Great game by both teams. I picked the Patriots to win, but thought Philly would keep it close. Obviously everybody will question tomorrow whether the Eagles should have kicked away after the touchdown. Westbrook was an idiot for catching that ball over the middle, and the Eagles did a horrific job of recovering from that, taking 24 seconds off the clock.
New England moves into rarified territory; only Dallas has won three Super Bowls in four years. Aikman started his postseason career 7-0; had the Cowboys not self-destructed in the first five minutes of the 1994 NFC Championship, he might have been 12-0 with four consecutive Super Bowls.
Still, two consecutive 14-2 regular seasons capped by 3-0 runs through the playoffs and Super Bowl, put the Patriots at the very pinnacle. They have now won 34 games in the last two seasons, which I believe is a record. Four losses in two seasons? Definitely nobody's compiled that kind of record in the 16-game era.
On the other hand, the Patriots are the first team to win three Super Bowls without blowing out at least one of their SB opponents. Every single one of their Super Bowl victories has been by a margin of three points precisely.
Still, Brady moves into the inner circle of NFL QBs, and younger by far than the guys who preceded him. He must be considered a candidate for the greatest player of all time; not based on what he's done so far entirely, but on where he is on the list at a very young age.
(Crossposted at Lifelike Pundits)
