Shots Heard 'Round The Web - Patriots Links 2/03/09

Odds to win superbowl 2010

New England Patriots: 8/1
Dallas Cowboys: 9/1
New York Giants: 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers: 10/1
Indianapolis Colts: 12/1
San Diego Chargers: 12/1
Baltimore Ravens: 14/1
Tennessee Titans: 16/1
Carolina Panthers: 18/1
Philadelphia Eagles: 18/1

Is Pittsburgh the hot, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately team of the moment??? Absolutely. But the arguments of local writers Massarotti, Borges, and Byrne (from Cold Hard Football Facts) all deal with the what-if scenario of the Steelers repeating. If that happened, then they would be the team of the decade, century millenium

How come no local speculation on the what-if scenario of Brady coming back and the Patriots doing even better than they did this year? The Pats were still contenders with Cassel last season, playing their best in December and that was with injuries. The writers all made excuses for the Steelers, saying they would have been even better if Big Ben hadn’t been injured the year after their 2005 Super Bowl, but not much respect is given to the hometown team.

Also, much was made of the Steeler’s win over the Patriots in what was the worst game the Pats played in years. It was an abberation, full of mistakes and turnovers, completely opposite of the norm. When the Patriots beat the Cardinals, however, it is brushed off and not counted because Arizona had already clinched their playoff berth and they weren’t trying.

I agree that the Steelers will be tough for any team to beat next year, but as with most topics in life there are ways to say things and there are ways to say things. The local guys hit the “eject” button, booting the Patriots (and the silly fans that follow them) to the curb before Santonio Holmes even hit the turf Sunday night.

New England Patriots (2000-2008)
Regular season: 102-42 (.708)
Playoffs: 14-3 (.824)
Overall record: 116-45 (.720)

Division titles: 6
Playoff appearances: 6
AFC title games: 5 (4-1)
Super Bowl appearances: 4
Super Bowl championships: 3

Records include…
Most consecutive wins in postseason – 10 (2001-2005)
21-game winning streak (regular season + playoffs) (2003-2004)
21-game winning streak (regular season only) (2006-2008)
Most points scored in history – 589 points (2007)
First 16-0 team in NFL history (2007)
Most touchdowns thrown by a QB in single-season – 50 TD’s by Tom Brady (2007)
Most touchdown receptions by a WR in single-season – 23 TD’s by Randy Moss (2007)
etc.

Pittsburgh Steelers (2000-2008)
Regular season: 94-49-1 (.653)
Playoffs: 10-4 (.714)
Overall record: 104-53-1 (.658)

Division titles: 5
Playoff appearances: 6
AFC title games: 4 (2-2)
Super Bowl appearances: 2
Super Bowl championships: 2

Records include…
Most regular season wins by Rookie QB – 13 (2004)
Longest regular season win streak to start a career by NFL QB – 15 (2004-2005)
Youngest QB to ever win Super Bowl (2005)
Lowest passer rating for Super Bowl winning QB – 22.6 (2005)
First team to reach six Super Bowl titles (2008)
etc.

Head-to-Head (2000-2008)
Regular season: 3-2 — Patriots
Playoffs: 2-0 — Patriots
Overall record: 5-2 — Patriots

Hard to call anyone the team of the century unless you want to talk about the first 100 years of football.

But the last 2 Steelers SB wins have been ugly games in which horrendous officiating has given them victories. They are consistently good- but I don’t see them as a dominant team- just lucky.