mesaSteeler
05-29-2008, 11:14 PM
Jinx has its work cut out for it in Patriots
By Randy Hill
Veteran columnist Randy Hill is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
Updated: May 29, 2008, 3:29 PM EST
I understand and appreciate your distaste for the New England Patriots.
Maybe the word distaste is an understatement and should be replaced by the words screaming hatred.
Anyway, please note that I don't share your enthusiasm when the Patriots lose a game or are accused of cheating more than other teams allegedly cheat. But I certainly don't mind admiring the circus they create by winning games and inspiring accusations of impropriety.
With that in mind, I'm here to assist in building a reasonable case against the Patriots relative to their potential success during the upcoming season. Unfortunately, we have some work to do; according to the sharpies in Vegas, the Pats are favored to win the next Super Bowl.
But the anti-Patriots crowd may have karma on its side.
Yeah, that would be the not-quite-infallible jinx attached to NFL teams returning to action following a Super Bowl defeat. With recent history as our touchstone, please note that six of the last seven Super Bowl losers failed to make the playoffs the following season.
Stepping in as our exception are the Seattle Seahawks, who made it to the Super Bowl during the 2005 season, lost the big game and rallied to make the playoffs at 9-7 the following year. Proponents of karma often remind us the Seahawks were (and still are) working in the pillow-soft NFC West, which is good for an automatic five or six victories per season.
For the record, Super Bowl losers that failed to reach the postseason the following year include the New York Giants (2001), St. Louis Rams (2002), Oakland Raiders (2003), Carolina Panthers (2004), Philadelphia Eagles (2005) and Chicago Bears (2007).
While acknowledging that it would seem impossible for the Patriots to sink to those levels, let's take a look at the potential categories defining their potential (though slim) for demise:
Spygate and IR-gate
Although New England's candid-camera activities cost the franchise a first-round draft choice, the hit was mitigated because the San Francisco 49ers had coughed up a first-round pick to the Pats the year before.
Commissioner Roger Goodell destroyed the video evidence, and despite recent allegations of injured-reserve shenanigans, the Patriots' greatest sanctions may already be in the rearview mirror.
Personnel hits
OK, losing cornerback Asante Samuel is good for the anti-Patriots crowd, but draft wonks believe the Pats did well (second-round pick Terrence Wheatley) at replenishing the DB pool. Never underestimate this franchise's ability to almost always develop its existing talent.
Observers hoping the Pats' aging linebacker corps will become a liability grudgingly admit the addition of Jerod Mayo with the Niners' pick was a swell move.
Adalius Thomas and newcomer Victor Hobson aren't exactly ready for the seniors' tour.
Schedule
We're all aware that a successful NFL team usually is rewarded with a brutal schedule the following season, right?
Well, the Patriots' 16-0 regular season has bought them road games with the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers. Yeah, there's no hayride in either trip.
But our bid to invoke the Super Bowl-losers jinx is sabotaged by the obligatory six games with AFC East teams and four more scrimmage-level events with teams from the not-so-mighty NFC West.
The four remaining games are home dates with the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, abetted by a trip to Oakland.
While NFL parity permits teams to rise up from mediocrity in a matter of months, it's tough to identify six teams capable of defeating New England.
We won't give up without a fight, though.
Tom Brady's health
OK, so the loss of this future Hall-of-Fame quarterback could be our last gasp at making an argument against the Pats' playoff return.
It would help if EA Sports put Brady's likeness on the cover of Madden '09, but his absence must be part of some conspiracy.
Anyway, this Brady character seems fairly bullet-proof thus far.
For starters, the New England QB impregnated his actress-girlfriend at about the same time he dumped her for a supermodel. This is further proof that timing is more important than a rocket arm.
Brady also had the nerve to wear a New York Yankees cap in public without facing physical injury. This transgression occurred in New York and was summarily dismissed in Boston when Patriots fans were reminded that Tom was the architect of a few Beantown parades.
Brady, who has not missed a start the past six seasons, is a long shot to be sidelined by any sack-related injury. According to the numbers, the Patriots have allowed 26 or fewer sacks the last four seasons. Their offensive line, which allowed Brady to fall just 21 times last season, isn't expected to lose a beat, although the New York Giants demonstrated that hitting ol' Tom is possible.
Maybe he can be escorted to the sidelines by the Colts' Dwight Freeney or Shawn Merriman of the Chargers. But you wouldn't want the Patriots to fall with the loss of Brady as an excuse, would you?
And wondering if Brady has taken up motorcycle riding is downright sinister.
You should be ashamed for even thinking of it.
After sifting through our four Pats-demise categories, it seems obvious that keeping New England out of the playoffs would require more mojo than this prevailing jinx can muster.
Read this article at:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8186744/Jinx-has-its-work-cut-out-for-it-in-Patriots click to print this page
© 2008 Fox Sports Interactive
By Randy Hill
Veteran columnist Randy Hill is a frequent contributor to FOXSports.com.
