Naturally, so is the Sports Guy:
It’s a two-word phrase that can’t be printed on ESPN.com, but it’s become the mantra of the 2007 Patriots season…. You can see it with every rubbing-it-in touchdown in the fourth quarter, as well as every “Get ’em a body bag … YEAHHHHHHHHH!” reaction on the sidelines after it happens. You can see it with Brady’s ticked-off game face that hasn’t changed for five straight weeks….Maybe the 2007 Pats were caught stealing signals, but only one signal matters anymore: two middle fingers turned toward the sky.
I still remember every game from 1998. That was a very different situation, the ’98 Vikings seemed to be almost joyful in their casual destruction of opposing defenses. The closest they got to the ’07 Patriots was when Randall Cunningham threw a 45-yard bomb to Jake Reed for a touchdown that was called back for some ticky-tack holding penalty, then hit Reed running exactly the same fly pattern for a 55-yard TD.
You couldn’t stop them, only Denny Green’s playoff coaching could contain them. I still think that Belichick should have been suspended, but I am nevertheless thoroughly enjoying his team’s response to the rest of the league. I love seeing Randy Moss play like himself again, I like Wes Welker’s Energizer Bunny deal and seeing Tom Brady do an uncanny imitation of Clint Eastwood: NFL QB is fascinating. When the announcers were saying that he “looked rattled” against Dallas, I just rolled my eyes; he didn’t look rattled, he looked irritated. Sure enough, he threw a strike for six on the next play.
Of course, in enjoying this surprising dominance in the so-called parity era, it also helps that the Vikings have absolutely no shot at anything but a one-and-out as an NFC wild card. Regardless, the transformation of the Patriots from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader has got to be the signature sports event of the decade.