pannell@dosadi.DEC (Roger D. Pannell LTN1-1/D03 226-6893) (01/23/86)
Before THE game is actually played, I just want to make a couple of statements.
First of all, I have tremendous respect for Walter Payton and all that he has
done in his career especially considering the quality of team he has been
forced to play on. He, perhaps more than anyone, deserves to play on a Super
Bowl winner. Being from Georgia and a Bulldog fan, I would also like to see
Kevin Butler kick a winning field goal in the Super Bowl. Only not this year.
I now live and work in New England and have become a minor Patriots fan. No I
did not jump on the band wagon this year, I did that back when the Pats went
2-14 (I went to half their wins that year) and the local press and fans were
giving them all kinds of abuse. I guess after years of being a Falcons fan, I
just had to pull for an AFC loser. In the 9 years that I have lived in New
England, I have never seen the Patriots play any better or more as a team.
They seem more confident as well they should be, because they are a really good
football team and they also seem to have a little luck on their side, (maybe
not in the kitchen but certainly on the field) which is always nice when
pursuing a championship.
They have gotten a lot of turnovers in the playoffs and that leads me to
ask this question. Why do people say that the Jets, the Raiders and the
Dolphins gave their games away by making turnovers instead of saying the
Patriots won their games by forcing turnovers? Although Marc Wilson is no
Roger Staubach, the Raiders have been successful when he is quarterbacking and
from what the Raiders fans have said about him on the net, it sounds like he
had a typical Marc Wilson day. Everybody knows the Dolphins are tough in the
Orange Bowl, they have perhaps the best quarterback in the league, and maybe
even the best coach ever and they got beat 31-14. In fact on this net we have
to say the Dolphins only scored 7 points because the other 7 could be directly
attributable to a Patriots turnover.
Anyway, I think the Chicago fans are going to realize that the Bears played a
completely different team back in September. Eason was struggling and so was
the rest of the team. When Grogan came in, things started to turn around and
things have gone pretty well ever since. I expect things to go pretty well
Sunday also. So don't be surprised when you realize that the Patriots can
pass as well as run and don't be surprised if the Pats win and the Bears go
back to Choke-cago (sorry, but I had to say it just once) as losers. Don't get
me wrong, I don't think the Patriots could win a 3, 5 or 7 game championship
series against the Bears, but they can win a 1 game championship series.
I'll even go out on a limb and predict a Patriots victory along the lines of
Patriots 24 : Bears 17.
-- Roger Pannell
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