I’m not the kind of guy to sit here and say I told you so. I’m not gonna sit here and say that several weeks ago I wrote a column saying there was nobody in the AFC that could hold a candle to the Patriots.
I’m not gonna look back at my commentary about how much better Tom Brady is than Peyton Manning and that Brady always gets it done in the clutch moments, whereas Manning chokes.
I’m not gonna point out the fact that I said as long as the Pats kept their drive and determination up, they would find themselves playing for the Lombardi Trophy come February.
“But Jake, they deflated the footballs against the Colts!”
I think Colts’ tight end Dwayne Allen said it best, “They could have played with soap for balls and beat us. Simply the better team.” Allen tweeted that shortly after the AFC Championship game.
I’m sorry, but in my humble opinion, anyone who makes the argument that deflated footballs are the reason that the New England Patriots are in the Super Bowl this year, should not be allowed to ever discuss sports again.
Anyone who watched the Patriots throughout the course of this year will tell you that this has been the most dominant team in the NFL over the course of a long season.
They were consistently thrown into adverse situations over and over again and seemingly always came out on top.
After a 2-2 start to the season, and after being written off as washed up and finished, Brady and his gang made it their mission to punch the rest of the NFL right in the mouth. And they did so.
This is a team that I am proud to say I am a fan of. This is a team that I truly believe is going to be hoisting the trophy and calling themselves champions on Feb. 1.
Any Patriots hater in the world can feel free to call them cheaters and put an asterisk next to their championships or whatever they want, but I think I speak for all of Patriots nation when I say that we believe in our team and our coach and our quarterback and there is nothing anyone can say or do to take that away from us. We’re on to Seattle!
Jake Coughlin can be contacted at jcoughlin@keene-equinox.com
