Five reasons the Patriots will win on Monday

By Os Davis  |   Monday, October 30, 2006  |  Comments( 2 )

New England Patriots
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After a pair of games a PR professional could have crafted marketing plans for in his sleep, "Monday Night Football" will play host this week to the New England Patriots-Minnesota Vikings game, a more compelling matchup than either Chicago Bears-Arizona Cardinals or New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys. "But what," the advertising boys must be saying, "can we hype about this one? Here we have a couple of straightforward teams led by straightforward coaches and a serious lack of head cases. Can we rerun the 'Love Boat' thing from last year?"

Nah, probably not. What we do have, though, is a pair of playoff contenders both coming off outstanding wins in Week 7. One is a squad unknown to the greater media orgy, the other a perpetual Super Bowl threat packed with unknowns. Both pack drive-crushing defenses and workhorse, get-the-job-done QBs.

Without worrying about darling boy rookie quarterbacks, overdosing trash talkers and 1985, maybe "the worldwide leader in sports" should just get us ready for some football, instead. Either that or start running the Tom "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful" Brady angle.

Herewith, five reasons why those pesky New England Patriots will win in the Metrodome:

The other bye week advantage. After the league-mandated break, the first statistic typically referenced is "record following the bye week." But what about "record in the second game after the bye week?" In the Brady era, New England is 3-1 in such games, with the sole loss coming at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts last year. Of course, the Patriots, like every other media-conscious NFL team, naturally "take these games one at a time," but you can't convince this observer that Mr. Belichick, with little fear for a Buffalo Bills squad he's dominated since day one with the Pats, didn't prepare the navy blue-and-silver just a wee bit for the NFL's No. 7 defense.

Run, Laurence, run! Despite getting just eight carries (or perhaps precisely because of his lack of touches), Laurence Maroney is one guy the Vikes must be wary of. The former Minnesota Gopher will be playing before friends and family, so this will be the rookie's first chance at those "hometown return" games NFL-ers love so much. Don't forget that the purple guys are giving up more rushing yards at home (i.e. on turf) than away this season. And even if "Big-Play" Maroney can't run for 30 yards again this week, Maroney and the Patriots' special teams may outclass those of the Vikings enough to inspire the man to actually score on a 70-plus yard return this week.

Jenny picks 'em. You know Jenny: She's the ESPN.com-ubiquitous weekly winner of the office football pool - maybe she can afford a couple of buttons for that blouse, eh? - who applies scientific methodology such as prettiest uniform (in this game, that's surely Minnesota. When will the Patriots drop that insipid "Elvis on acid" logo?) and cuter nickname (though no animals in the "MNF" matchup, all-American Jenny has got to like the Founding Fathers). The tiebreaker? C'mon, who's the blonde bombshell gonna cozy up to, Brady or Brad Johnson?

The man with the headset. Except for when facing his personal Lex Luthor (a.k.a. Mike Shanahan), Belichick will add this plus to the Patriots' column every game until further notice. Speculation: A trick play gets big gains for the Patriots, while Brad Childress' own attempt at shenanigans (probably in the first quarter) backfires.

They're jelling. In Week 2, all smiles after a flashless 2-0 start, Brady stated that the team hadn't come together yet. This remains the prevailing opinion, and probably will until true tests come against the Colts and Bears next month. The Patriots are 5-1, their best start under Belichick besides the dominating 2004 run which had the team undefeated through six games. Despite the relative anonymity of this squad on paper, the Patriots will be, for the first time in years, entering a game with the starting lineups entirely intact. Could they jell this week and give the scoreboard guys a workout? Maybe. Do they even need to jell this week to win? Maybe not. Scary.

Final score: Patriots, 27-9.

More insights into what makes those New England Patriots tick on RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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