Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk joined The Dan Patrick Show, with special guest host Tom E. Curran of Comcast SportsNet New England. The two sportswriters mused and mulled over Super Bowl hopefuls and early season letdowns.
The PFT writer backed out of his preseason Super Bowl pick, and went with a wildly popular pick in the Patriots.
Might it have had anything to do with the fact that the Patriots beat his previous Super Bowl pick, the San Diego Chargers? Or maybe it wasn't just that they beat the Chargers, but that the Chargers beat themselves? They turned the ball over four times on Sunday against the Patriots, with those turnovers translating to 18 points for New England.
The Chargers just couldn't get out of their own way long enough to win the game, and Florio sees that as a consistent problem that could plague the team in January.
"It doesn't matter if they end up with the top seed in the AFC and get home games in the playoffs," Florio said. "They'll still find a way to lose when the games are on the line."
The Chargers are like a dog chasing its tail. A whole lot of wasted energy, a whole lot of movement, and fun to watch, but they're not accomplishing anything.
The Patriots, however, have ruled the air with efficiency, led by general Tom Brady. His dominant start to the season figures to be at least part of the reason for Florio's change of heart.
"If I got a chance to do a do-over, I'd have to go with Patriots and Packers, although it's the obvious predictable pick," he said. "The Packers have some flaws on defense, but if you're always going to score enough points on offense to have more points than the other team, it doesn't matter if your pass defense isn't any good."
His statement about the Packers applies to the Patriots, as well. New England has given up 762 yards and a 93.9 passer rating on defense. That hasn't mattered for the Patriots, as Brady has strung together two of the finest regular-season performances of his storied career in the first two weeks of the NFL season. In fact, no quarterback in NFL history has thrown for more yardage in the first two games of a season than Brady has in 2011.
What's more surprising, that Florio is changing his pick from the Chargers, or to the Patriots?
Listen to the full segment at danpatrick.com.
