Wishing and Hoping

The week leading up to a Patriots game is fraught with anxiety. I know that may be hard to believe if you live west of the Connecticut River. New England has won nearly 80% of their games with Belichick and Brady. Why worry so much? Because Belichick (and his coaches and players) will make this week's opponent sound like a combo platter of the Greatest Show on Turf Rams and the Super Bowl Shuffle Bears. Intellectually I know it's just that Belichick has too much respect for the game and the men who play it to take any team lightly. Still, my inner child with his fear of failure, fear of abandonment, fear of ego dissolution, fear of - well, you get the picture - my inner child can't help but feel a little nervous.

And with two weeks leading up to a Super Bowl against a legitimately dangerous opponent?

My inner child is currently curled up in the fetal position, sucking his thumb, whimpering quietly, hoping no one can hear.

I'm wishing and hoping for a blowout win by the Patriots in SB51. The 3-point spread would seem to argue otherwise and the money men always know. All the New England Super Bowl games of the Belichick/Brady era have been close. Those games have no actual bearing on the upcoming championship, of course, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reminded of them repeatedly by pigskin pundits and bobbleheads. I really need to do some cardio this week. And stock up on vodka. Okay, I'd do that anyway.

I'm wishing and hoping for a Super Bowl MVP for LeGarrette Blount. I suppose this is mostly for selfish reasons as I earlier offered the running game as a winning strategy for the Patriots offense and I do like being right. Hold onto the football for long stretches of time and keep Matty Ice and that scary Falcons offense on the sideline. Hammer away at an Atlanta defense built to play against the pass. Mix in some Dion Lewis. When the safeties come down in the box, play action to Chris Hogan over the top. I'm not saying I wouldn't be happy with Tom Brady winning the MVP (28 of 36, 405 yards, 4 TD passes has a nice ring to it) but LeGarrette Blount rushing for 205 and 3 TDs would be so Patriots. Cue the puff pieces about Brady's lack of ego as the defining characteristic in his all-time greatness.

I'm wishing and hoping the New England defense can serve up a nice tall icy-cold cup of shut the hell up to the gridiron cognoscenti. That will not be easy, no matter how much bulletin board material the Falcons serve up or how many times advanced analytics are used to caveat the NFL's #1 scoring defense. The Patriots defenders will be determined but they are facing an historically good Falcons offense. Atlanta isn't just the best offense in 2016; they're one of the Top 10 scoring offenses since 1990. Shutting down Kyle Shanahan's multifaceted scheme will take the combined genius of Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia and near perfect performances on the field from the players. It will only happen if big plays are made by Trey Flowers. Dont'a Hightower, Rob Ninkovich, Malcolm Butler and Devin McCourty. Or Jabaal Sheard, Chris Long, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, Logan Ryan and Patrick Chung. Or Alan Branch, Malcom Brown and Vincent Valentine. Or Shea McClellin, Eric Rowe and Duron Harmon.

Did I forget anyone?

I'm wishing and hoping my wife's witchy powers are good with this one. She has an unnerving ability to... see things. Trust me, it's not easy to live with a woman who knows what you're thinking before you think it. (Luckily for me, my head is empty most of the time.) Sadly, her powers do not extend to predicting PowerBall numbers. Everyone has their blind spot, I guess. Anyway, a number of years ago, after the Patriots had won their third Super Bowl in four years she said to me, "Five." Five? She said she wasn't sure if it would be five Super Bowl wins or five appearances but like the psychics you've seen asking someone in the audience if the letter "J" means anything to them, she was sure about a "5" for the Patriots and Super Bowls.

Well, we're on to Super Bowl seven for Brady and Belichick so it can't be about appearances. All that's left if my wife is right about the "5" is the win.

Either that or maybe I should buy a PowerBall ticket and play white balls of 5, 15, 25, 35, 45 with a powerball of 55. Willie McGinest was her favorite player, after all.