Keep disbelieving; Pats will keep fooling you

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© St. Petersburg Times
published January 28, 2002

PITTSBURGH -- For one more week, don't pay them any attention. Don't give them any credit for what they've done and how they've done it.

For one more week, say they are nothing but a fluke. Say they don't belong in the Super Bowl. Say they are lucky to get this far.

Say it today because that's what everyone has been saying all season about these New England Patriots. Why stop now?

No, for one more week, keep disbelieving. Keep thinking they don't have a snowball's chance in Afghanistan of beating the Rams.

Maybe when they are hoisting that Vince Lombardi trophy in the Superdome on Sunday night, we'll all finally relent and grudgingly admit what was abundantly obvious Sunday against the Steelers.

The Patriots are as good as any team in the league.

There undoubtedly are those who still aren't buying it, who still think the Patriots don't have a prayer against the Rams. But ask yourself this. Did you think they would beat the Raiders? Or the Steelers on the road?

Granted, the Patriots are hard to love. They don't have half the sexiness of the Rams. They don't have nearly the toughness of the Eagles. Among them there probably isn't one future Hall of Famer.

We like our heroes to have glamour and personality, and preferably a quarterback with no connection to the Brady Bunch. The Patriots are mostly bland and undistinguished. Plus, they got into the postseason by winning arguably the softest division in the league (AFC East).

But since when has any of that by itself carried a team to the Super Bowl? Try never.

Yet, the Patriots still get ignored. They were written off when they started 0-2 and lost starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe. And they were similarly blown off in the playoffs, especially Sunday against the Steelers, who made all their Super Bowl arrangements days before this game, per coach Bill Cowher's orders.

The Steelers weren't summarily ripped for it because who thought they weren't going to New Orleans? Certainly few people other than the Patriots, who were so well respected they were given the same chance of beating the Steelers as the one-win Lions were several weeks ago, according to Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

"The people who have believed in us are those guys standing in that locker room in there, the players and the coaches who've been with it all the way from the first day of training camp," Belichick said. "The guys in that room believe in themselves and they believe in each other. And that's really all that matters."

It wasn't luck that the Steelers' vaunted running game, with Jerome Bettis finally back, was almost totally shut down, held to 58 yards. It wasn't a fluke that Kordell Stewart, who had been playing some of his best football before Sunday, was picked off three times.

It wasn't fate or destiny or any other abstract thing that helped the Patriots block that field goal or return that punt for a touchdown. Face it: This team has the goods. Collectively, it has heart and veteran leadership and, perhaps most important, an unwavering faith in itself.

"People are going to say what they want to say, and it's the same thing," receiver Troy Brown said. "That's why you've got to go out there and play the game because if we listen to what everybody else says, we might as well just not even show up every week and just take a loss."

Think about it. This team started 0-2. Lost its franchise quarterback to injury in Week 2. Was made an underdog throughout the playoffs. but it still managed to keep its head held high and its belief in itself held even higher.

Sunday, the Patriots played like championship teams do. They ignored the hostile surroundings and hit the Steelers with everything they had, making big plays on offense, defense and particularly special teams.

And down the stretch, when their season depended on them stopping the Steelers, they did, intercepting Stewart on Pittsburgh's final two drives before they reached Patriots territory. And when they needed to chew up some clock at the end, they did that, too, picking up three first downs in the final eight minutes.

But, hey, don't start jumping on the Patriots bandwagon just yet. Wait one more week if you want to look really silly.

"I think the only way we are going to get our respect is not even just making it to the Super Bowl, (but) to win it," strong safety Lawyer Milloy said. "I think it's going to be the same thing next week. I hate to look at the odds next week. We've got to stay focused on us. We can't worry about the things that happen on the outside. All we have to do is worry about what we do and hopefully we'll have a party at the end of the year and nobody else will be invited."

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