Still Perfect

The team that everyone loves to hate The New England Patriots are still undefeated and still on the road for that perfect season. With a win over the Eagles on Sunday night football Tom Brady took his team one step closer to NFL history to be the second team to go 17-0 and win a superbowl. The only other team to achieve this perfect season was arguably the best team ever the 1972 Miami Dolphins. After watching this close game against the Eagles and the close call that the Patriots had its a toss up if they can pull it through and go undefeated. With the Brady-Moss connection clicking and an offense that is averaging over 39 points per game, the Patriots appear to be an unstoppable force. This undefeated question reminds me of the Cults and last year's season.

With five games left in the season anything can happen at this point expecially with a little thing called "Any Given Sunday." There are too many factors that can happen over the next few weeks to prevent the undefeated season. Pittsburg and the NY Giants pose big obstacles to the Patriots. The three other teams on the schedule arent going to role over to the Patriots either just becuase they are on a perfect season run. Each of the five teams left on the schedule want to be the one that puts the banana in the exhuast of the Patriots Bus on the road to the perfect season.

So far every team that has come close to the history books has come short for one reason or another. Statistically, the chips are not stacked in the favor of the Pats becuase the NFL season is full of upsets and with five more games there are five chances for that to happen.

For the Patriots to be perfect they have to play perfect. Brady has to continue playing his game, Moss has to keep the Brady-Moss connection alive, Maroney has to keep the ground game alive, and most importantly the defense has to shut everything down. If the Pats can manage to be perfect for the next five games which i feel they have a good chance to do, they will be the next team in the history books.

McNabb Makes a Bold Statement

Donovan McNabb let out a can of worms last week when, during an interview on Real Sports, McNabb claimed that “African-American quarterbacks such as himself face added pressure because there are fewer black quarterbacks -- and because some still don't want black athletes playing the position”. This takes a lot of guts for McNabb to make these claims. Race is always a tough card to play because of all the attention that is drawn from it. From a marketing standpoint, it also puts the team and the League on the radar. Commentators have been expressing their opinions of this topic also.

Being from Philadelphia I have mixed emotions about Donovan McNabb. I feel that he was once a great quarterback but he has peaked as a quarterback long ago. He is also an attention whore. I have heard numerous comments, from former Eagles’ players explaining the reason for the McNabb-TO “Thrilla in Phila” was very much Donovan McNabb’s fault. I do not disagree with this statement. I used to believe McNabb was the messiah and T.O. was trying to thwart the dreams of all Philadelphia. Now as I look back, it seems in the last 4 years since T.O., McNabb has had his fair share of problems: the Garcia vs. McNabb competition that was brought about this past summer, the numerous injuries and missed playing time, and the Eagles not being able to win “the big one”. Garcia wanted to be resigned by the Eagles and a second string and after last season Garcia was looked upon as Philadelphia’s favorite quarterback. McNabb couldn’t handle that and Garcia was forced out. The same thing happened with Terrell Owens. He was Philadelphia’s most favorite athlete. McNabb could not take it. Then the situation blew up.

In terms of the argument that black quarterbacks are more scrutinized than white quarterbacks, I do not feel McNabb’s argument has any truth behind it. I understand there are only five starting quarterbacks in the NFL that are black. That is a shame. I am not going to hide that fact. I feel the quarterback position is transitioning though, and there will definitely be more black quarterbacks in the future. In terms of criticism of black quarterbacks, I feel all quarterbacks get more criticism than praise 99% of the time. This does not matter if you are black, white, yellow, green, or blue. Quarterbacks are the leader of the team, and will be the first ones criticized. McNabb gets criticized because he is a player in Philadelphia. Philadelphians are some of the harshest critics in the world. If you do not win a championship, you probably will be greeted with tons of hate. If you do bring home a trophy, you will be revered forever.

From a marketing standpoint, the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL should really brush this topic under the table. It is a very touchy subject, and I feel has no value. McNabb is just looking for a way to grab some more unnecessary attention. If he wants attention, he should bring home a championship. Besides that, he should just be worrying about the wins. He has not been doing that at all this season.