Colts Vs. Patriots: The Real Super Bowl

The much anticipated match up of the Indianapolis Colts vs. the New England Patriots is this Sunday and if you plan on watching the Super Bowl this February, you should watch this game as well. This game features by far the two best teams in the National Football League. No teams have come even close to match either the Pats or Colts so far this season. The so called "experts" thought the Cowboys would be a test for the Patriots, but they slammed them down, making them look like a pee wee team. Last week, the Colts faced what was thought to be a challenge in the Carolina Panthers, but handled them no problem.

The Patriots (8-0) have destroyed all opponents in their wake so far this season, coming off a 52-7 thrashing of the Washington Redskins. Brady to Moss has become a modern day version of Young to Rice. But don't forget about the other team in this game of the year. The Colts are undefeated as well (7-0) and have started out just as strong. Peyton Manning has been his same old self passing for 13 touchdowns and 1833 total yards on the season. That is the norm for this high powered Colts team, but what has been unexpected is their defense. The most points they gave up all season was 24 to the Texans on the third week of the season, but the past 3 games, they have given up a whopping total of 28 points. Their real test this season will be against the Patriots, who have yet to score less than 34 points.

The game should produce fireworks on both sides of the ball, with the two best quarterbacks of the century matching up head to head. Ratings will most definately be through the roof for CBS, as this game has been hyped since the begining of the season. Now with both teams coming in undefeated, the match up has made up good fodder for pundits all across the nation. If I were a company looking to advertise during the Super Bowl, I would highly reconisder putting my money towards this game instead.

How does the Patriots organization bounce back?

It has been a full week since the world exploded for the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick. The hype surronding the espionage shows no sign of dying down. The harsh penalties imposed by Commissioner Goodell only serve to further amplify the questions surronding the Patriots organization, especially from a marketing perspective. Although Belichick's gruff attitude has made him a less than popular guy around the country, in Foxborough, he is a God and I'm pretty sure a big seller of the famous New England Patriots sweatshirt. Will this cheating scandal ruin Belichick's image of a role model for young kids? I would say yes, if I was a parent I would not endorse merchandise, a team, or a person cheating because it is not a good example for kids.

The marketing department for the Patriots needs to find a way to put the scandal in a positive light in order to counteract the damage this negative publicity has had on the organization. I wonder what sort of a plan they will come up with because I would have assumed that Robert Kraft would distance himself from Belichick. Interestingly enough the opposite has happened with Kraft and the rest of the organization standing behind Belichick. The organization seems to have no problem with Belichick and is confident in his ability as he is rumored to agreeing to a five year extension-- albeit before the scandal but there have been no rumors of the extension offer being rescinded. I think it will be interesting to see how many fans turn out for the first game in Foxborough against the Chargers tonight and how many people watch the game.

Cheating obviously is something that cannot be controlled in sport. It is only possible to catch a few and set them out as examples and hope that it serves as a deterrent. I wonder what effect the new marketing strategies all of the NFL-- not only the Patriots-- will have to implement in order to attract fans, new and old, to a sport with the image of cheating.

Is the Patriots "Scandal" Being Overhyped?

In a matter of a weeks time, the New England Patriots have gone from the NFL's model franchise to cheats. Who knew that video taping the opposing teams signals could tarnish 3 Super Bowl victories and a coaches legacy. Is it really that big of deal? Do other teams around the league do it too? Is stealing signals just another form of gamesmanship in order to give your team the best chance to win?

At this point, none of those reasons are good enough to excuse the Patriots and Bill Belichick from what they did. People around the country have been waiting for an opportunity to dethrone the Patriots and this is their chance. Belichick has not been liked nationally since he left the Jets to coach the Patriots. I'm sure Belichick haters around the country were salivating when they heard that he was caught. People need to be honest with themselves and realize that they are scrutinizing the Patriots not only for the video taping, but also because of their genuine dislike for Belichick and his team. If it was Herm Edwards caught cheating, would there be as much of a hoopla?

It has been said on ESPN and other media outlets that the Patriots are probably not the only team that has taped other teams signals on the sidelines. However, since they were caught, the Patriots are therefore the cheats and their past wins should be questioned. How does this logic make any sense at all? Yea it is impossible to prove that other teams have been doing this as well, but there have been hints from coaches, players, and former players around the league that this is a more common occurrence then we may think.

Yes the Patriots were wrong to do this and yes Bill Belichick was not very smart to try this stunt on Eric Mangini, but I think fans and the media are blowing this way out of proportion. The Steelers Heinze Ward even had the audacity to say that the Patriots playoff win in 2001 should be questioned. Come on Heinze, you know that your team was beat fair and square, get over it. The Patriots are on the ground, bleeding, and people are taking every chance they can to get a shot at them.