Not a good day for the good guys (that is, if you consider Rob and I good guys). First, we had Rob’s beloved Saints annihilated by a tenacious Bears defense and some sloppy play early on by the Crescent City footballers. I said yesterday that I thought the teams that turned the football over the least would win, and that was certainly the case for the Saints – 4 turnovers to the Bears’ 0. The Saints seemed to be turning it around late in the 2nd quarter and early in the 3rd, but the Bears hung tough, were able to bend without breaking, then turn it into a rout after some forced errors by the Saints.
(And put me down as unimpressed by Reggie Bush‘s ‘bush’ somersault touchdown display – after all: 1) dude, your team was losing at the time, and, regardless of what you think, the game’s NOT all about you, and 2) true champions don’t act that way when they score; aren’t you supposed to act like you’ve been there before?)
As for the game between the Patriots and the Colts, I never thought, even after the Pats were up 21-3 over the Colts early on, that the game was never anything but in danger. You could see that the Colts came in perhaps a little TOO psyched, and once they settled down, it was impressive to see Peyton Manning (as much as I can’t stand the guy) pick apart and gradually wear down the Patriots’ defense. I think Pats QB Tom Brady did the best he could do with what he had to work with, but you have to give the Colts credit – they were impressive on both sides of the ball, and should go into the Super Bowl two weeks’ hence as solid favorites.
Sigh. It would have been a great story (at least for Rob and me) to see the Saints and the Pats meet in Miami; alas, it wasn’t to be.
Somehow, it never feels more like winter than after your football team has been eliminated from play. It’s a good thing I’m going to Vegas in less than three weeks, and we’re only four weeks away from the start of Spring Training. Gotta have something to look forward to!
Say what you will, but the Pats threw this one away with some stupid play.
Late in the first half, with the ball on the Colts 48, they drive 15 yards, only to give them all up with two stupid penalties. If the Pats score on that drive, the game would have been over, because there would have been no time for the Colts to drive back downfield for the filed goal. 28-3 at the half would have been too much to overcome.
If that call on Hobbs in the endzone was pass interference, the rules need to be changed. But if that is the rule, then Hobbs was an idiot.
12 men on the field in the huddle? Stupid. That 5 yarder kept them from another first down, and gave the Pats another 3 and out.
Finally, where was Cory Dillon in the 2nd half? Do we only have to pay him half his salary for the year, since he only works half the time? Moroney and his stupid stutter-step was a drive killing machine in the 2nd half.
Belichick wasn’t paying attention to the game in the 2nd half, and that was what cost us the win. Never thought I’d see the day when he got out-coached.
Oh yeah, and Ellis Hobbs is incapable of making a drive-killing play. Why is he still there?
Comment by Dave Richard — January 22, 2007 @ 3:54 am
I think Bush can be forgiven here. He’s an exuberant ROOKIE. In the heat of the moment in a big game at the end of an electrifying play, he celebrated in a bit of an unsportsmanlike (By my standards, not NFL standards) manner for a few seconds but he admitted his mistake and apologized for it. We have all seen worse behavior in the NFL. To me, this was no big deal. Full disclosure: I’m a Reggie Bush fan. 🙂
Comment by Rob — January 22, 2007 @ 4:27 pm
Reggie’s got a bright future ahead of him and he’s a smart kid. Well………..OK, I guess I’ll let it go this time. But you know what they say, Rob – fool me once….
And my bro’s spot on re: Belichick. I was very surprised to see the Pats not respond to the Colts in the 2nd half. I mean, they showed the Pats at the end of the first half what they were going to do in the 2nd and dared them to stop them. So what does Belichick do? Just stand there watching them give up acreage to the Colts and give them even more confidence. Very surprising, indeed.
Comment by The Great White Shank — January 22, 2007 @ 5:52 pm