Rocky's Rant

I've never seen Jim Brown carry 8 guys with him for the last half of a 40 yard TD run. I've never had the pleasure of watching guys like Ray Nitschke, Joe Green, or Chuck Bednarik punish not only opposing Quarterbacks, but anyone in an opposite color jersey on game day. But I am old enough to remember the guys who changed how my generation watched and routed for the game of Football. Guys like Elway, Montana, Marino, Sanders, and Favre changed the game itself...they will go down as timeless, but did the teams they played on have the same mystique? Today we have a team already staking their claim as the best this season...this decade...and possibly ever. The New England Patriots are one win away from making history. But in the timeless words of Lee Corso, Not so fast my friends! The Patriots have ALREADY made history, they are the first and only team to win 18 games without losing 1, they have a QB and WR who both set single season individual records for TD's, and a team that broke all major team records for Offense and points. So why can't we all agree that this IS the best team ever? Clearly the numbers speak for themselves...no other team has done what they have done on the field, and isn't that what really counts? I say yes, the best way to show how the Pats match up is to show what the other teams have done. For example, the '72 Dolphins were at the mercy of one of the weakest schedules in recent memory. They played NOBODY! The '85 Bears although suffocating on D, never dominated a team on offense the way Tom Brady and Randy Moss connect for an 80-yard bomb like its Madden '08. That was no more evident with the Bears then in their only loss to the Dolphins in '85. The Patriots struggled against teams this year, but never was it an entire phase of the game. They are so smart and so well coached that if Brady or Moss struggle, they are so deep and balanced on both sides of the ball that a Patriots win has become inevitable. They remind me of the 49ers team that went 14-2 that year, yes they dominated on both sides of the ball and had a stingy D led by gritty veterans, an underrated running game, a machine at QB, the greatest at WR, and of course the Wizard at the helm. But its so tough for me to put any team that lost a game, including the 49ers who lost to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game that year, ahead of a team who has yet to lose this year. There is no better TEAM then this year's Patriots; the way they prepare, practice, and execute as a unit is uncanny. They play the complete game of football and I can't see this team losing. So as of now I am ready to anoint this year's New England Patriots as the best team ever, yes ever. Of course, if they were to somehow lose to the Giants then we really have something to talk about...