51 hours to go. That may sound like a random time for an open thread, but it's actually the perfect occasion. You see, the game is Sunday, and I have a pathological hatred of working the last 2 hours of a Friday. Ergo, here we are. But I don't want to just talk about the game. Jeebus knows, there's been enough talk. I want to hear your best smack. And me being a fan of the hated and soon to be perfect New England Patriots, I figure I could start this off right. Have at you!
It's almost too wonderful that we're going to beat a New York team to become the first perfect team in the history of the 16 game regular season. As I always say, if what I do in a day can make just one Yankee fan feel a little pain, I sleep well at night. And about 10pm eastern time on Sunday, there's going to be some serious gnashing of teeth in Yankeedom.
You see, this is the problem the Giants are going to run into. They're a nice little team. But, uhm, how does one say this humbly? One doesn't: Tom Brady is the best quarterback since the invention of the forward pass. Oh, and Randy Moss is probably the best wide receiver currently playing. And Wes Welker is probably the best possession receiver in the league. And Kevin Faulk is a top flight third down back. And the Patriots offensive line gave up fewer sacks than almost any team in the league. Oh, and 65 touchdowns, compared with (I believe) 10 turnovers. A 20 point regular season differential. And when the Patriots feel like rushing, they do. It's just that they frequently don't feel like rushing, because they'd rather complete 75% of their passes and score 28 points in the first half. It just seems more economical. The Steelers vaunted defense tried to stop them, and couldn't do it. The Jaguars tried to stop them, and couldn't do it. The Giants tried to stop them last time, and gave up 38 points, including 22 unanswered points in the second half. In fact, playing defense against the Patriots is kind of like using a .22 on a kodiak bear: it just makes them angry. It's much better for all concerned to step away from the line of scrimmage and allow them to march the ball into your end zone unmolested. I mean, they're going to do it anyway, why be disagreeable about it?
Other than that, I have no strong opinions about the strength of the Patriots offense.