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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!qantel!lll-crg!seismo!harvard!think!haddock!billm
From: billm@haddock.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sport.football
Subject: Re: Super Bowl XX
Message-ID: <95100001@haddock.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 14-Jan-86 14:34:00 EST
Article-I.D.: haddock.95100001
Posted: Tue Jan 14 14:34:00 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 20-Jan-86 04:37:11 EST
References: <417@decwrl.UUCP>
Lines: 101
Nf-ID: #R:decwrl:-41700:haddock:95100001:000:5303
Nf-From: haddock!billm    Jan 14 14:34:00 1986


	Yes, I agree with your feelings about the New England Patriots.
While I am not a long-suffering Pats fan (I'm from Northern N.J., a long
suffering Giant/Jets fan), I can certainly see why Pats Hysteria has hit
this region, almost like Bear Hysteria has hit the Windy City and its
environs.  All loyal (and necessarily long-suffering) fans deserve a winner
every now and again; the end to the 18 game draught in the Orange Bowl would
have almost sufficed.  Earning that first trip to the Super Bowl and ending
the Miami jinx as a result of winnning the same game almost cheats the fans !!!

	Anyway, some more comments:

-->Make no mistake about one thing. New England is the best team in 
-->the AFC.

	Only a true, loyal Patriots fan would write something like that.
The best team in the AFC this year is the Los Angeles Raiders.  The New
England Patriots have saved their best games for the playoffs and therefore
will represent the AFC in the Bowl of Super.

-->When your playoff opponents, all very good teams playing at home in the
-->most important games of their seasons, commit four, six and six 
-->turnovers, there is more than coincidence or luck involved. 

	I totally agree.  The Patriots, as luck would have it, only had to mount
one drive of greater than 40 yards.  Good thing, they might not have been
able to, what with their "run-oriented" offense !!!!

--->Of course, we have reason to doubt whether the Pats can beat the 
--->Bears. Although their Sept. 15 game (Bears 20, N.E. 7) was 
--->affected by a turnover ratio (N.E. had 4, Chi. 2) that seems 
--->unlikely to repeat itself, the fact remains that the Patriot 
--->offense spent exactly 21 seconds in Chicago territory all day. 

	That's hard for me to believe ... 3 or 4 minutes perhaps, but
21 seconds ?????

-->What worries me is that New England is very similar in makeup to 
-->the two teams Chicago wailed on to reach the Super Bowl. Like the 
-->Giants and Rams, the Pats are built around a strong defense and 
-->an offense which loves to run. I don't think Craig James is as 
-->good a back as Eric Dickerson or Joe Morris, but the Pats do have 
-->more depth in the backfield and a stronger offensive line than NY 
-->or LA. As for the QB comparison, Eason is much better than the 
-->pitiful Dieter Brock, and although he has nowhere near the stats 
-->Simms does, Eason has not thrown an interception in the playoffs; 
-->I doubt Simms will ever make that claim. The only team to beat 
-->Chicago (Miami) did it through the air, and the Pats do not have 
-->a great passing game. 

	I wonder how important those factors will be when the game is decided.
It seems to me the game will turn on whether the New England special teams
will force the Bears to leave the ball on the ground.  The New England offense
hasn't shown the capability to score 3 to 4 touchdowns as a result of medium
to long drives, so they'll need help.  The Jets, Raiders, and Dolphins have
provided that help.  If the Bears do too, then the Patriots have a chance.

-->Remember this: Miami beat the Bears convincingly December 2. 
-->I don't buy the theory that the game meant nothing because 
-->Chicago had already clinched everything is wrong. The Bears 
-->wanted to win that game badly. They knew they were facing a 
-->possible Super Bowl opponent, they were on national TV, and they 
-->wanted an unbeaten season. And the Dolphins were a far superior 
-->team. 

	Oh really ?  The Bears need no excuses.  I don't believe that
any professional team can or should go unbeaten in a season of greater
than 3 contests.  This game was on the road, in a stadium that is notoriously
diffucult for any visitor to win in.  Plus, the home team was coached on that
night by Don Shula, one of the three best motivators in sports (incidently,
his team last Sunday looked like it was coached by someone else).  Plus, the
Dolphin crowd was as supportive as I have ever seen a home crowd.  The gods
were definitely against the Bears that night.

	The Dolphins were not the superior team, even on that night.  However,
they did execute their game plan better and wound up scoring more points than
did the Bears.

-->New England is better than Miami. Much better. They 
-->should have been 3-0 against them this year. If you don't think 
-->all that gives the Patriots reason to think they can beat the 
-->Bears, think again. 

	So you say !!!!!

-->This is not a prediction of a New England upset. I still haven't 
-->decided about that. It is merely a statement that the Pats do 
-->belong in New Orleans, and a warning to anyone planning on 
-->wagering their grocery money on Chicago giving 9 or 10 points: Be 
-->careful. The Pats have covered the spread 14 weeks in a row. 

	Can't argue much with facts. However, the intangibles of this game
and this matchup gives this Super Bowl an extra aura.  Can't wait to read some
of the stories next week (obviously, all the factual stories will be written
this week.  Next week, most writers will start to manufacture them, and they
should be doozies !!!).

Bill Mathews {decvax ! cca | yale | ihnp4 | cbosgd}!ima!billm
{bbncca | harvard | zurton | cfib | mit-ems | wjh12 }!ima!billm
{uscvax | ucla-vax | vortex}!ism780!billm
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