Humble Pats Serve Dynasty Pie to Hungry Cowboys

This is a guest post from sports blogger Josh Gans. He writes on a regular basis at Sports Fan 4.

The humblest of pie is served in Foxboro, Massachusetts. After a 48-27 passing barrage of Tom Brady to Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, Ben Watson, Kyle Brady, Kevin Faulk, and of course Randy Moss who had only 6 catches for 57 yards and one touchdown; the Brady to New England show moves their undefeated record to 6-0. This week’s “Duel in Dallas” was the talk of every SportsCenter, talk-radio show, newspaper and football fan gathering. What was almost called this year’s Super Bowl was yet another high scoring onslaught by the Patriots of New England.

The magnitude of this game held T.O. “speechless” at the beginning of the week, minus the note left on his locker that read:

Due to the magnitude of this weekends game, with the match up between the Original 81 and the other 81, I will not be talking to the media this week. I will answer all questions after the game on Sunday.

Sincerely, Terrell Owens
P.S. Getcha popcorn ready!

Though Terrell Owens did not talk to the press before the game, he still gave the Patriots locker room something to put on the bulletin board; Owens posted the bulletin board on his locker, on National Television, before the game. Regardless of the “other 81” not having another 100+ yard game, while he was being double and triple covered, Brady managed to have two receivers, in Welker and Stallworth, pass the 100 yard mark. The so-called Brady to Moss show turned off the “octane” in the offense and still pulled out another victory with hard work, solid football, and the mind of a man who tells you no more in a press conference that any football analyst could tell you after the game. Which brings me back to that warm humble pie.

Bellichick is in New England for the sole purpose of winning Super Bowls. He does not crave media attention, he does not want to become a television starlet; he wants to coach football and win championships. This man is the kind of coach that everyone aspires to be. He has wonderful relationships with his players and they win games. He does not brag about the fact that the Patriots are 6-0, he puts it behind him and begins to think about Miami. He is not looking ahead to Indianapolis, thinking about going 16-0, or Brady almost having 6 touchdowns in one game (which could have been done from the three yard-line at the end of the game).

Mr. Bellichick simply ran the ball with a fourth string running back (Eckel) in an attempt to end the game with a form of class; a notion returned by Tony Romo, Wade Phillips, and the rest of the Dallas Cowboys by downing the ball on the next possession and going to the locker room with a loss(and no injuries on either team). A sign of respect for another undefeated team who came out on top, in your own home nonetheless.

What more can be said about such a versatile, exciting team that makes big plays, every play, and on both sides of the ball. With so many different players catching Brady’s passes all day, the “ooooh’s and aaaah’s” filled the room for all sixty minutes. When Kevin Faulk made a crucial first down catch on 3rd and 4 in the second quarter, the only way to sum it up was, “I can’t believe he held on to that”, pushing the Patriots down the field to secure their second score of the game. Wes Welker was on the receiving end of that touchdown for his first of two of the game.

With all the talk of Moss, he only had one catch on the opening drive, which was for a seven yard touchdown, giving the Patriots a total of 30 first drive points on the season. This game showed us that we don’t need to throw the ball to Moss every play, but having him let’s us spread the ball around to our other big name receivers and still win games. The thought that we had under 100 yards on the ground and still won by the amount we did, shows just how great Brady is for New England and the team can still manage the clock, the game, and the win.

The Patriots offense does however have many screens in their playbook, which is their form of the run in situations such as when the starting runningback, Laurence Maroney, is out injured. Not to mention Richard Seymour, who is still out on defense, yet, we still play great football and continue to win with high scores and large deficits. Is there a team better than the New England Patriots right now? Can we be compared to the ’72 Dolphins, the Cowboys of the ’90’s, or any other team that we see in that light? That’s for the media to decide. In New England, we’re scouting the Miami Dolphins for the next game. We’re not thinking about week 16 or the Super Bowl(short term), we’re playing one game at a time and as of yet, winning one game at a time…humble.

The game was played intense on both sides of the ball the whole 59 minutes and forty-seven seconds. Amazing catches, hits, and returns by both teams made for a very close, very interesting game. After Junior Seau had his third pick of the season, we knew we had the game sealed for sure. Hearing the names like Junior Seau, Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker, so many veteran players with the heart to want to win. The attitudes of these Patriot players are very different from that of when they were with teams such as the Chargers, Raiders and Dolphins. When everyone is playing for the same goal of winning, there are no problems in the locker room or off the field. People can mention all they want about the “other 81”, but he is a new 81, who wants to win a Super Bowl before he ends his career. With such “low” statistics, to those who think because he is Randy Moss he should always have 100+ yards and 3 touchdowns, he is excited that his team won, even if he had no catches and no touchdowns…humble.

What can be said for the humble Patriots that hasn’t already been said, this is the team to beat in the NFL, and I don’t think anyone can do it.

[Note from Adam, hope you all enjoyed the guest article from my buddy Josh].