It makes for good TV I suppose but four years hence, is Super Bowl XLVI really a rematch? Are there really some unseen forces at work in this year’s Patriots playoff run? Will the 2011 “Three Games to Glory” DVD end with a slow-motion montage of highlights set to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song?” (More likely Boston’s “More Than a Feeling.”) It’s undeniable that emotion plays a part in the outcome of NFL games. Not as much as a good game plan well executed on game day, of course.
“I think we’ve talked about all that. It was a long time ago. I have a lot of comments on the record after the game and everything else. You can go back and look at all the things that happened then or some other year.”
- Bill Belichick, responding to a question about David Tyree’s catch in Super Bowl XLII
Given the average career in the NFL is three years, a significant amount of roster churn over the four years since Super Bowl XLII would be expected. Gronk, Aaron Hernandez, Nate Solder, Marcus Cannon, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Kyle Love, Dane Fletcher, Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Kyle Arrington, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater, Sterling Moore and Patrick Chung have all made significant contributions to the Patriots success in 2011. None of them were in the league when the Patriots lost to the Giants in February of 2008. For the 2007 season, Brian Waters was playing for Kansas City, Shaun Ellis was a Jet, Gerard Warren a Raider, Rob Ninkovich spent a month in Miami (4 games) and Deion Branch was living in exile as a Seahawk.
That’s twenty members of the 2011 Patriots. You could throw in punter Zoltan Mesko and the enigma that is Chad Ochocinco if you like.
Keeping it simple: Vince Wilfork is the only remaining starter on defense from the 2007 season.
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite
That ever I was born to set it right
Perhaps this is a Redemption Tour for Patriots fans; sweeping the Jets, defeating the Ravens, the chance to beat the Giants in Indianapolis of all places. I do believe the emotional context favors New England in Super Bowl XLVI (The Patch, the relentless replays of the Helmet Catch, the Pigskin Pundits and Bobbleheads anointing Eli Manning as Tom Brady’s daddy, Brady’s history following a bad game, etc.). Certainly, a win for the Patriots secures Bill Belichick’s and Tom Brady’s bona fides in the Greatest of All Time arguments for the next decade or two.
There is one thing, however, that a New England victory February 5th cannot do and that’s erase Super Bowl XLII from the list of the Top 10 Super Bowls of All Time So Far.
My list, in chronological order:
I. Super Bowl III – Jets 16, Colts 7 – The Guarantee
II. Super Bowl XIII – Steelers 35, Cowboys 31 – Bradshaw-Staubach as Ali-Frazier
III. Super Bowl XVI – 49ers 26, Bengals 21 – Joe Montana becomes Joe Cool
IV. Super Bowl XXI – Giants 39, Broncos 20 – Phil Simms 22 of 25
V. Super Bowl XXV – Giants 20, Bill 19 – Wide Right
VI. Super Bowl XXXII – Broncos 31, Packers 24 – Elway gets his ring
VII. Super Bowl XXXIV – Rams 23, Titans 16 – A yard short
VIII. Super Bowl XXXVI – Patriots 20, Rams 17 – Tom Brady becomes Tom Terrific
IX. Super Bowl XLII – Giants 17, Patriots 15 – The Helmet Catch
X. Super Bowl XLIII – Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 – Santonio Holmes, MVP
So, we’ll always have to live with XLII but if the Patriots can win XLVI, we will be able to laugh about it.
Okay, laughing is probably a stretch but I feel confident that my testicles will no longer reflexively retract into my body every time I hear the words “helmet catch” should the Patriots win. I’m really looking forward to that.
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