Season Approaches With The Highest Expectation...
Ray Allen to Miami? Red Sox scraping to stay at .500... So, the Patriots become again, the best team in town. That team that brought the duckboats around town 3 times this millennium. Still, every year we expect to win the Super Bowl, and you would be crazy not to think that the team has improved in the offseason.
Everyone knows the stakes, and if they don't understand (a la OchoCinco) they get cut. The only things that can derail the Patriots SuperBowl bandwagon are injuries and more injuries. An unfortunate thing about the NFL is that many players can't compete in every game.
I am not trying to jinx us on the injury front, but I know that injuries are inevitable. The most that we can hope for is that we can avoid a key injury to a player that is frankly irreplaceable. The Patriots usual "next man up" philosophy only goes so far when there is a significant differential between a starter and his back-up.
Boston expects another championship, and the Patriots may have the most pressure to deliver. The scrutiny has been long and loathesome since the raising of the infamous 18-1 perfect season banner. The Brady knee injury and the 11-5 miss-the-playoffs year. Tom's rehab stint in 2009 and losing to the Ravens. Tom's MVP 4-Int year in 2010 and losing to the effing Jets in the AFC title game. 2011 just happened, and I don't want to talk about it.
But 2012 is a tabula rasa, a blank slate, for which to carve a place in history. I hate to say this is all about Tom Brady, but c'mon. The most important thing throughout the regular season is the health and wellness of the golden boy. As long as Brady plays at a high level, the Patriots will be a SuperBowl favorite.
I would love to see them take a run at 19-0, but the health of everyone on the team is the first and most paramount concern for winning a championship, which is the ultimate goal. I would really like to see an 18-1 championship year. That would be cool, but you know, a real one this time, like with a Lombardi trophy.
Everyone knows the stakes, and if they don't understand (a la OchoCinco) they get cut. The only things that can derail the Patriots SuperBowl bandwagon are injuries and more injuries. An unfortunate thing about the NFL is that many players can't compete in every game.
I am not trying to jinx us on the injury front, but I know that injuries are inevitable. The most that we can hope for is that we can avoid a key injury to a player that is frankly irreplaceable. The Patriots usual "next man up" philosophy only goes so far when there is a significant differential between a starter and his back-up.
Boston expects another championship, and the Patriots may have the most pressure to deliver. The scrutiny has been long and loathesome since the raising of the infamous 18-1 perfect season banner. The Brady knee injury and the 11-5 miss-the-playoffs year. Tom's rehab stint in 2009 and losing to the Ravens. Tom's MVP 4-Int year in 2010 and losing to the effing Jets in the AFC title game. 2011 just happened, and I don't want to talk about it.
But 2012 is a tabula rasa, a blank slate, for which to carve a place in history. I hate to say this is all about Tom Brady, but c'mon. The most important thing throughout the regular season is the health and wellness of the golden boy. As long as Brady plays at a high level, the Patriots will be a SuperBowl favorite.
I would love to see them take a run at 19-0, but the health of everyone on the team is the first and most paramount concern for winning a championship, which is the ultimate goal. I would really like to see an 18-1 championship year. That would be cool, but you know, a real one this time, like with a Lombardi trophy.
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