Patriots Too Tough Mentally and Physically For Eagles

Tough, that is the word to describe the New England Patriots. They defeated, they out toughed the Eagles defense 24 to 21. I'm glad and Chuck Bednarick is happier than I am. I wanted the Patriots to whip up on Terrell Owens and Freddie Mitchell because they are two selfish bastards. Mitchell got away with an illegal pick on the defensive back covering Owens in the first quarter and got him open for a 30 yard completion. But the Eagles got no points from that drive. Owens did not score in the game and he made only one important reception. Giving the Devil his due Owens caught 9 passes for 122 yards far better than I expected but a miracle one way or another. I did enjoy seeing his chat with McNabb on the side line. It didn't seem to inspire McNabb any.

Deion Branch made some extrodinary catches, key clutch catches the best being the one he took away from Eagles safety Wade on a crossing pattern over the middle on the Patriots last scoring drive. He deserved to be the games MVP. So did Rodney Harrison for shutting Freddie Mitchell down and making two key interceptions and some pressure tackles when they were needed.

Does it count that I predicted the Patriots would win by 3 points. I thought the game would be dominated by the two defenses and it would be a low scoring game like 6 to 3. The Eagles last minute panic, 1:46 second melt down showed a sizeable chink in their amour. It looked like McNabb and his offensive teammates just stood around and let the damn clock run out. Not being able to exploit the Patriots inexperienced cornerbacks was a major disaster for the Eagles. Gaining over 350 yards on McNabbs passing and only scoring 3 times as the Eagles did is an oddity in itself.

McNabb seemed perplexed at times including the last 1:46 seconds of the game. It looked as though he could throw little passes into the void just beyond the line of scrimmage to Westbrook and move downfield rather easily but he threw too hard and behind him then didn't try again.

The Patriots Vrable is another tough football player/linebacker along with Bruschi and the others. The Patriots linemen both offensive and defensive won the battles of the trenches shutting down the Eagles Javon Kearsh's pass rush and putting enough heat on McNabb to make him throw badly numerous times. The interceptions were unforced just poor throws. Brady played another great clutch game. Adam Vinatari reminds me of Lou Groza (who I played with) the way he responds to pressure.

There is no question in my mind the "team first" attitude of the Patriots won the Championship again. The Eagles infection of selfishness on their offense cost them the game.

Did Romeo Crennel protect his two inexperienced cornerbacks? Or was it Mangini the DB coach or both? Whoever he is an unsung hero. The Browns will improve themselves with Crennel in their organization. He was fortunate enough to preside over a defense that is the epitomy of team effort. They carried out the detail of every assignment and the guy playing next to them knew they would carry it out. That mental toughness that belief in each other, and a fierce desire to block and tackle is the essence of football. From my experience that comes from a core of unselfish players who refuse to be denied. The coach can enhance it or screw it up or not have that core of players. AS I wrote in my book They Call It A GameThe Packers in the '60's could have won with Andy Gump coaching. Lombardi was lucky enough to be there at the right time and he didn't screw it up. As the saying goes Coaches get too much of the credit and not enough of the blame or something like that.

Terrell Owens did not silence his critics, he lost, he didn't score a point. The Eagles lost! The Patriots inexperienced cornerbacks allowed him to sscatch some inconsequential passes but he ran out of bounds when he had a chance to stiff arm Rodney Harrison and perhaps score. My old friend Noel Picard of the St Louis Blues Hockey Team told me "You know why guys like (Owens) don't play hockey?" "They can't get out of bounds."