Pre draft it's always pretty quiet so I thought I would post some filler. I have a good library of DVDs of "America's Game"- great series, and I like to watch them from time to time, my favourite is obviously SB III followed by SB V when the Colts found redemption for their huge upset to the Jets. If you have seen this or get a chance again, listen carefully to great players like Bubba Smith and Mike Curtis of the then Colts talking about how things were never the same after the Jets beat them and how the following season they struggled to get to.500. In another great Baltimore player's words, Bill Curry: "We were about to be validated as the greatest team to ever to win a Superbowl". Now I'm not suggesting the Giants win over the Pats was as big as a shock as our win but there is cetainly some comparisons to draw on between the Colts and the Pats and the biggest one is that they were both almost imperious in their belief about winning the SB. I have a suspicion that the Pats will suffer some fallout after falling at the final hurdle and this aging team may not be quite the force they were this year. A good FA and draft this year and maybe, we could have a shot at the AFC East title where all good things have to begin. Thoughts please Jets.
SB3: (nfc/afc used for description purposes) In 1969, the nfc WAS the nfl, and the colts were the darlings of the nfc. the jets, on the other hand, were in the expansion and joke-esq afc which was considered nfl-canada, or semi pro ball in spain. or maybe a real good high school league, but nothing even close to the real deal nfc. in fact, namath signing with the jets out of college shocked the nfc world. he was the first 'player' to ever sign outside the 'real deal nfc'. most sports analysts said namath was making a huge mistake going for the money vs signing with a 'real' team. but namath had two things going for him, a gun for an arm and carizma out the ass. remember those scenes of the beatles walking down the tarmac at jfk and all the chicks going NUTS? thus the life of namath. he energized and expanded the football world. plus he garuanteed a jets win against the colts, which was a huge joke but everyone wanted to believe because namath himself said it would be so. the rest is history. but the giants and pats have played on an even playing field for over 30 years. both have previous sb wins, and they just played each other to a near draw a few weeks prior. so the 'gap' just wasn't there. the pats had played a perfect season and were favored to win the game, but the giants were pretty dam good themselves, winning 11 straight road games to make it that far, including wins against tampa, cowboys, and greenbay. the rose colored glasses the world was wearing due to ne's 18-0 recored prevented fans from engaging in a true pre-analysis of the game. if ne had been 17-1 with no talk of a perfect season, then the spread would have been no more than 3 points. but in the end, the game was probably the closest fought, best sb i've ever watched. summay: sb3 shocked the world and propelled namath to god status, and put the afc on the map for good. the ne/giants sb was a thrilling game between two evenly matched teams, with one team having a chance at going undefeated.
The difference is that going into SB3, I don't think the football world really had a good idea as to just how good the Jets were. The lack of legitimacy the AFC had in many people's eyes made it a stunning upset at the time, but the truth is the Jets were younger, more talented and played a different brand of football then the Colts. The Giants/Pats game was a situation in which the basis of comparison for the two teams was a little more level. It's not like you could say that the NFC champion was coming out of a "second-tier" league or that they had no business in the game.
I think ScotlandJet was more interested in how this upset loss might affect the Patriots next season. Will they fall apart like the 1969 Colts? I think it's possible, but I've been waiting for the Pats to fall apart for quite a while now... The fact that they missed out on perfection by just a couple of minutes is the sort of thing that can eat away at a player's psyche. Plus some veteran players are likely to retire. Randy Moss is a toss-up on whether he'll return. Most importantly, that offensive line was shown to have vulnerabilities. Hopefully everyone will now stop trying to blanket the Pats receivers and just send people at Brady all day from all angles. But remember also that the Colts bounced back and won SB V. So if the Pats do collapse, they may recover again quickly! For some reason, I'm thinking 10-6 for the Patriots next season. Not exactly a collapse, but definitely a wobble! A slam dunk draft and FA period and the Jets could compete with that.
I'm sure the wheels of Belicheats jalopy are about to fall off. That loss will hurt deeply and for the first time players are going to have maybe just a little less self belief than they did before , as Scotland jet intimated , like the SBIII Colts , after that loss to the all powerfull Jets it was noticable that the Colts swagger had lost a step or two. Couple lack of self belief with the rumblings of spygate set to gather pace , and ageing defense and all of a sudden the AFC east could be up for grabs. Will the Jets grab the opportuntity?
