Beginning's End

I guess I can only hope history does, in fact, rhyme.

Tom Brady conjuring up the New York Giants teams of '07 and '11 to lay out a blueprint for the 2019 New England Patriots had me thinking of a Hollywood ending for Belichick and Brady; something unbelievable, certainly improbable, yet something that could only be viewed as inevitable in its final moments. 

Winning this Saturday won't be easy. Winning back to back road games against the Chiefs and Ravens to get to the Super Bowl? Winning the Super Bowl against the 49ers, Saints or Packers? 

Inconceivable. (And yes, I know what that word means.)

Then again.

These are the New England Patriots. 

Or not.

Even the local pigskin pundits and bobbleheads seem poised to write the final chapter for the Patriots and it doesn't look like this novel is going to have a happy ending. It seems we've already moved past denial and while some of us may be a little angry, it feels like we skipped bargaining and depression and gone straight to acceptance. Josh McDaniels will be head coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2020. Tom Brady will be starting QB for the Browns after McDaniels trades Baker Mayfield to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nick Caserio will join Bill O'Brien in Houston. Belichick refuses to overpay for Joe Thuney, Kyle Van Noy, or Jamie Collins and all three walk in free agency. The McCourty Twins retire. The 2020 Patriots finish last in the AFC East. McDaniels and Brady burn the AFC North to the ground, break the single-season record for points scored and Brady gets that elusive 7th ring. All life as you know it stops instantaneously and every molecule in your body explodes at the speed of light.

Or Brady and Belichick somehow figure this thing out and remind us all how this story started; a lovable, ragtag bunch of underdogs playing complementary football, finding a way to win despite the odds.

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. After such villainy, what redemption? (H/T to T.S. Eliot.) Would the audience stand and cheer as the confetti falls and the credits roll on a 7th Lombardi Trophy for the Patriots and Tom Brady?

I'd say that's a hard no.

I guess I just can't let go.

I can't believe it's over.

Did I say we've moved past denial?