new england patriots

It’s taken two days but it’s finally sunk in that the 2011 Patriots are headed back to the Super Bowl. There will be plenty of time to over-analyze the match up with the Giants over the next twelve days, so for now I just want to take a look back at how the Pats got here, and where I see them at right now.

We must start with the classic AFC Championship that felt in many ways similar to last year’s playoff game against the Jets. The difference this time? The Patriots defense.

It’s strange to hear the biggest storyline on all the sports networks being that the Patriots defense actually carried the Patriots on a day when Tom Brady was off. There’s no doubt the defense came up with big plays when they needed them most. From Vince Wilfork’s all-around unstoppable game, to Brandon Spikes’ interception that should’ve had a bigger impact if not for Brady’s next-play interception, to Sterling Moore’s clutch plays on the ball in the closing seconds to keep the Ravens from winning, the Patriots defense made the big plays in the clutch moments and the Ravens did not.

However, I didn’t see a suddenly dominant defense out there like some may have us believe. I don’t ride the media roller coaster, so on a day when one of the big talking points is the Pats D turning it around, I don’t think it’s quite a slam dunk that this defense can shut down an elite quarterback just yet.

They made the plays they had to against the Ravens, but we all know how close we were to spending an off-season recounting Joe Flacco’s 4th quarter touchdown drive that sent the Patriots home. We’ve said all year that living off turnovers and red zone stops can be a slippery slope, but this time around the breaks fell the Pats way. But don’t be fooled, win or lose in the Super Bowl there is still much work to be done with this defense.

If the biggest difference in this game was defense, the biggest difference from last year’s team is something that is not measurable in cold, hard statistics. The 2011 Patriots are a team with unparallelled team chemistry.

All season long Vince Wilfork has spoken highly of the character of the players on defense. We’ve written about it here on the blog as well, and I’d argue that a team where everyone gets along and works hard is be far more difficult to defeat than a team that set the world on fire statistically but is loaded with egos.

While you can point to all the missed draft picks the Patriots have made over the years, or all the talented players who were released, or all the undrafted free agents that always seem to be playing significant roles, credit must go to the Patriots for identifying the kind of players who have created this championship chemistry.

Offensively, the Patriots had a dominant year, but they sputtered in the AFC Championship, which had to be somewhat expected against a great defense like the Ravens. The most egregious example was Tom Brady missing a wide open Gronk for an early touchdown. That seemed like an ominous sign, but as always the Pats were able to put together one last scoring drive to give them the late lead.

It was a situation that we’ve seen so many times since 2006. In the ‘06 AFC championship and the ’07 Super Bowl the Pats had late leads that their defense could not hold. This time they did hold, with a couple clutch plays, and a little luck.

Now with one game left the Patriots will be put to the ultimate test on both sides of the ball. Eli Manning and the Giants passing offense look like an extremely difficult match up considering what has plagued the Patriots defense all season long. And on the offensive side, Brady has struggled the last two times they’ve faced the Giants. Throw in a potentially less-than-100% Gronk and things could be even more dicey.

Add all the factors together and the Patriots should be underdogs in my book, and I think that’s just the way we want it to be from a preparation stand point. Let’s spend the next two weeks hearing how unstoppable the Giants passing attack is and how dominant their defensive front is, while the Patriots prepare under the shroud of underestimation, with constant reminders of how the Giants have had their number recently.

We’ve seen games like this play out many times over the last decade, and we know we can almost always count on them to put forth their best efforts when they are the team expected to lose.