The Pats did not thanklessly discard Bledsoe. After the Super Bowl, it was clear that Brady was going to be the starter. Bledsoe wanted to leave and the Patriots accomodated his wishes even to the point of trading him to the team that he wanted to go to. Lawyer Milloy is another story. There were cap issues and the Pats felt he was no longer playing at a level comensurate with his salary. It was a sound business decision to let him go and all teams do this. Unfortunately, Ty Law will be next.
I love this. First, the Eagles were supposed to fall apart and die without T.O. Didn't happen. Next, the Eagles were supposed to be rusty after a month layoff and McNabb was supposed to faulter without playing any meaningful minutes without T.O. Didn't happen. Then, Vick and the running Falcons offense was supposed to be able to exploit the Eagles weakness on defense: running and the Eagles weren't supposed to be able to contain Vick because only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers know how to do that. Didn't happen. Now everybody is picking the Patriots because either they have the experience, they're on a roll, the Eagles can't stop them, T.O. may come back and hobble them, etc. I'm picking the Eagles because I do not over look them as many people have in the past month. They may not be the same offense without T.O. but their defense is so good that all the offense has to do is put up 20+ points a game. Westbrook has been the key person opponents need to stop but they haven't done it. The wide receivers have actually stepped up and made plays in the absence of Owens. The defense hasn't allowed 100 yards rushing by anyone...not even a team the past 2 weeks, the defensive backfield has 3 Pro Bowlers in it, and Jeremiah Trotter has brought respect to the linebacker core. Jim Johnson, as I said before, is a defensive genius and one who doesn't get the same respect as others around the league, especially the Patriots assistances. The Eagles have been the underdog all along and are even the underdog now. Don't be surprised if they pull out a victory in the Super Bowl.
Superbowl: Eagles 26 Patriots 24 McNabb seems to be in a zone. Not having Terrell Owens may have helped. He's scoping the whole field to find a WR. That should put him in the right frame of mind for the superbowl. Brady will be able to match him. The Patriots are hard to stop, but I think Kearse is going to make a difference in the game. It may only be one or two plays , but they will be big plays in the fourth quarter when he forces Brady to rush a pass or two. Eagles will bend, but not collapse, and that will be enough to win the game on a late TD. I'm rooting for Philly, but honestly believe, they can win this as well.
I think the Pats will win, but that spread is huge. I'd have to go with the Eagles and the points if I were a betting man.
So which is it? Doesn't matter! I'll take the over for $500 please Alex! Rooting for the Eagles but the Pats will probably win.
I liken Belicheck to the kid who always seems to know exactly what's going to be on the test... and aces it every time. Also, in the process, everybody hates him. You swear he's got a copy of it, or that he snuck in the week before and stole it from the professor's office... but with the amount of game-film he watches before each week, he basically IS stealing the other team's offensive and defensive game-plans. Thus, unless you plan on doing something TOTALLY different on both offense and defense, Philly, you honestly have no chance. If you plan on keeping your old playbook, you might as well hand it to them right now... they already know it.
There is no way I can bet againist the Pats at this point. They are such a finely tuned machine that I dont see anyone beating them. The X factor IMO is TO, if he plays he can make a difference, but even with TO the Eagles have their work cut out for them. Pats 28 Eagles 17
The Patriot should be very vulnerable to the McNabb air attack. One, they are hurting in the defensive backfield. Two, they can't drop everyone back in coverage because of McNabb. Three, Terrell Owens is all world. Four, the Eagles check to the open Wide receiver for small gains. I think the Eagles will have no problem throwing the ball. The Titans had a very similar offense and defense to the Eagles and only lost 17-14 last year. I think this game will be very tight.
Pats remind me of the old Celtics they seem to get the close calls I was really pissed about the Roughing penalty on T Brady that lead to a touchdown then to watch Big Ben get molested after almost every throw without any call [hyperbole] Rocket River
I hate the Pats.....I'm a big Raiders fan, so I'm still convinced they stole our Super Bowl (yeah, I know, we just played like crap in the 4th, but like I'm really going to say that). Go Philly..... if TO returns, he'll catch a TD pass and lead a Willis Reed like return for victory. if TO does not play......it will snow in Jacksonville and pats win on a last second feild goal........yeah, snow, in Jacksonville......swear to God
Nobody is overlooking the Eagles. It's the Superbowl, and even though the AFC is clearly the better league, both teams in this match-up are clearly very good. But it's not about overlooking the Eagles as much as looking at the Patriots. Any challenge presented to them, they've not only met, but far exceeded. Stop the most prolific offense maybe in history - piece of cake. Drive down the field and score at will at every critical juncture against the league's best score defense this year - not a problem. I don't see why Tom Brady & Co. should have any mroe problems with the Eagles defense than they've had with any team all season, or, as importantly, how Bellicheck & Friends won't find the perfect scheme to shut down the Eagles offense - especially considering McNabb isn't the best big-game quarterback to this point in his career. Again, if the Eagles win, I won't be surprised - they're talented, they've also got very solid coaching, etc. But it's very very very very very very very very hard to realistically get past the fact that the Patriots are dominant in nearly every way, ESPECIALLY in big game situations.
Why do you hate the Pats? Because their a successful organization? Every decade has these dynasties and they are eventually dethroned. Personally, I think they'll win. I'd lid like to see someone else in the AFC knock them off. It probably won't be the Texan's for a while, but I can hope.
