Patriots Are Super Again!

Jacksonville, Florida

 

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 2/8/2005

 

  Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys move over. There's a new dynasty in the National Football League they are the New England Patriots.

 Winners of Super Bowl XXXIX 24-21 over the Philadelphia Eagles. Winners of three of the last four Super Bowls. And back to back Super Bowl Champions.

 The Patriots are to this decade what the Packers were to the 60's,the Steelers to the 70's,the 49ers to the 80's, and the Cowboys to the 90's.

 They are the NFL's version of the best the juice the pulse they are the clear-cut best of this Millennium. All they did was win three Super Bowls by three points three times. Dominating?

 No! 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI over the St.Louis Rams, 32-29 over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVII and 24-21 over the Eagles. They are great closers they finish the deal.

 Dynasty? Webster's dictionary defines a dynasty as "A powerful group or family that maintains its position for a long time." In the NFL where the average length of a player's career is 3 years, that's a long time.

 If you look closely at what they accomplished and still have reservations about giving them there due. Consider this when they beat the Rams the favorite in Super Bowl XXXVI the Rams were trying to win their second Super Bowl in three years.

 In beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC title game 41-27 the Patriots ended the Steelers 15-game win streak and certainly blocked the Steelers from joining the 49ers and Bears as the only teams to finish 18-1 as Super Bowl Champions.

 They are model champions in the way they play they play as a team. They are great for sports. Head coach Bill Belichick now 10-1 in the playoffs has built a champion that recognizes that playing together as one and winning together is what it's all about.

 " No matter what happens they just keep working keep fighting, keep playing, and they did it again today. I thought it was just and awesome overall effort against a real good football team.

 The Eagles were tough they gave us a lot of problems." Said Belichick who passed Vince Lombardi's previous best (9-1) mark of winning percentage in the playoffs at (10-1).

 The Patriots over the last two years are 34-4 that's30 games over 500. That is about as good as it gets. Bookend 17-2 records in this era of salary cap and un-retricted free agency and me me players.

 They showed the heart and grit of a champion after being dominated in the first half by the Eagles. Remember the Eagles led 7-0 with less than two minutes to play in the first half.

 Yet the Patriots remained poised and focussed on winning. And rallied to win their third Super Bowl in three years. Joining the Dallas Cowboys as the only teams to win three Super Bowls in four years. In my view that qualifies as a dynasty.