As I look back at the NFL season, I can't help but wonder: How did we end up with St. Louis vs. New England? Wasn't the mobile quarterback supposed to lead his team to the Super Bowl? Didn't the Eagles finally sign enough wide receivers to justify why Donovan McNabb throws the football in between runs? Instead, we may be treated to the lead-footed Kurt Warner against the only quarterback he can beat in a footrace - the statuesque Drew Bledsoe. Weren't Brad Johnson and Elvis Grbac supposed to be the missing pieces of the offensive puzzle for the Buccaneers and Ravens? But even Johnson and Johnson could not stop the Bucs' bleeding while the Grbac-led Ravens proved that the Dilfer Theory is not merely a myth. Everyone knew the Rams blew up their often-blown-out defense in the offseason; no one expected the final product to be of Super Bowl caliber, right?
So what are we left with come Feb. 3? A team of overlooked underdogs with a penchant for finding Super Bowl Sunday - so long as they can visit Bourbon Street on the way - will face a cocksure squad with no qualms about running up the score just to assert their dominance. It's David vs. Goliath, Rocky vs. Apollo, the tortoise vs. the hare.
I think I'll sit this one out.
Can anyone honestly say that the Patriots have a shot at winning? Although I admire Tom Brady for coming in against the Jets in week two and leading New England to a 13-2 record as a starter, he is no Kurt Warner circa 1999. To the Patriots' credit, Drew Bledsoe is a more than capable backup, should Bill Belichick give him the starting nod, but Troy Brown is no Isaac Bruce, and Antowain Smith on a good day still cannot match Marshall Faulk on a bad one.
Indeed, the experts and pundits actually may have hit the nail on the head by asserting that the only team that can beat the Rams is the Rams themselves.
Unfortunately for us fans, this makes for a very unexciting NFL finale. Sure, the Rams may provide an aerial show that even causes the Blue Angels to turn green with envy. But soon enough, the football purist in all of us will throw down the remote in disgust and find something better to do with our Sunday night. We would probably find more pleasure in dusting off an old copy of Tecmo Super Bowl and playing as the Rams against the Patriots, rather than sitting through the actual game.
So whom can we blame for turning Super Sunday into a subpar affair? I point the finger squarely at the Arizona Cardinals, the Indianapolis Colts and every team that let Kurt Warner go, including the now-defunct Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League.
How could the Cardinals trade a Pro Bowl shutdown corner like Aeneas Williams for a mere second- and fourth- round pick? It's bad enough trading anyone that talented to the Rams, but not getting at least a first rounder in return is inexcusable. Perhaps that's why the Cardinals are taking the long way to nowheresville.
As for the Colts, Indianapolis repaid Faulk for his finest season - 1,319 yards rushing - by trading him to St. Louis for the Rams' second- and fourth- round picks. He set a new Colt record by leading the league with 2,227 yards from scrimmage, and yet the Colts set him packing for a pair of mid-round picks.
I'm not even going to get into Kurt Warner.
The salary cap may be the cause of the NFL's parity, but the Rams' dynasty is built on utter stupidity. Every general manager in the league cautions fans from expecting them to build a perennial championship contender because of the NFL's unyielding salary structure. But as long as they continue selling their best players to St. Louis at bargain basement prices, these general managers have no one to blame but themselves.
So take the Rams and the spread this Sunday. I'll be at home cursing Fox for bumping The Simpsons for this tripe.
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