Ahhh, Super Bowl XXXIX.

Don’t you just love those Roman numerals. They make everything seem so epic and Biblical. Sunday’s game won’t be anything of that sort. It’ll just be a good ol’ fashioned butt stompin’, with the New England Patriots doing most of the stomping.

The Pats have this game already won. They have the team, the talent and the experience.

I’m not saying that the Philadelphia Eagles don’t deserve to be in the Super Bowl, but their team doesn’t quite stack up to the Patriots.

This being the Pats third Super Bowl visit in four years gives them the obvious advantage of experience. They know what distractions to expect and how to approach the game. Philly will be treading on unknown territory. I think they’ll come in a little too excited.

Tom Brady is the perfect model of what a Super Bowl championship quarterback should be and that’s one who can perform under tremendous pressure. His middle name is practically clutch. Let’s throw out some numbers. Brady has led the Pats to wins in 48 of his 62 regular season starts. He can handle Philly’s defense because one of his strengths is to find someone and get that ball off quick. In last year’s Super Bowl he set a NFL record with 32 pass completions. The Eagles better pray that the game doesn’t go into overtime because Brady has a perfect 7-0 record in overtime.

The Pats alsohave a dependable kicker with Adam Vinatieri. Brady will take them into the end zone and Vinatieri can do the rest. He has two game-winners in past Super Bowls. That’s a big deal when Super Bowls can be won or lost on a field goal (like last year.)

The only scoring that Philly can do is centered around Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens. TO is returning from a leg injury, and says he’s more than 80 percent healthy, but that won’t make a difference when he’s seeing red, white, and blue jerseys all day long.

If there’s going to be any threat from Philly, then it will come from McNabb and TO; although, I have a feeling that the most memorable reception that TO will be remembered for this year won’t be a corner route from McNabb, but instead a naked, desperate housewife.

The Patriots’ defense is just too hard-hitting and flawless; they can shut down any offensive threat. And they have Bill Belichick, in his 30th year coaching, on the sidelines creating most of the magic behind the Pats defensive plays.
Like I said, this game is already over. The game itself is just a formality, because what fun would it be to just have the Patriots be handed their championship trophy? Maybe we should just refer to Sunday’s game as Super Bowl 39, and spare the Roman numerals.