A Blast From The Past

Sunday’s Washington Redskins at New England Patriots game sends me into a time warp. Join me as we journey back to 2007.

The Patriots are 7-0, just as now. The Redskins are coming in at 4-2 (they’re 3-4 this season, but we can’t make every detail match). The Patriots are heavily favored, and I’m covering the game for USA Today.

The Patriots win, 52-7. They crush everyone that season (until the Super Bowl), but they especially crush the Redskins. Even late in the game, the Patriots are trying to score.

Afterwards, at his news conference, I ask Bill Belichick what his philosophy is about scoring so late and so often in the game. The Patriots led 24-0 at halftime, 38-0 after three quarters and still added two more touchdowns.

“We’re just playing,” he grumped. “What did you want us to do, kneel down?”

I replied that I didn’t really care what he did, I just wanted to ask why he did it.

“We’re just playing,” he repeated.

This exchange got a lot of radio airplay the next day and spawned several stories about whether one team would insult another more by scoring, as the Patriots did, or by taking a knee and calling off the proverbial dogs.

Despite this beating, the Redskins recovered and won their next game. They also made the playoffs with a great stretch run that followed the sad shooting death in a robbery at his home of their fine safety, Sean Taylor.

The Patriots, with an 18-0 mark, surged into Super Bowl XLII, where the New York Giants beat them and denied them the NFL’s greatest perfect season. The Giants scored with 35 seconds left to win 17-14. I daresay they were … just playing.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .