(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Even though I was wary of the Giants, I was proud and happy for Brady, Moss, and the Patriots.
On that December night, Brady and Moss were each able to write their own page in the NFL history books, setting the all-time marks for TD passes and TD receptions in a single season.
At that moment, I made a silent prayer to the football gods to please guide my beloved team all the way. Anything less than perfection, would be failure. More importantly, mentally, I felt that anything less than perfection for the Patriots would constitute failure in my own life, like if I personally committed some wrong.
The day before our second-round game against the Jaguars, I took out a piece of paper and wrote down every memory I could recollect from the memorable season I was witnessing.
As I rounded home on my third page, I stopped and wondered why I was doing this. I had never done anything like this in my life before, especially with a sports team and game. I think I was nervous, even though I would never admit it.
Sure enough, we were able to handle the Jags without too much difficulty. Our West Coast rivals, the San Diego Chargers, would be next.
This time around I did not scribble down all my feelings on paper because, after referring back to my previous entries, following a couple missed blocks and dropped pass, I felt there was nothing else left to add. This season had meant more to me than any other season any sport team had engaged in before.
The Super Bowl was our destiny. We cannot lose.
The Chargers were able to keep it close in the AFC Conference Championship Game, but, in the end, they could not produce any offense. I was extremely proud, almost honored, the way that our defense showed up that Sunday.
It had been our superb offense who had carried us all season and not given any other team an opportunity to take over. But on this day, when it mattered the most, our defense did not allow San Diego a single touchdown.
Nonetheless, my mind was a wreck. I was high-fiving Patriots fans and acting happy, but my head was somewhere else.
At 6:30PM that afternoon, the Packers would be hosting the rejuvenated Giants. Since that deciding last game of the regular season where the Patriots had just barely slipped by them, the Giants were playing like a completely new team.
Maybe, it was because they had come so close to dismantling the dream of perfection. Maybe, they believed in their team all along, and the Patriot game showed them that they were contenders. But, in my opinion, it was because they knew that they had played against the best, and, given one more chance, they could win.
The two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl always seems like an eternity.
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