[Specs]

I'm picking the Pats to win just as I have all season long, by a margin of 16-7. Always seems that someone breaks through the defense at least once. My guess is that John Fox will motion Steve Smith to Ty Poole's side with twins opposite him. Smith should be able to get one big play in, but outside of that I don't see Delhomme topping 100 yards passing. The key to this game will be Ted Washington clogging up the middle and McGinest/Vrabel/Seymour/Phifer and the rest of the hybrid end/linebackers getting into the backfield on second down, because the Panthers are going to have few second and shorts. If the Pats can keep 1st/2nd down yardage around 4-6 yards max all game, I don't see the Panthers with a way to convert third and medium to long.

That said, whoever said that this is the latest Super Bowl is wrong, New England's last Super Bowl was played Feb. 3rd because of the September 11th tragedy.

Also, whoever said that all the recent Super Bowls have been blowouts hasn't been watching the games. Yes, last year the Bucs dominated, but the year before that the game went down to the last play, and two years before that one, the game went down to the final yard. Denver did blow out Atlanta, but their game against Green Bay went down to the wire. Four out of the last eight Super Bowls have been up for grabs as late as halfway through the fourth quarter.