W in or lose Sunday, the New England Patriots are the best team in the National Football League.
In fact, they are the best team in several years and are probably one of the top five NFL teams of all-time.
Already the media is proclaiming Bill Belichick as either the greatest football coach ever or the greatest coach in sports today. While some of these may be exaggerations, suffice it to say, he is the best NFL coach today -- bar none. And since it is widely accepted that he is a brilliant football mind, it is unnecessary to dwell on him any further.
The Patriots begin and end with the best quarterback in the NFL, Tom Brady.
That's not a typo -- Tom Brady is a better quarterback than Peyton Manning. Peyton is a better passer -- that is hardly even refutable -- but not a better quarterback. This is Brady's fourth year as a starter, and he is heading to his third Super Bowl. He is already the winner of two Super Bowls and two Super Bowl MVP awards.
Precious Peyton has not even made it to a Super Bowl and his career has been twice as long as Brady's. He has even been playing with a Pro Bowl receiver and running back for several years now.
Brady, on the other hand, has never had a Pro Bowler on offense with him other than Damien Woody, who was a reserve in 2003.
Peyton puts up impressive stats, but the concept of "best" is based on success. And Brady has seen much more of it than Manning.
Brady is not better than Joe Montana -- yet. Statistically, Brady's past three seasons match up with Montana's best three-year stretch. Brady has not won four Super Bowls, so it is unfair to call him Montana's superior. But Brady has a chance, and a far better one than Manning, to eclipse Montana as the best quarterback of all-time.
The Patriots offense is collectively among the best in the league. Corey Dillon was second in the NFL in rushing yards per game, and the Patriots have four or five receivers that are more dependable than Freddie "Fred Ex" Mitchell.
The Patriots' offensive line allowed only 26 sacks all season and paved the way for over 2,000 rushing yards. No other offense in football, not even the Colts, has this amount of balance between run and pass. The offense proved itself in the AFC Championship game, scoring 41 points against the Steelers, who sport the best defense in football.
Despite how great the Patriot offense is, there is one thing that may be better: the Patriot defense.
The defense has about 20 players good enough to start on any NFL team. While there are no Ray Lewises, all 11 starters are above-average, several of whom are among the best at their position.
Richard Seymour is an elite defensive lineman, Tedy Bruschi may be the best play-making linebacker in football, and there may be no better outside linebacker tandem than Mike Vrabel and Willie McGinest. Then there's Rodney Harrison, the sixth leading tackler in football -- and he's a safety!
Here are a few defensive statistics to consider: third in the NFL in sacks, fifth in turnovers forced, and second in points allowed. No other NFL team was in the top 10 in all three categories, and the Patriots were top five in all of them.
Although all of these descriptions are great, the best way to describe the Patriots is as a team.
Various players have switched positions to help the team, such as Troy Brown, the cornerback, and Mike Vrabel, the tight end, and others have filled in for injured stars. While this cliche is often misused, in the Patriots' case, the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts.
For this reason, not to mention a 21-game winning streak, two Super Bowl victories and a winning percentage of nearly 80 percent over the past four seasons, the Patriots are among the best teams in NFL history.
Although anything can happen on game day, it's just folly to pick the Eagles to win.
Adam Katz is a sophomore historymajor from Newton, Mass. His e-mail address is adamkatz@sas.upenn.edu
