There Are No Yankees in Football

The World Champion New England Patriots opened NFL 2004 at home last Thursday against the Indianapolis Colts, the team that the Pats bushwhacked in last year's AFC Championship on the way to their second Super Bowl win in three years. New England's 27-24 repeat victory in the opener was an indicative object lesson in how to create the building blocks of a dynasty when all the cards are stacked against you. This, my friends, is a different level we're observing here.

It's no secret that parity rules the NFL, and that's how the NFL wants it. From Pete Rozelle to Paul Tagliabue, the league has been on a 44-year mission of equality that works in theory (and often in practice). There hasn't been a repeat Super Bowl winner since the 1997-1998 Broncos. From 2002 to 2003, exactly ONE TEAM (the Philadelphia Eagles, who went 12-4 both seasons) retained their record from the season before. In addition, only 10 of the 32 NFL teams retained their identical division positions, and only five of the twelve 2003 playoff teams were involved in the postseason in 2002. The NFL creates excitement that Major League Baseball can't, because so many more teams start a season legitimately believing that they've got a solid shot at the brass ring. There are no Yankees in the NFL'thank GOD.

But in the burgeoning middle class, where prosperity is an elixir meant to be shared, the Patriots seem to be stating a case that no matter how much you lower the ceiling and raise the floor�a team that plays to achieve overall perfection over the glorification of the individual will always beat the house.

There are several teams that may have more pure talent than New England on a player-by-player basis, but the only other time I�ve seen a team play in concert at this level is when I treat myself to highlights of the 1972 Miami Dolphins � the only undefeated team in NFL history. Those Dolphins, like these Patriots, were the smartest team in the league � by far. Bill Arnsparger, the defensive coordinator of those Dolphins, once said that after watching every defensive down of the �72 season, he saw only thirteen mental mistakes.

Thirteen. In the entire season.

The Patriots have won sixteen regular and post-season games in a row, two short of the record that the �72-�73 Dolphins established. And they�ve done this by borrowing the Dolphins� template. Throw the high-percentage pass. Call the right play. Know what your opponents are doing � sometimes before they themselves know � through study and instinct. Hang on to the ball in traffic. Don�t over-pursue. Wrap up the tackle. Play the right angle and always, always, ALWAYS be the most prepared team on the field.

After the New England-Indianapolis rematch, I e-mailed a friend and told him that to me, the Willie McGinest sack of Peyton Manning that took the Colts out of field goal range late in the fourth quarter and killed any chance they had of tying or winning the game almost seemed an inevitability. It was a close game, but whenever you try to pin the Pats, they slip through your restraints. Manning might be the most perfectly engineered quarterback in the NFL today, but when crunchtime came around, it was McGinest who beat his man and grabbed the sack while Manning was caught short going through his reads. Once again, it�s what you do as opposed to what you could have done that matters.

That�s why the Patriots are the league�s elite, and it�s why every other team will have to step it up mentally to unseat them and reach that level themselves. Mental toughness eradicates the "little things"�road losses, surprise suspensions, dropped passes, late-game defensive implosions�that stop a team, no matter how gifted, dead in its tracks.

Editor's Note: Doug Farrar is the talented editor of www.Seahawks.net. This story can be read in its entirety on that site.