NFL: Championship Games Review

Saj, that one hurt. That loss hurt me more than any loss of any of my sports teams since Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS.

Seconds after Tom Brady reached back into his uncharacteristically empty quiver, I shut off my television. We ended our marathon online conversation with 'Go Sox' and I shut off my computer. I laid down in bed to listen to the WEEI postgame show, only to listen to two morons make up excuses, so I shut off my radio. Cutting the power to these technologies didn't help. The Patriots season had been shut off, and unlike said devices, it couldn't be turned back on.

The next hour was dedicated to replaying the game in my mind, like a perpetual booth review. At 7-3, I was relieved that we did to the Colts on the second drive what the Chiefs couldn't do for three quarters and the Ravens couldn't do in an entire game. At 14-3, I was relieved that all the trash talking I did throughout the week was accurately foreshadowing what the Patriots offense could do to the overrated Colts defense. At 21-3, I called my buddy Greg to tell him how good the Patriots were and how I was furious at the country for once again picking against the Patriots in a Colts playoff showdown. "How stupid can people get?" I asked him.

I was about to find out.

The Colts scored 32 second half points, in a confluence of plays that we can discuss throughout the day if you'd like. That's 32 points in 30 minutes. Did anyone see this coming? I mean anyone? In our conversation last night, Saj, I said the last scenario I would have expected is a huge Pats lead followed by a Colts comeback. Ranked possibilites ahead of a Pats collapse were a blowout in either direction, a close game in either direction, or a Colts collapse. A Pats collapse just seemed unfathomable to me. Why? Because it's never happened before. Tom Brady was 62-2 with a halftime lead, and usually those are within one possession. But a 21-6 lead for the Pats? That's like Mariano Rivera with a three run lead.

And maybe that's just it. The Patriots are never up by 18 points so early in a game. They always stay close and win it in the end. Without experience leading by that amount, they weren't sure how to protect it. That's not an excuse. It's a hypothesis and not a very good one. Just an idea. The Indianapolis Colts deserved to win and I tip my hat to them. They came back from 18 points down and road momentum right into their final possession. And with less than one minute left and the Pats needing to into the endzone, the first Patriot deficit of the game was just too much to overcome.

Thoughts, Saj? How are you doing on the Morning After?


I'm a little tired, otherwise I feel okay. After the Brady interception that ended the game, I turned the television off and sulked angrily for a little while until I looked around my living room. Sitting there watching the game with me (and dealing with my frequent and sudden outbursts) were a Jets fan and two Giants fans. And I realized that life could be worse. I could be any one of those guys. My quarterback could be either Eli Manning or Chad Pennington, who between them have two more shoulder surgeries, one more AWESOME karaoke performance, one less Gisele Bundchen, and three less Superbowl rings than Tom Brady. My team could be coached by this guy or I could share my fandom with people from New Jersey and Long Island (say what you will about townie Patriot fans but I'll take them over troglodyte Jerseyians every day of the week.)

What made me upset was not losing (actually, that's a lie but let's pretend it's true). The Colts are a very good team with a very talented (albeit ugly, uncharismatic, irritating, did I mention Tom Brady is dating Gisele Bundchen?) quarterback and a pretty sharp coach. Finally they caught the Patriots in the RCA Dome during the playoffs, and they were who we thought they were. What made me upset was how the Patriots lost the game, which you detailed thoroughly above. It's a way I haven't seen the Patriots lose a game since a guy whom I will call Brew Dledsoe was standing immobilely under center.

All in all, how upset can I really get? The Patriots went 12-4 this year and made it to the AFC Championship. I would have loved a 40-3 Patriots blowout just so ESPN would stop with all the Brady-Manning rivalry bullcrap, but anything else perpetuates this media jerkfest. Well something else happened and when the Patriots head to Indianapolis in Week 9 of next season I'll be burying my head in a sand bucket for the entire week prior to the game. Congratulations, Peyton. I hope Rex Grossman wins a Superbowl before you do.