Brady happened. Belichick happened. Schottenheimer happened. If ever a game followed a pre-written script, it was New England’s 24-21 victory over San Diego. The Chargers have more talent, and in fact outplayed the Patriots for most of the game. But Martyball (not at all affiliated with RandBall) made some strange decisions (i.e. going for it on 4th-11 from New England’s 30 in a scoreless game instead of trying a 48-yard field goal), and the team with the guts got the big break (the interception-turned-fumble that led to the tying TD). Given that one crack, Belichick made a huge call on the 2-pt conversion (direct snap to Kevin Faulk? Are you kidding? The coach, to borrow a term from corporate America, has some low-hanging fruit of his own, if you know what we’re saying). Then Brady makes the money throw on third down during the final drive. Win enough games like this, and it’s not a coincidence. It’s a dynasty. As for Marty and the Chargers: Lose enough games like this, and it’s no longer a coincidence. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. See Mason, Glen. So now we have Patriots v. Colts, which is the best thing ever and allows the use of one of our favorite pictures of all-time. Tells a thousand words, doesn’t it?

Oh, and we somehow went 4-0 in picking games (though just 2-2 vs. the spread, not bad enough to have our thumbs broken had we been bold enough in real life, but still, we didn’t think either NFC road team would cover. Nice effort by the Seahawks, who really had the look of winning that game at the end and probably should have. Hasselbeck couldn’t make the one play to push them over the top. There’s the line between good and great. Matt can see the line from where he stands. He can also see Tom Brady on the other side of it.

They can do no wrong: Wild and Wolves. Suddenly, the Skating W’s have won three consecutive on the road. Suddenly, of course, is synonymous with “thanks to the return of Marian Gaborik.” The Wolves, meanwhile, are beating the teams they should beat. Good chance to make a mini-statement today in Detroit, too.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 8:27 am and is filed under Main, NFL, Wha\' happened. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.