Last Saturday when Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson blitzed off the defensive left end and knocked the ball out of the hands of New England quarterback Tom Brady, all of the street-wise educated football folk I was watching the game with at the Chinese Gourmet figured the game to be over.
Pats quarterback Tom Brady had pump-faked a throw to his left, and he pulled the ball back to his body when Woodson collided with Brady and punched the pigskin out. Raider teammate Greg Biekert jumped on the hide on Oakland’s 47 yard line with 1:43 left.
Now, I have never been a Raiders fan (in fact, I have come to resent the silver and black because of the Oak-town appreciation of one of my officemates), but I thought there was a better chance of the apocalypse, the second coming and our plantet’s implosion simultaneously than a reversal in the referee’s decision.
Football reason and common sense compelled me to believe the Raiders were off to the AFC Championship. I have, after all, viewed NFL football approximately 95 percent of the Sundays of my life, played football competitively for four years and even coached little leaguers football.
I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the rules of the game, and I was 100 percent sure it was a fumble. I still am positive, and there is no one person that can sway me in that sense.
However, referee Walt Coleman crushed the hearts of incarcerated and thugged out Raider fans alike, reversing his decision. Coleman claimed Brady was in the throwing motion and had tossed an incomplete pass.
The Pats remained poised, continuing their drive down to the Raiders 28-yard line before Adam Vinatieri thumped a 45 yard field goal with 0:27 seconds in regulation, sending the game into overtime.
Vinatieri booted a 23-yarder in OT, and the fortuitous Pats slushed into their first AFC Championship since their Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers in 1997.
I almost felt sorry for the Raiders because the call was so blasphemous. Well, no I wouldn’t say sorry for them. I still despise the Raiders. I was just flustered at how the Pats’ will and luck have gotten them this far.
The NFL field has been narrowed to the Final Four, and the most puzzling team to figure out is the Pats.
There’s a destiny the Pats have that the deadly accuracy of Kurt Warner cannot match.
If the Pats can survive, even when indisputable visual evidence would suggest otherwise, then I am convinced New England is headed for a spot into the Super Bowl, maybe even a win.
It’s the Patriots year for two reasons. Number one, they simply have no business in being this far, so why will they stop now?
Two, a berth into Super Bowl XXXVI would cap off the latest backward season of unpredictable NFL football.
So how did New England get here?
No one expected the Pats to bounce back from a 1-3 start, especially after offensive centerpiece Drew Bledsoe bit the dust in Week 2, but they did.
No one expected former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady to turn the season around, leading the Patsies to the AFC East Championship, an 11-5 record and a first round bye in the playoffs. But he did.
A Super Bowl berth for the Pats would be a fitting end to the regularly unpredictable NFL season.
How else is there an explanation for the Bears 13-3 record?
New England enters the AFC Championship Sunday on a seven game winning streak after the win over the Raiders. Not since a 24-17 loss to the Rams Nov. 18 have the Pats been on the losing end.
The Pats can gut out a close game, as three Vinatieri field goals in overtime this season meant Ws for New England. Take away the two victories during the regular season, and the Pats are struggling to make the Playoffs.
Even the fact the Snow Bowl was played in Foxboro was a farce.
Oakland stood aside Pittsburgh as the cream of the AFC, clinging to a 10-3 record with three weeks to go. However, losses to Tennessee, Denver and New York by a combined 11 points thrust New England into the round of the playoff bye.
At some point, a higher deity was stepping in?and he or she has a greater purpose for the New England Patriots.
The Pats may rank just 24th in the league on defense and 19th in offense, but they’ve got Lady Luck on their side. It doesn’t matter their opponent Sunday has the top ranked defense and the third most productive offense in the league.
When these Pats play, throw the numbers out the window, because they just know how to win.
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