The inception of this endeavor is born of The Patriots loss in the 'Big Game' and this Stay At Home Dad's wish to show good, bad, and ultimately gratitude for this past season. You could call this my 'The Good, The Bad/The Ugly' entry, for those acquainted with drunken poker nights in suburbia:
THE GOOD!
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As is well documented the Pat's D was pretty terrible this year. And those inglorious stats were gathered agai
nst the 3rd easiest schedule in the league! The road through the playoffs was as clear as it could be and our beloved Pats barely beat the Raving Ray Lewis's and still only lost by 4 stinking points to the Eli 2.0's. In this Blog's book that's an unqualified success. Not to mention the incredible entertainment value provided by Gronk's record setting year, mauling the J E T S twice and another superb season from Brady. And even though they lost it was a heart pounding glued to the set game once again and can a fan ask for much more? This Blog says no.
THE BAD! THE UGLY!
Shades of the Parcells Kraft Jets Patriots shuffle that went down the week before the tilt with Favre, White and Co. Yes, even now, after 7 major championships in the past 10 years and the mellowness that comes along with that, this Blog still blames Parcells for the loss in January of 1997. Ok, Parcells and Kraft. Would we have had a Belichick Brady supermassive explosion of success without Parcells bolting? Probably not. But with the foundations of the D that beat the Best Show On Turf Rams 4 years later all there, Curtis Martin probably stays, and Drew Bledsoe was in his prime. And oh yeah, Belichick would've stayed on as D coordinator too. This Blog submits that had the Parcells fiasco not happened the team concentrates harder in game prep and Desmond Howard doesn't get his famous 99-yard kickoff return for a TD and combined 244 yards of return yardage. From there it's possible we get a dynasty in the late 90's instead of the early 2000's and Belichick maybe even stays on as HC as Parcells steps down. After the Packers it was Denver, Denver, St. Louis, Baltimore. This Blog could see its fantasy late nineties Patriots beating all those teams. Why is this relevant? Bill O'Brien to Penn State. Oh yes, this Blog is going there. Can't we see O'Brien being just a little distracted with his new gig? This Blog blames the offense more than the defense for that loss on Sunday don't you? And the guy they bring in is the old fresh faced Denver flameout Josh McDaniels. Sure he oversaw the greatest scoring offense the league has ever seen in 2007, but his offensive philosophy is ultimately of the Cold Hard Football Facts brilliantly named Shiny Hood Ornament variety (Moss, Marshall), and I fear the team will go back to that in the draft and free agency instead of focusing on the D. I'm not sure Coach Bill could have done anything to change O'Brien's need to be a HC, but perhaps he might've given the guy the security of the Offensive Coordinator title as soon as McDaniels went to Denver and just maybe O'Brien waits for something better. And maybe monkeys might fly out of my butt.
THE GRATITUDE
Again, thank you Patriots for a wonderful, overachieving, successful and memorable NFL season. It was awesome, almost epic, and a hell of a lot of fun. Thanks also for inspiring me to finally take a stab at this and see how it goes. The SAHD Boston Sports Take will continue to post with subtle prose, die-hard view points and occasionally rational thoughts on our local teams, national sports happening and other such episodes as the mood strikes.
Until next time,
The SAHD
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