeling was that the Panthers might be that charmed team, that they were destined to win a Super Bowl. This was their year, their chance to come from nowhere and grab the big prize, sending writers and fans of other teams scurrying to figure out how.
After further study, and easing up on that hardhead approach to the Patriots, I'm now buying into this New England team being a darn good one, too good for the Panthers.
Are they a great team? Fifteen consecutive victories, if they do win Super Bowl XXXVIII, would be one heck of a feat.
How do I see the game going?
The Panthers, if they are smart, will pound Stephen Davis outside the edges against the New England defense. They will do so until it works. The Patriots excel at taking away great quarterbacks -- see Peyton Manning -- but the thinking is they can be had in the running game.
The Panthers will try and shorten the game, keep the score close going into the fourth quarter. That could work, even as they play field-position football. After three quarters, it will be 7-3 New England, as Brady will hit a big pass down the field to Deion Branch to set up the Patriots' first touchdown.
Carolina will have trouble sustaining drives as Jake Delhomme comes back to Earth with a bad third-down passing day. This fairy-tale season will come to a disappointing end when he throws a fourth-quarter interception that sets up the Patriots for a 14-3 lead. The Panthers get a field goal to cut the deficit to 8 -- finally, a coach plays the percentages right -- but that's where it ends.
Time runs out on the Panthers and the Patriots win 14-6.
Two things will stand out from this game. One is the Patriots offensive line will somehow find a way to block the Panthers' dominant front four. The other is the New England defense will prove too much for Delhomme to handle.
If Belichick can put the clamps on Steve McNair and Manning, what's to think Delhomme should do any better?
Defense will rule on this day, but New England finds a way to score two touchdowns, which will be enough.
Thankfully, we won't have a blowout. We also won't have much offense, which isn't good.
What we will have is talk of a dynasty in New England.
That, of course, is ridiculous in the salary-cap era. But since I'm on board now with this hard-working, overachieving, starless team, one that makes the 1950s generation proud, here's an early hint as to who will be the top-rated team in the first Power Rankings of 2004.
It won't be the Patriots.
See, it just wouldn't be right to be all the way on board. Would it?
So enjoy your Super Bowl victory, Patriots fans. Just one thing, though: If your team doesn't win, don't blame me for picking them.
After all, you told me all year long that I can't pick my nose, your 4-year-old children pick better than me, your grandmothers hate my picks, you bought a house with the money you made going against me and there is no way in hell anybody with my picking sense should have a job.
You've said that Jay Glazer knows football, and I don't. Well, Jay is picking the Panthers.
Go get him, New England. He's your new whipping boy.
