Dreamin’ of Brady, Rodgers matchup
We are greedy. We don’t want the New England Patriots to simply embarrass the commissioner, make history, and win Super Bowl LI Freb. 5 in Houston. We want to see the Patritos settle old scores and beat the highest-profile opponents. That’s why the past two weekends have been a little disappointing as we watched the New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, and Dallas Cowboys get eliminated from the tournament.
I know . . . first things first. The Patriots have a pretty big game Sunday night at Gillette Stadium. They will be playing in their record sixth consecutive AFC championship, facing ever-dangerous Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers. Beating the Steelers is going to be a lot harder than beating the Texans in the divisional round. (Oh, and Roger Goodell was in Atlanta Saturday, so he’s got to come to Foxborough, right?)
All that said, there’s a popular notion in these parts that no team in the AFC is going to beat the Patriots at Gillette Stadium this season. That’s what a 15-2 record does.
And right about now I’m dreaming of a Super Bowl matchup featuring New England’s defense against Green Bay gunslinger Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers at this hour is playing as well as any quarterback we have ever seen, and he led the Packers to a stunning, 3431 upset Sunday of the topseeded Cowboys. It was easily the best game of the playoffs thus far. With the Cowboys eliminated, the best Super Bowl matchup now looks like Patriots-Packers — a.k.a. Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers.
Playing the Cowboys in Houston would have been a Lone Star-palooza. It would have been a TV ratings bonanza and set records for secondary-market ticket prices. It would have pitted Old NFL (Brady) vs. New NFL (Dak Prescott). It would have been Bob Kraft vs. Jerry Jones, the battle of klieg lights and high chairs. It would have been a duel of the most envied and hated teams. Imagine Brady and the Patriots winning their fifth Super Bowl at the expense of America’s Team?
Playing the Seahawks would have been almost as much fun. The Patriots could have avenged Brady’s only loss (31-24) of the 2016 season. We could have listened to Pete Carroll explaining the wisdom of the slant pass in Glendale, Ariz., two years ago. Malcolm Butler could have driven his MVP car to Houston for the big game.
And the Giants? What would have been better than beating Eli Manning in Super Bowl LI? Receiving the Lombardi Trophy from a red-faced Goodell after a beatdown of the New York Football Giants would have been New England’s way of settling all family business.
Atlanta would bring almost nothing to the table in terms of story lines. There will be some local resentment if Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is named league MVP Feb. 4, but everybody around here likes Matty Ice. He was a stud quarterback at Boston College when the Eagles were ranked second in the nation (look it up) for a couple of weeks in the autumn of 2007. Old friend Scott Pioli also works for the Falcons. Pioli walked through the fires with Bill Belichick and Brady back in the golden days at the start of this century.
Patriots-Packers would be a better matchup and produce endless Brady-Rodgers comparisons. Watching Brady win a fifth Lombardi Trophy at the expense of Lombardi’s former team would make for a nice story line. Belichick is on to the Steelers. That’s smart. I’m dreaming of Brady vs. Rodgers.