One man's explanation for why the Pats will beat the Colts

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/050114

(snip)

Does this one worry me? Absolutely. You have the defending champs without both starting cornerbacks, playing against the most prolific offense in years. You have Manning's 0-and-6 streak at Foxboro, which can't possibly last for his entire career. You have a Colts team that believes it's just as good as the Patriots, that they could have won any of their last four games, regardless of whether that's true or not. And you have a league that seems much more interested in condoning Indianapolis's style of play over New England's style of play.

With that said, it seems strange that the Colts seem to be such an overwhelming pick given that the Pats went 14-2; they're playing at home; they have a better coach; they have a 1,600-yard rusher who's been dying to play in a big game for 8 years; they're the prototypical "grind games out, force mistakes, make those 2 or 3 plays in the end" teams that always give the Colts trouble; and they have clearly had Indy's number over the years. Belichick even kept the field uncovered during an ice storm last Tuesday, just to slow down the field.

But that's not why I'm picking them. Here's why:

Two days before the start of the 2004 season, I was flicking channels and stumbled across an NFL Films show about the defending champs. Well, I had to watch. When your team wins a championship, you watch everything after the fact. That's just the way it is. Near the end of this particular show, they threw a delightful curveball at me: Never-before-seen footage of the Patriot players receiving their five-carat championship rings, which happened during a private ceremony over the summer. The boys opened the boxes at the same time, like a bunch of kids on Christmas. Then they cut to an interview with Richard Seymour, who said, "You can't get anything like this by accident, you can't pay for something like this with money, it just takes hard work, blood, sweat and tears, sacrifices ... this is why we do what we do."

Yup, that about sums it up.

Then Rodney Harrison came on camera, holds up his ring and says, "The best way I can explain this is this is the next-best thing to my son being born four months ago -- that's what type of experience this is ... it's unbelievable, the type of committment, the type of sacrifice it took to achieve this," as we see footage from the ceremony of Harrison holding his ring up in the air for the first time, then bringing it down against his face and breaking into tears, a lifelong dream accomplished. What a moment. A little bit later, we see Tom Brady looking at his ring and sobbing in delight, followed by Brady hugging one of his lineman as hard as he can.

Brady gets the final word: "It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen, but more than that, it was one of the most wonderful times in my life."

Okay ...

Forget about the fact that the show earned instant "Save Until I Delete" status on my TiVo, or that I watch the last few minutes every time I can't remember why I write about sports for a living. I just feel like there are two types of champions -- the kind that was just happy to win once, or the kind that wants to keep winning. And this Patriots team isn't done yet. I think they live for moments like this. I think they want to be remembered as one of the greatest teams ever. I think they always manage to rise to the occasion when it matters. And I think I'm going to keep picking them until somebody takes them down.

The Pick: Patriots 27, Colts 23

I've been reading his stuff for years, and he just always seems to get it. I love that.

Nicely written piece.

I like the score 30-10.

Can't wait should be a good game.

The Flying Elvis needs grass stains, mud, some endzone paint, and a dab of blood to be Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes. :D

"Not bird, nor plane, nor even frog.
It's just little ol' me...Underdog!"