I know that most will think me crazy for making such a statement, considering that the Pats are an unbeaten 18-0 team headed to the Super Bowl.  But after watching Patriots games for 5 out of the last 6 weeks, that is the conclusion I have come to.  However; it will take a team--and there is only one left--with some serious balls to try and pull it off.  The key is not to worry about pressuring Brady.

Alright, that final sentence probably sounds crazier than the title of this post.  No defensive coordinator in their right mind would forget about pressuring the quarterback, right?  But I honestly believe that is what it will take to beat the Pats.  Every team that the Pats have played for the past two months have said that getting to Brady, and breaking his rhythm, would be the key to slowing the Patriots offense down.  Although some have had better results (see Philly and Baltimore), most have not.  And no one has been able to bring down the mighty Pats.

So if I'm the Giants defensive coordinator, I go outside the box.  I don't commit extra men to blitz packages, and I don't spend two weeks trying to out scheme Bill Belicheck with fancy, previously unseen blitz options.  Nope.  What I do is spend these two weeks concentrating on playing tough, cover 2 type defense.  You know the Pats are going to go four and five-wide, but if everybody stays in their zones, and gaps, then you will/should always have help over the top wherever their receivers go.  If Brady decides to check down and take the short stuff, so be it.  At the very least you make them earn their way down the field (San Diego had some success with defending this way on Sunday).

But I do one extra added thing that, so far, no defense has been willing to commit to.  I take my speediest linebacker and I spy Kevin Faulk wherever he goes.  I know.  Kevin Faulk?  Seriously, have you lost your mind?

Yes, Kevin Faulk.  He's the key to stopping the Pats offense.  Each of the past two weeks, Patriot opponents San Diego and Jacksonville defended the Patriots with the Cover 2, or some hybrid zone scheme.  It lowered Brady's passing options, slowed them down, forced the Pats to take the underneath stuff, and did not allow the Patriots very many big plays.  But neither opponent committed anyone to watching Faulk out of the backfield.  After watching the Pats as much as I have in the last 6 weeks, I have noticed that Faulk is in on every big third down situation, instead of Maroney, and even some big second downs as well.  Faulk isn't just a good check down for Brady, he's become Brady's Linus-from-Charlie-Brown-security blanket.   Brady doesn't just check down to him in crucial situations, he actively looks for him.

I would venture to say that in my viewing, Faulk made every critical third down situation.  He kept countless numbers of drives alive with those conversions.  He was always open out of the backfield. 

I understand that the Patriots have countless number of weapons to worry about on offense.  I also understand that not even worrying about pressuring a quarterback in the NFL goes against every fiber in a defensive coordinator's being.  But I also know that the O-line of the Pats has not allowed pressure on Brady all season long.  The fact that the Patriots are one of the NFL's best this season in sacks allowed, and their perfect record, backs me up on this.  So it seems to me that concentrating my efforts on something that seems to be fruitless is a waste of time.

I'm not saying don't blitz from time-to-time.  But if you're the Giants with Tuck, Strahan, & Umenyora, why try and bring extra guys up in order to blitz one of the best pass protections in the game?  Let the All-Stars on the defensive end do their work.  Then pull a Belicheck on Belicheck:  attempt to take away what the other team wants to to best.  Take away Kevin Faulk's ability to be the safety valve savior that keeps drives alive.

I'm not saying it will work.  I'm not even saying that I think the Giants have the personnel to pull off this kind of thing.  I don't really know.  What I am saying is that we can all see what doesn't work.  So why go down the same pointless road?

Try something different.  At worst, the Giants lose the Super Bowl the way everyone expected them to.  At best, they pull the upset and make themselves one of the greatest stories in the NFL over the last decade. 

No guts, No glory.

While I'm having my furnace replaced and following the cluster on Wall Street today (amateur opinion: brace yourself, this is just the beginning), here are some football stories I've found today that are either fun, informative, or in some cases both:

Sports Agent Blog posted its first mock draft for 2008.  Yes, everyone's doing mocks nowadays, but I think they probably know more than most on the subject, given that it's a blog for agents.  Anyways, their prediction is that the Bengals will take USC DT Sedrick Ellis with the 9th pick.  I don't know much about projecting college players to the pros, but this strikes me as an extremely solid pick.  Ellis was a monster in '07, and the Bengals need someone more dominant than the Robinsons & Thorntons they've had over the past several years.

Can we all just agree to a moratorium on Brokeback Mountain references in relation to sporting events?  Really, it's an overplayed and unoriginal joke, they weren't that funny to begin with (or as Tami from Real World once said, it wasn't not funny), and - especially when you're using them in reference to Tony dungy - it's just going to stir up arguments.  Really, let it go.  Please.

This is what happens when you don't monitor your Wikipedia profile regularly. (h/t Sports by Brooks)

And finally, this is a day old, but who knew that Eddie Murphy was such a solid predictor of NFL playoff games?  Check out the below exchange from the movie Coming to America:

Prince Akeem:  Sir, did yiou happen to catch the professional football contest on television last night?

Cleo McDowell:  No, I didn't.

PA:  Oh sir, the Giants of New York took on the Packers of Green Bay.  And in the end, the Giants triumphed by kicking an oblong ball made of pigskin through a big H.  It was a most gripping victory.

CM:  Son.

PA:  Yes.

CM:  If you want to keep working here, stay off the drugs.

PA:  Yes.