Talking NFL

To the rabid football fan, the Super Bowl represents the culmination - the zenith - of a five month season full of amazing plays, last minute victories, and ultimate team achievement. But to the casual fan, or just the everyday Joe or Judy, the Super Bowl may be the only game they watch all year long. It’s an excuse to buy ridiculous looking party favors, and throw a neighborhood bash on an otherwise uneventful Sunday in February.

For this later group, they really only have one request in regards to the actual football contest that is played:

They just want a close game. And some funny commercials (OK, two requests…)

As a member of the former group, I can certainly respect that wish. However, my standing as a lifelong fan of Patriot Nation completely outweighs any wishes I have for a down-to-the-wire thriller.

In fact, to all you one-day football fans (ODFF’s) out there, know that everyone in New England is wishing and hoping that not only is your party a dud - we f*@king hope it’s over before halftime. We hope the Patriots obliterate/annihilate/wickedbeatup-ate the Giants to the tune of 1,972-0.

Here’s the deal, my lovely ODFF’s: the Patriots are on the verge of unprecedented history. Not only for the first 19-0 season in NFL history, but for their 4th Super Bowl in 7 years. This achievement would elevate the Patriots dynasty to a new level; above the Cowboys of the 90’s and the Lions of the 50’s (yes, the Lions were once a dynasty - honest). We’re talking about moving into the same block as the truly elite teams: the 49ers of the 80’s, the Steelers of the 70’s, and the Bears of the 40’s.

The Monsters of the Midway won four NFL titles from 1940 to 1946 - a seven year span. But what people remember the most about that dynasty (the ones that are still kicking, anyways) is the first title they won in 1940, when they played against the Washington Redskins:

Washington had defeated Chicago 7-3 in a regular season game three weeks earlier. After the contest, Redskins owner George Preston Marshall told reporters that the Bears were crybabies and quitters when the going got tough. As the Bears prepared for the rematch, Chicago head coach George Halas fired up his team by showing them newspaper articles of Marshall’s comments.

The Bears controlled the game right from the start, using the T formation as their primary offensive strategy…they held a 28-0 halftime lead and then continued to crush the Redskins, scoring 45 points during the second half. After Halas took the team’s starters out, the backup players continued to pile on the points. The Bears ended up recording 501 total yards on offense, 382 total rushing yards, and 8 interceptions–returning 3 for touchdowns.

The final score was 73-0, the largest margin of victory ever in an NFL title game. And that epic destruction of the Redskins firmly cemented them in the annals of pigskin lore.

Because naturally, history remembers the big games, the title games. Not the Week 3 games, or the Divisional Round playoff games. Case in point - look back at the 2003-04 Patriots. When a Patriots fan thinks of those two seasons, we think of a 34-4 overall record, 19 straight victories at one point, and two championships. But to the ODFF’s? Meh. They remember that both Super Bowl games were close. In fact, all three of the Patriots titles were won by a difference of three points. Victories, but not all that memorable.

Certainly not memorable like the 85 Bears, the team that many people consider the best team of all time up to this point. Sure, they were pretty dominating during the regular season and playoffs. But what everyone remembers is the way they publicly castrated the Patriots 46-10 on Super Bowl Sunday.

(well, that and the Super Bowl Shuffle)

So with the peak of perfection in sight, every fan that cheers for the flying Elvis is looking for a final and emphatic flag planting ceremony to be held in Phoenix. The final exclamation point to say, without a shadow of a doubt, that this team is the best to ever walk a football field.

So here’s hoping for an absolute bludgeoning on Sunday. As Patriots fans, we want to see raw carnage. We want it to sound like a pinball game inside the University of Phoenix Stadium. We want the scoreboard operator to come down with a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome.

We want the Patriots to play the part of Daniel Plainview and the Giants that of poor Paul Sunday. We want to watch the final chapter of this march to perfection unfold the exact same way the last 10 minutes of There Will be Blood concludes.

And when the game ends, we want the audience to stare in stunned silence at the blank screen in front of them - the same way my girlfriend did at the end of that movie.

Complete with the exact same exchange we had:

Girlfriend: “…what…was that?!”

Me: “That…was a beating.”

That way, when anyone looks back at the 2007 Patriots (football fans, historians, or ODFF’s), they will have no choice but to say that they were the greatest football team in history.

New England Patriots, perfection, history, blowout, Super Bowl, There Will Be Blood