Billszone: For What It's Worth 01/17/05

January 18, 2005

Posted at 02:00 PM

For What It's Worth 01/17/05

by Daniel Lee Callaghan

Like it or not, people need to grasp what they’re seeing with the NE Patriots. Assuming they complete the run for this year’s Super Bowl which would give them three in the last four years, in this era of free agency they are arguably the greatest dynasty in NFL history. Or are there any doubters left that cling to the notion that 34-4 (again, assuming NE wins out this year) including 20 in a row at home is all good fortune and favored treatment from the refs?

Add Peyton Manning to the list of QB’s that are “owned” by Bill Belichick. Either the number of quarterbacks out there that are “chokers” is very long, or Belichick is a defensive wizard.

Of course, next year when Losman is the QB for the Bills everything will be different. And if you believe that Skippy, I’ve got some pork belly futures you might want to invest in.

Last year a lot of the credit to NE’s win over Indy was given to the stellar 3 interception play of Ty Law. This year Law didn’t play, nor did NE’s other top player Richard Seymour but Indy fared no better. Is Bledsoe and the Bills loss to Pittsburgh and a bunch of second stringers any worse than Manning and his band of all stars scoring just three points today against a banged up NE team?

If anyone can beat NE it has to be Pittsburgh for three reasons. One, they’ve proven they can do it, which is no small thing. Second, home field is a significant advantage in the playoffs. And third, and perhaps most importantly, they can match NE’s physical play and then some. Pittsburgh has to hope for a slugfest kind of game in which they can afford to pound away with their powerful running game and limit the pressure on their young quarterback. Having said all that, it’s tough to bet against NE.

With all the attention Michael Vick gets, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Atlanta has the top rushing offense in football with over 5 yards per carry. And that fact is the biggest reason why they’re still playing, and why I like them to keep playing after they play Philly.

Zen question of the week: if the NHL season gets cancelled and nobody notices, did the season really exist in the first place?

Quote of the week- from Bill Belichick: asked if he was going to use Troy Brown this week in the secondary he answered “We’re going to go with the guys we have, the draft’s over”.