Philly Suicide

Some people just never get it.

And I'm not just talking the usual supspects like the TV media and assorted other illiterati, but people who should know better. Even some people who read the Breakfast Table every week.

After watching yesterday's game, you're going to attribute winning and losing to the relative success each team had running the ball? Running the ball is a big fat red herring nine times out of ten. You're going to say the Pats dominated the game? Yesterday's contest came down to the one simple thing that I trumpeted over and over again: the team that threw the most interceptions was going to lose.

And don't give me this crap about cause and effect and say that the interceptions were due to the Eagles trailing. That's nonsense. The score was 0-0 when McNabb threw not one but two picks right in a row (the first was wiped out by a penalty). Those are unforced errors, unlike the Brady fumble, which was a fluke. The second pick was similarly atrocious. I'm not giving the Pats defense credit for that one, I'm sorry. Owens just torched them for 40 yards and they were set up in field goal range down 10 with plenty of time left (well, assuming they weren't wasteful but more on that later). They needed two scores and had the field goal in their pocket. But McNabb throws a pass to no one in particular that finds Tedy Bruschi.

McNabb played a C- game. If he plays his B game (never mind his A game), the Eagles win.

Brady, to his credit, again didn't throw a pick. But there was some good fortune involved here. In the third quarter, he foolishly tried to avoid a sack on a blitz and threw one up for grabs near his own end zone that only found a patch of grass with the help of all the Pats leprechauns. And he threw another pass in the fourth quarter right through the hands of an Eagle defender (otherwise we'd still be hearing about a roughing-the-passer call that would have shaped up as an all-time officiating travesty).

The Pats have won two Super Bowls and six straight playoff games during which they are now +11 in interceptions. As I've said repeatedly, each pick is worth 5.55 points on the scoreboard. So, interceptions alone give the Pats a 67-point lead on the cumulative scoreboard. Yet, on the actual scoreboard, in all these games combined, they're up a measley 50 points. Are the Pats a dynasty? Obviously. Are they a dominating playoff team? No way. The entirety of their postseason success boils down to one thing and one thing only: intereceptions. Not turnovers. Not the running game. Not defense in general. Not even necessarily coaching. (Because I don't see how you coach other teams to make mistakes and even if you do, why didn't Jake Delhomme make them last year?)

Dominating teams dominate in multiple areas while methodically destroying their opponent. Those Steelers of the '70s teams beat you up on both sides of the ball and had an explosive passing game. The Niners of the '80s had arguably the greatest QB and WR ever and a dominating defense. The Cowboys of the '90s demolished everyone in their path, including the arguably great Niner teams led by Rice and Young. The Pats? They hang around until the opponent drops dead from self-inflicted wounds.