The Sleeping Giant Has Awoke and It's Not Happy

If the game this week was not hyped up enough for the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers’ DB Anthony Smith gave the Pats added motivation to beat the Steelers.

A second year free safety, Smith told reporters that “People keep asking me if we're ready for the Patriots. They should be asking if they're ready for us,” guaranteeing a Steelers upset. He, then, went on to say “[Steelers teammates] will back me up. Everyone has the same attitude anyway, so it's not like it's a big thing.”

Even if the rest of the Steelers felt the same way, they would not be stupid enough to tell the national media. Speaking to the media only adds fuel to fire as ex-Eagle Freddie Mitchell learned before Super Bowl XXXIX.

I can hear the banging of Bill Belichick’s hammer on the doors to the Patriots locker room in Gillette Stadium. As if Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi and Richard Seymour, did not have enough incentive to beat the Steelers, they now have ample ammunition to beat Pittsburgh.

When will teams learn that these kinds of childish acts only further motivate the Patriots to destroy you on the field? One would have thought that the rest of the league would have learned from Mitchell or ex-Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt when he commented “[the Pats] were ripe for the picking,” before the 2004 AFC Championship game. Teams have not learned you should not make these comments because the Patriots will just throw them back in your face at game-time.

It is even more apparent this year with “Spy-Gate” giving the Pats motivation to crush and humiliate the rest of the league. Evidently Eric Mangini learned nothing during his days as a Patriots employee when he blew the whistle on Belichick that sparked the universal hatred of New England.

Smith also made the comment that Cincinnati had the best receiving corps in the game with Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry. “[The Pats] got Walker and Moss, but they're not like Cincinnati,” Smith said. Not knowing Wes Welker’s name is the ultimate slap in the face and resembles Mitchell’s comments about the New England’s DBs in 2005.

Looking at the statistics between the receiving corps of the Pats compared to that of the Bengals the Patriots have the slight edge. Combined Welker, Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney have given the Pats 142 first downs, 2,893 yards and 30 touchdowns. Compare that to the 127 first downs, 2,293 yards and 18 touchdowns by the top three receivers of the Bengals. Granted, I listed one extra Pats player it serves the point that Tom Brady has more weapons to use and does not have to rely upon either Moss or Stallworth.

So kids the moral of the story today is “Don’t awake the Sleeping Giant!”