Super Bowl is wicked good

The Patriots and the Panthers. There was no reason to care about the Super Bowl this year. There was no controversy — no Barrett Robbins, no Eugene Robinson, no Ray Lewis. Why should anyone who isn't from one of the six New England states or from one of the two Carolinas care about a Super Bowl with no drugs or prostitution stories?

With just over five minutes to go in the second quarter there was nothing to cheer about. The Panthers had negative total yards on offense, quarterback Jake Delhomme was 1-9 for one yard, and the Patriots had already blown two chances inside the red zone, coming away with no points.

Along came Mike Vrabel. One of Belichick's hybrid defensive players, Vrabel came around right end knocking out Delhomme and the ball and knocking some life into Super Bowl XXXVIII.

A game that started as one of the most painful games I can remember turned into the greatest Super Bowl ever played.

Let's start with Adam Vinatieri kicking his second Super Bowl-winning kick. There was something for everyone watching this game to appreciate. Rams fans experienced déjà vu from two years ago. Bills fans imagined Scott Norwood's 47-yard attempt go wide right for the millionth time.

Overall in the fourth quarter the two teams combined for 37 points. The over-under for the game was 37.5 points at kickoff.

Watching both offensive coordinators open up their playbooks was a thing of beauty. Delhomme transformed from having a deer-in-the-headlights look to taunting Patriots defenders after tossing an 85-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad that gave Carolina a 22-21 lead.

Panthers receivers — Steve Smith, Ricky Proehl, and Muhammad — continually avoided the jam tactics that New England defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel had used so well in the playoffs.

Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was not to be outdone. While in the first half he went with more conservative formations, keeping extra men in to protect quarterback Tom Brady, in the second half he went back to fourand five-wide receiver sets, going to his strengths. He also pulled out all the stops, sending Vrabel on a pass route on a goal line play and following that with a direct snap to Kevin Faulk.

The head coaching also made the game great. Instead of coaching conservatively and trying to not lose the game, both Belichick and John Fox provided a breath of fresh air and went for the win. Many writers have criticized Fox for attempting the two-point conversion after scoring to make the game 21-16 with 12:39 left in the game — I applaud the decision. That was the Panthers' first offensive momentum of the second half, and there was no guarentee that the offensive success would continue.

In order to say that this is the greatest Super Bowl ever, lets look back at some of the best games ever to have graced our TVs on Super Sunday.

The first contender is Super Bowl XXXIV which pitted the Rams and Titans. This game is considered a classic because of the Titans' desperate second-half comeback and because of Dyson coming up one yard shy of the game-tying touchdown in the closing seconds. What hurts this game is that the Titans second-half comeback was only possible because the Rams became very conservative offensively in the second half. Only after finally spreading the field after the Titans tied the game at 16 did St. Louis score the winning touchdown with just over two minutes left.

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Before that, we go to Super Bowl XXV, a game played against the backdrop of war against Iraq. While the game came down to an exciting finish (Norwood's kick), it is remembered more for being the first of the Bills' four straight Super Bowl losses than for being a great game.

Super Bowl XXIII between the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals is no doubt a great game, but it lacks the momentum swings present in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Both of these games had last-minute scoring drives to earn one team victory, both led by quarterbacks who were expected to produce. Nonetheless, last Sunday's game had more excitement.

Lastly, we get to the second of the Dallas-Pittsburgh Super Bowl clashes. In Super Bowl XIII the Steelers edged the Cowboys, 35-31. While the final score was close, the Steelers had the game busted wide open, and the Cowboys' only hope was to recover an onside kick with 17 seconds left and no timeouts. Even if they had recovered, they would have had very little chance for victory.

The Patriots and the Panthers may not be the flashiest teams or have the most famous players, but they gave the whole football world a great gift last Sunday — the greatest Super Bowl ever played.