A typical performance by the Patriots, albeit with some uncharacteristic errors by them early on (7 penalties including some false starts on offense that contributed to making only 1 first down in the first quarter). They took away RB Brian Westbrook in Philly's running game, and never allowed QB Donovan McNabb to maintain balance by scrambling. WR Terrell Owens (9 rec, 122 yds) was outstanding; much better than I thought physically possible. But TO was limited to being a possession receiver, and the Patriots defense was able to force 4 Eagles turnovers by making the Eagles sustain long drives in order to score (the 3 TD drives were 9, 10, and 13 plays in length).
Philadelphia kept New England's highly efficient offense in check. RB Corey Dillon only had 75 yards. The longest passing play by New England was 27 yards on a catch and run by Deoin Branch. The Eagles won the 3rd down battle, 56% to 33%. The key statistics that New England won were turnovers (4 to 1) and rushing yards (112 to 45).
Dynasty: To their credit, none of the players say it. They approach every play of every game with the same focus and attention to detail. Next season will be a greater challenge with the departure of OC Charlie Weis and DC Romeo Crennel, but HC Belichick and the 53 players truly believe that they are equal to the other 31 teams at 0-0 when the 2005 season begins.
2 comments:
Clearly the Pats were the better team, though by no means perfect. I don't mean to sound like I'm taking anything away from their victory when I say that McNabb quite simply didn't show-up. As I reflect on the game, I go back in forth between thinking it was a closely fought matchup and thinking the Eagles never really had a chance: note, for example, that when they went up 7-0 that Brady & Co. snapped right back. Still, the Pats made it apparent that--while awesome--they are not perfect. This old Steelers fan finds the talk of "Dynasty" both distasteful and arrogant. One final note, I think Troy Aikman sux as a commentator--he just HAD to mention himself in comparison to NE's dominance. If I was Collinsworth, I would have backhanded him. LOL. Well done, Patriots.
The Patriots have that type of effect on QBs... see Manning, Payton; Pennington, Chad; Bledsoe, Drew versus a Belichick New England defense compared to the average NFL defense. The media needs to have a theme (see Iraq is solely about WMD) and since NE emphasizes the team concept and the players fully buy into it, the guys at ABC/CBS/ESPN/FOX can only go with Dynasty Talk.... which Belichick and the players do their best to downplay (though less after this SB win). Aikman doesn't do anything for me in the booth, but I didn't mind him referencing his time w/ Dallas since he is the only other QB to win 3 SB's in 4 seasons and that's the accomplishment this NE team (and QB Brady) was being compared to. I hope he didn't have too many concussions that he doesn't remember those seasons (he is on the record saying he has very little recollection of the 2nd SB vs. Buffalo due to a concussion)
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