Brent Wilburn is a senior majoring in physical education. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Domination and destiny are the two words that accurately describe the 2007 season for the undefeated New England Patriots, and they are the two biggest reasons as to why they will win Sunday on the grandest stage of them all.Through the 16 games they played during the regular season, a schedule which included six teams that went on to make the playoffs, their average margin of victory was an NFL record 19.7 points. Only four of their regular season games ended with an opponent coming within five points of them, and all of those close wins ended in regulation without going to overtime. The narrow victories came after the team was already 8-0, which is around the time undefeated teams generally feel the pressure from all around them.
It is at that point when opponents begin circling the game against the undefeated team on their schedule.
But there’s no rattling this season’s Patriots. That’s where destiny intertwines with the domination. The stars aligned to give them some great players at bargain prices.
Dating back to last offseason, the team has been making moves that were viewed as questionable by many football analysts and fans. The most notable of those moves came with the addition of Randy Moss. It goes without saying that before coming to New England, Moss’s track record wasn’t the best.
When the Patriots got wind of Moss’s availability, they decided to take a flier on the trouble-making wide receiver and only gave up a 4th-round draft pick. As we all now know, that trade was an absolute steal for the Patriots. They gave up a mid-round draft pick for the wide receiver who wound up setting the NFL record for most touchdown receptions in a single season by hauling in 23 during the 16-game season.
Another noteworthy offseason acquisition was wide receiver Wes Welker, who came off a 687-yard season a year ago. It was another move that was questionable at the time, but it really paid off for the AFC champions with Welker catching a single-season franchise-record 112 passes.
Adding those volatile weapons to an already-potent offense paid dividends for this season’s NFL Most Valuable Player Tom Brady. He broke Peyton Manning’s single-season record for passing touchdowns in a season by putting 50 into the end zone.
There’s also no doubt Patriots head coach and football mastermind Bill Belichick will have exactly the right plays to counteract the trouble spots his team encountered during its previous meeting with the Giants.
If the Patriots put away the Giants on Sunday, which would give them their fourth Super Bowl win in seven years, they would be able to add a ‘D’ word besides domination and destiny to their storybook season: dynasty.