One of the biggest challenges in writing a weekly pro football column is that you usually don’t know what you’re going to write about until the Sunday games play out. And sometimes you have to wait for the Monday night game as well. But this week, short of the Dolphins beating the Steelers in the mud and the blood and the beer, it didn’t look like I was going to have to wait that long.On Thursday after the Packers and Cowboys won to improve to 10-1 respectively and set up a homefield-advantage showdown in Dallas, I figured I would write about their impending matchup. Favre vs. Romo. The crafty veteran vs. the young gunslinger.
On Sunday afternoon, the Jaguars dismantled the Bills to set up an intriguing, but largely ignored AFC South divisional showdown between the wounded defending champion Indianapolis Colts and the young, hard-nosed Jacksonville Jaguars.
And after backup Eagles’ QB A.J. Feeley got picked off on the third play from scrimmage by Patriots’ Asante Samuel for a touchdown on Sunday Night Football, I pretty much knew where I stood. Especially in light of Tom Brady’s response to criticisms of the Patriots running up the score. “We’re not trying to win 42-28, we’re trying to kill people, we’re trying to blow them out if we can.” And only a few minutes into the game against the Eagles, it looked like the Patriots were well on their way to another blowout.
But something funny happened midway through the first quarter Sunday night.
The Patriots weren’t killing anyone.
Shockingly, they were in a fight for their lives. And it was a joy to watch. Not because the Patriots lost. They didn’t. But because for only the second time this season, the Patriots had to show why they might be the best team in NFL history.
Suddenly Tom Brady throwing 50-yard jump balls to Randy Moss in double coverage wasn’t working. Suddenly the Patriots were forced to play possession offense, using Wes Welker to pick up crucial first downs in crunch time. And suddenly, Andy Reid emerged as the great football coach that he is, laying out the blueprint to challenge the Patriots with only a backup quarterback, a moxie that would make Philadelphia proud and some hard-hitting football.
The blueprint?
Play without fear.
Odds are you’re going to lose to the Patriots anyway. You might as well go down swinging. Take risks. Throw the dice. Even though the first-half onside kick didn’t result in any points, the Eagles proved that all bets were off.
On defense, venerable defensive coordinator Jim Johnson put together a smashmouth attack that hit hard on every play. Very hard. The cornerbacks played tight bump coverage on Randy Moss, negating him for most of the game. Numerous blitzes kept the pressure on Tom Brady who suddenly didn’t look so golden when he had to pick himself up off the turf play after play.
On offense, the Eagles effectively marched down the field by completing the short slant pattern over the middle while mixing in the run. Every time the Patriots blitzed, A.J. Feeley would lob a pass over the blitz for a first down. And while I’m not saying that Feeley is a better quarterback than Donovan McNabb, the rest of the team always seems to play a lot harder when McNabb isn’t on the field.
And what made this game all the more entertaining to watch was that the Patriots weren’t playing a team content to roll over or to watch as the score got run up. The Patriots were in a knock-down, drag’em-out dogfight that threw off their rhythm offense and actually forced dropped passes, punts and field goals.
It was as if the Eagles took a page from the Patriots playbook.
But with all that said and done, the Patriots were still at their best in the fourth quarter. Tom Brady is simply unstoppable and unflappable when playing from behind at the end of a game. And Wes Welker proved that he may be a more valuable receiver than Randy Moss especially in games like this.
As tough as the Eagles played, the Patriots calmly riposted every challenge and deserved to win this game. One only hopes that the Patriots will be challenged like this every week the rest of the way. Because if they are, then we as football fans are in for a real treat.
Sadly by Monday night, we had all heard about Redskins’ star safety Sean Taylor being shot at his Florida home by an intruder. And by Tuesday morning, when we woke to the numbing news that he had passed away overnight, suddenly the Patriots going undefeated or the Eagles developing a blueprint to beat didn’t seem quite as important anymore.
This was originally published as part of my ‘Fourth and Long’ column from Nov 28, 2007 and can be found in its entirety here.