Yeah it's gonna be the Pats, I was going for the Eagles, but I just hate TO so much that I've started to lean toward the Pats. Pugs
I can't stand Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi. They get away with unnecessary late hits every single game. That alone is reason enough for me to root against the Pats despite knowing they're probably win.
Pats are gonna win. Even though I hate them. I give them credit for playing consistent good football on both sides of the ball. I am just hoping for the Eagles to win, but it probably aint gonna happen. And it was a fumble.
I despised the Eagles even before they got the most obnoxious guy in professional sports, Owens. If Pittsburgh had won, it trully would have been the most nauseating superbowl ever and all I could hope for would be both teams embarrasing themsevelves. Feelings aside (and I don't really like the Pats either, I actually wanted the Falcons to win it all but knew it wasn't going to happen), the Pats are the pick. Here are some comments I made adapted from another thread. The potential return of Owens could impact things, but honestly it might do more harm than good to an Eagles offense. Their offense is very much playing like a team, but assuming Owens returns, I can't imagine he will be in game shape, let alone playoff football shape and mindset. Trying to force the ball to him could throw their offense off. Overall, I do think the Eagles offense is very good, and McNabb is very good. But the Pats are another animal defensively. The most successful teams versus the Pats have been power running teams (Carolina played them tough last year, Pittsburgh has had some success). The Pats D has obliterated the more finese Rams O and Indy's O the last 2 years. The Eagles offense is more like a finese O than a power O these days. I think the primary way the Eagles will having success offensively is through McNabb buying time with his feet or running. But the Pats will know this and will scheme for it. A 0-50% effective Owens and a 0% Chad Lewis really hurts. That is more weapons and balance taken away from the Eagles, making it far easier to focus on containing McNabb. Before they could go with two TE power sets, but Lewis and Smith are both very good receivers in play action. Lewis can be replace fine by Smith in pure passing situations, but Lewis will be missed more in the run game and setting up play action. The screens to Westbrook, the shuffle passes, and high % trickier stuff, that works versus dumber defenses but not the Pats defense. Basically, I think the Eagles must have success in 1st down runs to set up other things, and I doubt that will happen against the Pats. In sum, I think if McNabb can score over 20 it will be because he had a great day. So that brings us to the Pats O-Eagles D. And the problem here is Tom Brady. Dude is a freaken silent assassin. The Eagles thrive on confusing QBs into bad throws. And Brady is the best in the league at not falling for bait like that. The way he chewed up Pittsburgh, a similar D to the Eagles, was scary. Factor in the explosive and hard running Dillon, a threat the Pats have not had the last 2 years, and you have major trouble trying to contain them. The Eagles would do well to keep NE to 24 or 27 points. X-factor. Notice how the Eagles acted like they actually accomplished something (we proved the doubters wrong, blah, blah, blah) and WON the Superbowl yesterday. The Eagles still haven't beaten one of the top 4 in the league all year, regular season or playoffs. They have not accomplished anything they were not prohibitive favorites to do, nor anything much to be proud of yet (beating 1 dimensional NFC patsies is not all that). However to the Pats yesterday, it was just nother game on the way to the real prize, all business. I expect the Pats to be much better prepared and the Eagles to be tight--I love to see the Eagles get bombed and wipe all those smiles away of their smug fans and players from yesterday. It might just happen (them not just losing, but getting bombed). I sure wouldn't mind a Cowboys 90's esk 55-10 shellacking of the Eagles, but I have a hunch the Eagles play better than that, my real predicted score is more like 31 Patsies, 17 Eagles. As for betting I lean towards the Over (47.5) and Pats (-7). I hate to give up a full 7 though, I'd see if it goes to 6.5.
OK, your X-factor is just ignorant. The Eagles got over the hump that had been blocking them the past three seasons by passing the NFC title game and making it to the Super Bowl. So there, they did accomplish something whether you would like to believe it or not. How many times did McNabb, Dawkins, and others have to say it to get it through your narrow-minded head, "we're not finished yet" was repeated over by several different players. This should show you that they knew they didn't win the SUper Bowl or even thought that way. Of course they celebrated because they finally did it after 3 years, much like the Patriots celebrated their AFC championship 4 years ago when Brady came out of nowhere to lead them to the Super Bowl. The only reason you didn't see the Pats celebrating is because they've been there before and know what's next as do the Eagles but the Eagles took a little more time celebrating, as they should have. They proved people wrong, many didn't think McNabb could win in a big game situation and he did. Many thought they would be rusty after a month's layoff, they weren't. Many didn't know if the Eagles' defense could hold up against the league's number one rushing team, they did. Many didn't believe the Eagles could win without T.O. and they did. So far, they have proven the doubters wrong. Your X-factor is just wrong. I think ESPN summed up what would be the X-factor best for both teams, Terrell Owens for the Eagles. Why? Here is what they said: Nobody knows what he will be able to do. He may not be 100%, he may not be a starter, but he has the potential to be a threat. The X-factor for the Patroits, the two week break. Why? That's a long time for Bill to prepare for the Eagles. I'm pulling for the Eagles, as I have the past 14 years. I won't be shocked if the Eagles lose but I don't think anybody should be stunned if they win either.
