by Rich Briggs

Created on: June 26, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I have watched a lot of football at my relatively young age. Okay, I am a middle aged man by today's standards, but I don't feel old. I have watched college and professional football since the middle 1970s. In some aspects, the game has changed. Free agency has been a huge factor in the most recent changes, as most players fail to finish their careers with the teams that drafted them.

But, one thing will always remain the same. Football is still running, passing, blocking, and tackling. The team that executes these four aspects of the game generally comes out on top. While everyone was ballyhooing the 2007 New England Patriots for their perfect regular season, I was noticing drop offs in their play. The New York Giants had them on the ropes in the regular season finale and nearly upset them. The fact they didn't probably bode well for them in the Super Bowl.

It has been documented more than once that the team playing its best football ends up winning the championship, and not the team with the best record. The Pittsburgh Steelers established that two years ago when they were the first number six seed to go all the way. They played their best football at the right time.

During the playoffs, I noticed that the Jacksonville Jaguars had the Patriots tied at halftime before losing the game. They simply couldn't finish the deal, but they showed future opponents that the Patriots were vulnerable. Next, the San Diego Chargers went into Foxboro and made four trips into the red zone, only to come away with field goals. That wasn't good enough. Had they converted those four drives into touchdowns, the Chargers, not the Patriots, would have gone onto the Super Bowl.

While all of this was happening, the New York Giants rode a wave of momentum, after nearly upsetting the Patriots, by beating Tampa Bay, Dallas, and Green Bay on the road before facing the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Quite simply, the Giants were playing better football and they proved it with the upset.

To say that the Patriots weren't interested in winning the Super Bowl is ridiculous. You don't get that far, with history beckoning, only to close up shop. The Giants had a terrific game plan, defensively, and put a ton of pressure on Tom Brady. So what that Randy Moss caught a late touchdown pass and Wes Welker caught passes for over 100 yards? Offensive weapons are going to get their numbers. But the pressure that was on Brady throughout the game was the key.

The old adage goes that offense sell tickets and defense

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