Bruce Jenkins:
Patriots will win Super Bowl.
We are led to believe that the New England Patriots are in ruins, and that may well be the case, but be aware of a slight interruption in the crumbling process:
A little thing called the Super Bowl. Which the Patriots will win.
It’s downright depressing to scan this year’s NFL playoff entries. The field lacks the anticipation of a classic matchup, and although it’s nice to see some new faces in the picture — notably Rams quarterback Jared Goff, the pride of Marin County — none of these teams has reached New England’s level. That certainly includes a likely opponent in the AFC title game, Pittsburgh, a team quarterback Tom Brady has dominated over the years.
What’s interesting, keeping it local, is how dramatically things can change in the NFL. It wasn’t that long ago that the 49ers were trapped in a cauldron of madness: The Jed York-Trent BaalkeJim Harbaugh conflict, then a wildly overmatched fellow named Jim Tomsula coaching the team. Now, through an ESPN piece that ran Friday, we learn the Patriots’ brain trust — Brady, owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick —is being torn apart by bitterness and distrust.
Perhaps, in two or three years, this 180-degree turn will be complete. Jimmy Garoppolo, gift-wrapped to San Francisco by the Patriots, will be leading the 49ers into the playoffs. Kraft, Belichick and Brady all could be gone. (Well, maybe not Brady; he apparently plans to play forever, and maybe he should, to keep the Garoppolo fans off his back.)
For now, internal bickering aside, New England is the NFL’s best team. The proof is forthcoming. The Patriots are a fortress not easily dismantled.
QBs in the twilight
It’s hardly without precedent to see Brady shredding defenses at the age of 40. Among the storied quarterbacks who lasted into their 40s: George Blanda (he was 48 when he retired, leaving in his wake some memorable field goals for the Raiders), Warren Moon, Earl Morrall, Brett Favre, Charlie Conerly, Len Dawson, Jim Hart and Sonny Jurgensen ... It had to happen: Harbaugh’s name surfacing among the most likely college coaches to jump to the pros. It wasn’t supposed to work this way. Ideally, Harbaugh wins a national title — or at the very least, a spot in the four-team playoff — in the job he coveted since childhood. He needs proper closure at Michigan, not the stench of a 9-8 record in his past 17 games or an 0-3 record against Ohio State. It would be nice to learn that he feels that way, as well ... Unbelievable, as the New York Giants ponder the notion of drafting USC’s Sam Darnold or UCLA’s Josh Rosen with the No. 2 pick in the draft: They completely ignored Davis Webb, the quarterback they drafted from Cal, even as Eli Manning fell out of favor. Didn’t give him a single snap all season. It’s really hard to be that lame, especially with several players coming to Webb’s defense. “Don’t draft a quarterback,” safety Landon Collins told the New York Post. “Davis is gonna be really good in this league when it’s time, I promise you. He’s the guy.” ... Darnold closed out his USC career with an erratic season featuring 22 personal turnovers and a discouraging Cotton Bowl performance against Ohio State. Some wonder if Rosen is emotionally ready to play for a bad team. And yet, few question either’s decision to turn pro. It’s rare to see a special quarterback truly embrace the college experience, which is why Stanford’s Andrew Luck was such a treasure. With the NFL beckoning, he stayed for another season featuring an 11-2 record and the nation’s No. 3 ranking at one point ... During his time at Stanford, we became accustomed to watching Christian McCaffrey break tackles, burn defenders with his speed and appear destined for a higher calling. The Carolina Panthers love McCaffrey and have no regrets about drafting him, but it’s been a tough slog. On the ground, he scored just two touchdowns this season and did not rush for more than 70 yards. He caught 80 passes, five for touchdowns, but had only one 100-yard receiving game (101 against New Orleans in September) ... Television directors have a simple task at the end of a football or basketball game: Show the opposing head coaches’ interaction,
no matter how innocuous it might seem. If two key players approach each other, stay on it. How hard can this be? Why do we keep getting quick-edit clips that offer no insight into anything?
Billy Martin’s A’s were a fascinating team to cover in the early 1980s. Rickey Henderson built the foundation of his legend, the outfield was world-class, starting pitchers routinely lasted into extra innings, Mickey Klutts played third, and the off-thefield times were pretty wild. Some of the players enjoyed their recreational drugs, and there was Billy himself, inevitably two or three drinks away from mayhem. In the midst of it all was shortstop Rob Picciolo, perhaps the most decent man I ever met in the game. He spent his first six seasons with the A’s, as well as his last (1985), before going into coaching. Rob died this week, much too soon, and some emotional tributes came forth. “It saddens not only our baseball family, but everyone who met him,” tweeted ex-Giants pitcher Mark Grant, who works in the Padres’ broadcast booth and got to know Picciolo during his long stint as a San Diego coach. “One of the most humble and nicest guys you’d ever meet. A prince of a man. Not a bad bone in his body. A family man. A great soul. RIP Peach.”