Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
Gotta do it.
The New England Patriots will win another Super Bowl at the tail end of the 2017 season.
I get it. Ho-hum. It’s neither a risky, nor an original pick.
But this annual preseason-projection exercise, selecting a Super Bowl winner so far in advance, ain’t easy. After having done it for decades now, and trying, at times, to get all fresh-and-funny with it, one year even letting my dog make the selection — he ended up being correct, taking the Packers in their last title season — it’s suddenly time to leave the creativity behind.
Better to be right than imaginative, eh?
Still, a lot of people want to come up with some kind of reason to select some other team to ascend to the top of the NFL this time around. They’ve grown weary of the Pats and their greatness, tired of Bill Belichick and his say-nothing, uh-got-to-play-some-football growl, sick of Tom Brady and his Magoo-ish grin and his Ugg boots, fed up with whatever group of no-name receivers along with Rob Gronkowski, if he stays healthy, will shine at the other end of Brady’s brilliance, bored by a defense that gets the job done.
There’s no avoiding it. The Pats are better than they were last season, and their sixth Vince Lombardi trophy is on its way.
Yes, there are contrived reasons to wonder, beyond the way they trailed the Falcons in the third quarter of the Super Bowl, being spoken of in the moment as a team that was now too old, too slow to go on being top-drawer, and then, a quarter later, being touted again as an outfit that nobody in the NFL can surpass. One of the reasons actually is real: Julian Edelman’s torn ACL. But Brandin Cooks will have a big year in his teammate’s absence. Count on that.
Also count on the fact that unlike so many teams around the league that stumble over themselves trying to find a quarterback who can lead them to a competitive pinnacle, Brady, even at 40, will continue with his ridiculous efficiency and the comprehensive effect that kind of reliable performance brings to an entire team.
And remember that a year ago, when the Patriots went 14-2, they played four of those games without Brady. So the rest of the guys, even in what was seen as a bit of a transition year, were talented and well coordinated.
Perhaps Brady will be rested more during the regular season in 2017, and maybe other older players will be, too. Either way, that will not adversely impact what comes at the end — another championship and one more reason for fans of other teams to hate the best football team on the planet, the guys in New England.
GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.