Which brings us to your New England Patriots as they prepare for their first playoff game since their shocking defeat in Glendale, Ariz., in Super Bowl XLII two years ago.
“You can’t take it for granted,’’ Bill Belichick said last week. “You’re in the playoffs. You have an opportunity to extend the season, and it may or may not happen every year, but you can’t count on it, so take advantage of it. Treat it as a one-game season, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and approach it that way.
“Young guys come in and they have a good year, and they might think that every year is going to be that way, and a lot of times it doesn’t work out.’’
As usual, Belichick is right. The Patriots royally spoiled us in the first decade of this century. With Belichick on the headset and Tom Brady behind center, they won three Super Bowls in four years. Then came 2007’s path to perfection, when the History Boys were derailed in the desert.
Together Brady and Belichick are 14-3 in the playoffs. This is their seventh tournament appearance in nine years and they are 8-0 at home in postseason play.
Despite all of the above, there has been lukewarm anticipation for today’s first-round game against the wild-card Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots this season were a horrible, heartless road team (2-6), and last week lost their go-to guy when slot receiver Wes Welker blew out his knee on some bad grass in Houston (never to be confused with the bad grass at Woodstock). Face-value tickets for today’s game were easy to buy and popular thinking holds that the Patriots will be slaughtered at San Diego (winner of 11 straight) next week if they manage to defeat the Ravens.
