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Defending Champions Are Running on Empty
Patriots Are Too Banged Up to Return to Super Bowl
By JIM ARMSTRONG
Sports Commentary
Normally, this isn't the smartest thing to say in mid-January, but being a veteran of such phrases, here goes anyway: The Patriots aren't about to win the Super Bowl.
Nothing personal, mind you. If it was personal, I'd pick them to win the next two or three Super Bowls. Because nobody appreciates more than I do what the Patriots have done and how they've done it.
OK, so Bill Belichick is the worst quote this side of Marcel Marceau. Doesn't mean, when he retires, that he isn't going directly to the Hall of Fame without passing Go. I just hope he doesn't show up in a gray sweatshirt for his induction ceremony.
All right, so Tom Brady keeps all the babes to himself, leaving the nice-personality girls for the rest of us. Doesn't mean he's not the best quarterback of his era and a whole lot of other eras. Brady is this generation's Bill Russell, and Peyton Manning is Wilt Chamberlain: Manning has the numbers, but Brady has the championships.
The Patriots transcend the word team. They're more like a phenomenon. And best of all, they don't act like it. It doesn't seem possible for a team with three Super Bowl trophies behind the glass, but they're almost humble.
Tell me the last time you saw a Patriots player spit in an opponent's face. And while you're at it, tell me the last time a Patriots wide receiver broke out some ridiculous look-at-me end-zone dance. You can't. Why? Because the Patriots, as per Belichick's job requirements, fly under the radar.
All they do is beat you. Especially in January. If Reggie Jackson was Mr. October, then Brady is Mr. January. Sure enough, the Patriots won their playoff opener the other day, beating Jacksonville 28-3 for their 10th straight postseason victory.
Be surprised if they make it 11.
Sorry, but these aren't your father's Patriots. Unless, of course, he happens to be their team physician.
Don't let the logo and the mystique fool you. The Patriots aren't destined to win another Super Bowl because of the sheer greatness of Belichick and Brady. They're like everyone else in this era of three-buck-a-gallon gas - they're running on empty.
The Patriots didn't win those three Super Bowls by coincidence. Sure, they had the best coach, but they also had the best players, many of whom will be watching the playoffs from the sideline.
The Patriots are too beat up to win another Super Bowl. Two starters on their offensive line, center Dan Koppen and left tackle Matt Light, are gone for the season, as is safety Rodney Harrison. Then you've got linebacker Tedy Bruschi and tailback Corey Dillon, neither of whom is playing at full speed.
Yes, the Patriots made the playoffs, but that was more a matter of geography than anything else. With apologies to the NFC North, the AFC East was the NFL's worst division in 2005. If the Patriots had been in any other division, they would have been buried by mid-November.
For all their greatness, Belichick and Brady can't will the Patriots to another Super Bowl. They need more players, more healthy bodies. Their running game is the worst of all the teams still alive in the playoffs. Their secondary has more issues than Maurice Clarett. And their offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, has taken up shop at Notre Dame.
Truth is, if the Patriots had drawn any team but Jacksonville for their first playoff matchup, they would have been vulnerable. Good team, the Jaguars, but as if they were going anywhere in the playoffs with Byron Leftwich at quarterback. The man had broken his ankle in late November, leaving him slightly less mobile than the Statue of Liberty.
Having dispatched of the Jaguars, the Patriots have earned a date with the Broncos in Denver, a game Belichick is calling ''our toughest challenge.'' For once, he isn't talking Coachspeak. He isn't trying to motivate his players. He's telling it like it is.
But even if they beat the Broncos, the Patriots won't be going to the Super Bowl, much less winning it. The Colts are out there. Or should I say they're inside? Having secured the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Colts aren't about to lose to the Patriots.
Don't get me wrong. There's nothing sad or moribund about all this. You want sad and moribund, talk to Raiders fans. You want sad and moribund, talk to the tavern patrons in Green Bay.
With Belichick and Brady around, the Patriots aren't going anywhere. They'll be factors in the Super Bowl hunt for years to come.
They just aren't going anywhere this season.
