From the Reporters

Patriot Acts and Soaring Eagles

 

The NFL is doing its part to honor outgoing attorney general John Ashcroft, by pitting the New England we-never-lose Patriot Acts against the Philadelphia finally-we're-soaring-Eagles in what ideally, will be a hard-hitting matchup of the two best teams in football. As far as organizations go, the Patriots are the class of the league, but a case can be made that the Eagles are next in line, although without a Super Bowl win it's a rather hollow distinction.

What seems to separate the Patriots and Eagles from the rest of the NFL is the way they plug in players wherever needed and don't miss a beat. For example, look at the respective defensive backfields: both Bill Belichick and Andy Reid jettisoned all-pro players (Lawyer Molloy the former, Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor the latter) to have financial flexibility and neither team has suffered for it. In fact, the Eagles have gotten better while getting younger and the Patriots have decided to "repurpose" players in an old-school fashion and have two-way studs like Mike Vrabel and Troy Brown.

Last October, we discussed the coach-as-CEO metaphor with Reid (and others), but Belichick was nowhere to be found. Primarily because it was training camp and he had bigger things on his mind, you know winning games and all that. So here in the days of the MBA president, we have the first business school Super Bowl. Who do you like and why? Is Belichick the CEO coach nonpareil? Or, perhaps it’s his shaggy quarterback?

I'll tell you whom I like and that's the Eagles. Based mainly on the fact that who I like is the Eagles. And I donned an intimidating yellow security jacket in the notorious 700 level at the Vet, so this is no Donovan-come-lately thing. Anyhow, I know there is an interminable two-week wait, but I want to talk about it now. Who has the better organization and why? (Apart from those two Vince Lombardi trophies the Patriots own and all).