Worth It

I should be used to this by now, shouldn’t I?

 

Look, I know the whole Peyton Manning sucking in the cold is a small data sample. Does that stop me from enjoying it? Not in the least.

Was this Belichick at his evil pigskin genius best? I think maybe yes. Belichick’s Super Bowl XXV defensive game plan was predicated on Thurman Thomas gaining 100+ yards rushing. Belichick would take the ball out of QB Jim Kelly’s hands and put it into Thomas’. And the Giants won, of course. (It’s the “wide right” game and the Whitney Houston anthem game, too!) Not that I think Belichick hoped Knowshon Moreno would gain 200+ yards. But I think Belichick knew that Manning would read the defense and check to run. Belichick would take the ball out of Manning’s hands and put it into Moreno’s. The end result was a win for the Patriots. It was also not coincidentally Peyton Manning’s worst game of the year.

And he still had 2 TD passes.

Peyton Fucking Manning, man.

This game has all the elements of an instant classic written all over it. The self-destructive Patriots and the opportunistic Broncos in the first half; New England trails 24-0 at the break and Denver looks every bit the preemptive Super Bowl favorite they’ve been since the preseason. The resolve of Tom Brady and the Patriots as they reeled off 31 unanswered points in the second half to take a 31-24 lead. The response by Manning, tying the game on a terrific TD pass that set up overtime. Belichick has the stones to take the wind in OT. Back and forth. The crucial play in the kicking game (they still call it football) sets up the game-winning FG by Stephen Gostkowski. Brady has his 38^th game with 3+ TD and 0 INT, second only to – you guessed it – Peyton Manning (with 42). Perfect Tommy also has his 350^th TD pass, good for #5 on the all-time list. Yes, Peyton Manning is also on that list (that’s a pretty good list to be on).

I talked bravely during halftime about the Patriots coming back to win this one but I’ll admit. It was really for form’s sake. I believed it from an analytical point of view; I didn’t believe it in my heart. Could Brady put up 24+ points in 30 minutes of football? Yeah, sure, but it just didn’t feel like their night. As Chris Collinsworth and Al Michaels breathlessly informed me, no Bill Belichick team had ever trailed 24-0 at halftime. Not even when he was coaching the Cleveland Browns, they added.

Was that a shot?

At Belichick or at Cleveland?

And then, the Patriots were moving the ball at will, forcing and recovering a fumble, scoring seemingly at will, 21 points in the 3^rd quarter. Tom Brady was doing Tom Brady things and Julian Edelman was doing a better Wes Welker than Wes Welker himself and suddenly, it was a party.

A great party at that.

I’m wired and exhausted, all at the same time. I was devastated by the 1^st half, elated by the 3^rd quarter, filled with horror and dread by 4^th quarter, astounded by overtime.

Wow.