Patriots, Broncos, and Karma(?)

As I sat at the local pool hall/sports bar watching the final rivalry game between my Alma Mater, Idaho and the hated Broncos of Boise State, I found myself thinking about karma.  When Boise State threw another long bomb already up by 30+ points, I hoped karma existed.  In fact I predicted that Boise would lose to Nevada two weeks later.  Karma reared its head in the form of two missed field goals.

Did Brotzman miss those field goals because BSU decided to send a message with the game all but won against U of I?  I'd like to think so.  Obviously it was karma.  It had nothing to do with wind, temperature, pressure in an end of game situation, the holder, the snap, the blocking, the opposing defense, the screaming of a hostile crowd, fatigue, or any other factor.  It had to be karma.

The New England Patriots remember karma.  They had a perfect regular season in 2007, running up the score against the Dolphins, the Redskins, and the Bills.  They threw deep bombs in the fourth quarter already up by a blowout...with their starters still in the game.

They lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.  It was karma again.  It had nothing to do with the fact that the Giants had played them closely in the final game of the regular season.  It had nothing to do with the Giants preparation and adjustments based on that game and the game tapes from it.  It had nothing to do with a catch held onto thanks to a helmet or a scramble that could have easily been a textbook lesson on how to hold as an offensive lineman.  It had to be karma, right?  The Patriots were the villains.  They were the undefeated and undefeatable juggernaut.  They were every antagonist from every sports movie...ever!  They were destined to lose.  Karma wouldn't let them win.

Karma wouldn't let them join the 1972 Dolphins, those bunch of pricks who get together to drink champagne when the last undefeated team loses and announce that they are still the only residents in the Perfect Season Neighborhood.  Never mind that they are the only team in that illustrious neighborhood because the NFL doesn't recognize its predecessors.  The AFL had a perfect team in the Los Angeles Bulldogs.  In the All-American Football Conference, the 1948 Cleveland Browns, (Remember them?  They're now the Baltimore Ravens because Art Modell screwed the city of Cleveland back in the 90s.) had a perfect season but isn't recognized by the modern NFL because not all the teams from the AAFC were absorbed into the NFL.  So one of the more storied franchises of the current NFL can't count its history in football before the NFL.

Then again, maybe the previous perfect season winners somehow angered what/who Gregg Easterbrook calls "The Football Gods," or what I call "Karma."