October 24, 2007

The best there ever was

Bill O'Connor | managing editor
woconnor@smcvt.edu

I’m convinced.

The 2007 New England Patriots are the greatest team that has ever graced the gridiron.

Yes, I know that we’re still a week shy of the 2007 season’s halfway mark. Normally, I’d say it’s too early to make such an all-encompassing claim, but the evidence is indisputable.

This year’s Patriots offense is averaging 39.9 points per game.

Just to put that into perspective, the last five Super Bowl champions, the 2006 Colts, ‘05 Steelers, ‘04 Patriots, ‘03 Patriots and ‘02 Buccaneers, averaged 26.6, 24.3, 27.3, 21.8 and 21.6 points per game, respectively.

Taking the highest of the five, the ’04 Patriots’ 27.3 points per game, the ’07 Patriots are still averaging almost two touchdowns more per game.

This year’s Patriots defense is allowing an average of 17.1 points per game.

Last year’s Super Bowl champion Colts? 22.5 points allowed per game.

The ’06 Colts averaged 26.6 points scored and 22.5 points allowed per game. For those of you who didn’t make it through second grade math, that means that the Colts defeated their opponents by a meek average of 4.1 points per game.

The ’07 Patriots? A 22.8 point differential. The Pats have defeated opponents by an average, AN AVERAGE, of THREE touchdowns a game so far this season.

This Patriots team is a force of nature.

They come into the stadium on Sundays like a rogue storm, one you’re just not prepared for and leaves your house and town in shambles. Except the Patriots are leaving opponents and their fan-bases in shambles, not houses.

Tom Brady has thrown 27 touchdown passes so far this season.

Last year he threw 24 all season. Now that Brady (the best quarterback in the league), has a Manning-esque staff of receivers to throw to instead of his primary target being Reche Caldwell, he has thrown more touchdown passes in seven games than he did in 16 last season.

Brady is on pace to throw 62 touchdowns this season.

To put that figure into perspective, the current record is 49, held by Peyton Manning. When Manning broke the record in 2004, he did so by one touchdown. Brady would shatter Manning’s record by 13.

He currently has a quarterback rating of 137.9 for the season.

For those who might be unfamiliar, the quarterback rating system is a way of measuring a quarterback’s efficiency. It takes different factors, including completion percentage, yards per completion and touchdowns thrown, and spits out a number that represents how well a quarterback is performing.

The highest quarterback rating one can attain is 158.3, which is what Brady obtained this past Sunday. The record for highest single-season rating is 121.1, again set by Manning in 2004. Brady, at 137.9 is currently beating that record by almost 17 points.

To avoid wasting too much time, I’ll just quickly list the rest of the records Brady is on pace to break or take over the second place slot for this season.

Highest pass completion percentage: 70.55
Projected Brady Number (PBN): 73.8

Most games throwing four or more touchdowns: 6
PBN: 7

Most yards thrown for: 5,085
PBN: 4,857; good for second (and though he’s not quite on pace to take over first, one big game could change that)

Lowest percentage of passes intercepted: 0.41 percent
PBN: 0.95 percent; good for fourth (He won’t take over first on this one, only because he will attempt twice as many passes as the current-record holder, but Brady could come close)

In short, Tom Brady is unstoppable. Unbelievably good to the point that he can’t be true. But he is.

And so is this Patriots team.

Watching them play Miami on Sunday, one got the distinct feeling that the Patriots could have scored on any play of the game, had they really, really wanted to. On one play in the second quarter, Brady was sacked. Watching, you could tell that the sack ticked him off, so damnit, he was going to throw a touchdown pass the next play. And he did.

And you felt like he could have at will throughout the game.

The team carries themselves with a confidence that separates them from every other team I’ve ever watched; they know that they can score every time down the field. They know, and most of the time, they do.

They have punted only 16 times in seven games. The league average is 28.3.

To say that the 2007 New England Patriots are great is a blasphemous understatement of monumental proportion.

The 2007 Patriots are one thing and one thing only. Quite simply, they are the best team to ever play the game.