Patriots Are Too Banged Up to Return to Super Bowl
By JIM ARMSTRONG
Sports Commentary
Normally, this isn't the smartest thing to say in mid-January, but being a veteran of such phrases, here goes anyway: The Patriots aren't about to win the Super Bowl.
Nothing personal, mind you. If it was personal, I'd pick them to win the next two or three Super Bowls. Because nobody appreciates more than I do what the Patriots have done and how they've done it.
OK, so Bill Belichick is the worst quote this side of Marcel Marceau. Doesn't mean, when he retires, that he isn't going directly to the Hall of Fame without passing Go. I just hope he doesn't show up in a gray sweatshirt for his induction ceremony.
All right, so Tom Brady keeps all the babes to himself, leaving the nice-personality girls for the rest of us. Doesn't mean he's not the best quarterback of his era and a whole lot of other eras. Brady is this generation's Bill Russell, and Peyton Manning is Wilt Chamberlain: Manning has the numbers, but Brady has the championships.
The Patriots transcend the word team. They're more like a phenomenon. And best of all, they don't act like it. It doesn't seem possible for a team with three Super Bowl trophies behind the glass, but they're almost humble.
Tell me the last time you saw a Patriots player spit in an opponent's face. And while you're at it, tell me the last time a Patriots wide receiver broke out some ridiculous look-at-me end-zone dance. You can't. Why? Because the Patriots, as per Belichick's job requirements, fly under the radar.
All they do is beat you. Especially in January. If Reggie Jackson was Mr. October, then Brady is Mr. January. Sure enough, the Patriots won their playoff opener the other day, beating Jacksonville 28-3 for their 10th straight postseason victory.
Be surprised if they make it 11.
Sorry, but these aren't your father's Patriots. Unless, of course, he happens to be their team physician.
Don't let the logo and the mystique fool you. The Patriots aren't destined to win another Super Bowl because of the sheer greatness of Belichick and Brady. They're like everyone else in this era of three-buck-a-gallon gas - they're running on empty.
The Patriots didn't win those three Super Bowls by coincidence. Sure, they had the best coach, but they also had the best players, many of whom will be watching the playoffs from the sideline.
The Patriots are too beat up to win another Super Bowl. Two starters on their offensive line, center Dan Koppen and left tackle Matt Light, are gone for the season, as is safety Rodney Harrison. Then you've got linebacker Tedy Bruschi and tailback Corey Dillon, neither of whom is playing at full speed.
Yes, the Patriots made the playoffs, but that was more a matter of geography than anything else. With apologies to the NFC North, the AFC East was the NFL's worst division in 2005. If the Patriots had been in any other division, they would have been buried by mid-November.
For all their greatness, Belichick and Brady can't will the Patriots to another Super Bowl. They need more players, more healthy bodies. Their running game is the worst of all the teams still alive in the playoffs. Their secondary has more issues than Maurice Clarett. And their offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, has taken up shop at Notre Dame.
Truth is, if the Patriots had drawn any team but Jacksonville for their first playoff matchup, they would have been vulnerable. Good team, the Jaguars, but as if they were going anywhere in the playoffs with Byron Leftwich at quarterback. The man had broken his ankle in late November, leaving him slightly less mobile than the Statue of Liberty.
Having dispatched of the Jaguars, the Patriots have earned a date with the Broncos in Denver, a game Belichick is calling ''our toughest challenge.'' For once, he isn't talking Coachspeak. He isn't trying to motivate his players. He's telling it like it is.
But even if they beat the Broncos, the Patriots won't be going to the Super Bowl, much less winning it. The Colts are out there. Or should I say they're inside? Having secured the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, the Colts aren't about to lose to the Patriots.
Don't get me wrong. There's nothing sad or moribund about all this. You want sad and moribund, talk to Raiders fans. You want sad and moribund, talk to the tavern patrons in Green Bay.
With Belichick and Brady around, the Patriots aren't going anywhere. They'll be factors in the Super Bowl hunt for years to come.
They just aren't going anywhere this season.
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And the whole nation is stuck with Woody Paige. 
Is Denver a breeding ground for crappy sports columnists? 
I hate the Patriots, but damn if anyone can say they WONT win.