Updated: May 29, 2008, 3:29 PM EST
I understand and appreciate your distaste for the New England Patriots.
Maybe the word distaste is an understatement and should be replaced by the words screaming hatred.
Anyway, please note that I don't share your enthusiasm when the Patriots lose a game or are accused of cheating more than other teams allegedly cheat. But I certainly don't mind admiring the circus they create by winning games and inspiring accusations of impropriety.
With that in mind, I'm here to assist in building a reasonable case against the Patriots relative to their potential success during the upcoming season. Unfortunately, we have some work to do; according to the sharpies in Vegas, the Pats are favored to win the next Super Bowl.
But the anti-Patriots crowd may have karma on its side.
Yeah, that would be the not-quite-infallible jinx attached to NFL teams returning to action following a Super Bowl defeat. With recent history as our touchstone, please note that six of the last seven Super Bowl losers failed to make the playoffs the following season.
Stepping in as our exception are the Seattle Seahawks, who made it to the Super Bowl during the 2005 season, lost the big game and rallied to make the playoffs at 9-7 the following year. Proponents of karma often remind us the Seahawks were (and still are) working in the pillow-soft NFC West, which is good for an automatic five or six victories per season.
For the record, Super Bowl losers that failed to reach the postseason the following year include the New York Giants (2001), St. Louis Rams (2002), Oakland Raiders (2003), Carolina Panthers (2004), Philadelphia Eagles (2005) and Chicago Bears (2007).
While acknowledging that it would seem impossible for the Patriots to sink to those levels, let's take a look at the potential categories defining their potential (though slim) for demise:
Spygate and IR-gate
Although New England's candid-camera activities cost the franchise a first-round draft choice, the hit was mitigated because the San Francisco 49ers had coughed up a first-round pick to the Pats the year before.
Commissioner Roger Goodell destroyed the video evidence, and despite recent allegations of injured-reserve shenanigans, the Patriots' greatest sanctions may already be in the rearview mirror.
Personnel hits
OK, losing cornerback Asante Samuel is good for the anti-Patriots crowd, but draft wonks believe the Pats did well (second-round pick Terrence Wheatley) at replenishing the DB pool. Never underestimate this franchise's ability to almost always develop its existing talent.
Observers hoping the Pats' aging linebacker corps will become a liability grudgingly admit the addition of Jerod Mayo with the Niners' pick was a swell move.
Adalius Thomas and newcomer Victor Hobson aren't exactly ready for the seniors' tour.
Schedule
We're all aware that a successful NFL team usually is rewarded with a brutal schedule the following season, right?
Well, the Patriots' 16-0 regular season has bought them road games with the Indianapolis Colts and San Diego Chargers. Yeah, there's no hayride in either trip.
But our bid to invoke the Super Bowl-losers jinx is sabotaged by the obligatory six games with AFC East teams and four more scrimmage-level events with teams from the not-so-mighty NFC West.
The four remaining games are home dates with the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, abetted by a trip to Oakland.
While NFL parity permits teams to rise up from mediocrity in a matter of months, it's tough to identify six teams capable of defeating New England.
We won't give up without a fight, though.
Tom Brady's health
OK, so the loss of this future Hall-of-Fame quarterback could be our last gasp at making an argument against the Pats' playoff return.
It would help if EA Sports put Brady's likeness on the cover of Madden '09, but his absence must be part of some conspiracy.
Anyway, this Brady character seems fairly bullet-proof thus far.
For starters, the New England QB impregnated his actress-girlfriend at about the same time he dumped her for a supermodel. This is further proof that timing is more important than a rocket arm.
Brady also had the nerve to wear a New York Yankees cap in public without facing physical injury. This transgression occurred in New York and was summarily dismissed in Boston when Patriots fans were reminded that Tom was the architect of a few Beantown parades.
Brady, who has not missed a start the past six seasons, is a long shot to be sidelined by any sack-related injury. According to the numbers, the Patriots have allowed 26 or fewer sacks the last four seasons. Their offensive line, which allowed Brady to fall just 21 times last season, isn't expected to lose a beat, although the New York Giants demonstrated that hitting ol' Tom is possible.
Maybe he can be escorted to the sidelines by the Colts' Dwight Freeney or Shawn Merriman of the Chargers. But you wouldn't want the Patriots to fall with the loss of Brady as an excuse, would you?
And wondering if Brady has taken up motorcycle riding is downright sinister.
You should be ashamed for even thinking of it.
After sifting through our four Pats-demise categories, it seems obvious that keeping New England out of the playoffs would require more mojo than this prevailing jinx can muster.
Read this article at:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8186744/Jinx-has-its-work-cut-out-for-it-in-Patriots click to print this page
© 2008 Fox Sports Interactive