Episode Details

Steven Ruiz (The Ringer) and host Thomas Emerick consider whether this Super Bowl is a more proper analog for LX than the previous Patriots-Seahawks title matchup. They also examine how this finale to the 2003-2004 NFL season not only showcases the early 2000s brand of winning football, but also in fits and starts manages to tear a portal into the post-2004 game.   

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More episode threads: 

• Super Bowl XXXVIII Box Score: New England Patriots 32, Carolina Panthers 29 (Pro Football Reference)
• Is this Super Bowl a more proper analog for LX than the previous Patriots-Seahawks SB?
• I’ll reference the Panthers-Rams ‘03 game we did and whether it was just house money for you at that point as a fan coming from 1-15
• Belichick-Milloy break-up on even of season and losing 31-0 to Buffalo Week 1
  • Then cap regular season 31-0. Weirdest Week 1 result for any SB team in recent memory?
• Is the 2003 NFL meta on the march, and is that part of why we’re getting a Super Bowl LX matchup of teams that went from missing playoffs to the Super Bowl for the first time in 22 years?
  • Is that also why it kept happening in that era (Rams-Titans, Giants-Ravens so 3 of the 6 to ever happen) or could the dramatic upward and downward mobility of teams in that era be attributed to other things?
  • Defenses striking back in a manner similar to 2000-2003 stretch? 3 of top 5 all-time units in ppg w/ 2000 BAL, 2000 TEN, and 2002 TB
• Was there a distinct moment in your memory where you remember feeling cooked, and conversely when you believed the Panthers could pull it off?
• Is there a little Delhomme in Darnold?
  • And what to make of the quarterbacks famous for melting down. How much is it just being high-variance or streaky, or having weaknesses that some teams are equipped to hammer. Opposed to purely the mental that they’re cooked for the day: Delhomme nears halftime 1/9 for 1 yd with sack fumble yet pulls out of the tail dive.
• John Fox and Dan Henning must establish the run and stop the run as a life philosophy….but little room for Stephen Davis early. They do keep with it and spring one on the last offensive play in the half to reach FG range. 14-10. Nowadays how much is the meta shifting back to size, defense, and run game…. in more of a 2003 fashion?
  • How much does this game in an almost bipolar fashion showcase both the early 2000s brand of SB-winning football and then in other fits also what we’ll see post-2004? How much is this owed to the way this game was officiated from the start (called much tighter in pass coverage than in the conference championships to the dismay of Colts and Eagles fans)
• Dan Henning said he doesn’t have an opening script for Delhomme and gives him a lot of freedom for Delhomme, Smith, and Muhammad to feel it out once they get to the line essentially. Could you imagine Kyle Shanahan. And of course Brady would only gain more control
  • It seems like the meta’s also shifted toward playcaller than the quarterback in recent years. Does it seem like it will continue that way, and how different was the era back then circa ‘03?
  • Is this part of why Delhomme kept starting the half cold before heating up?
  • Also do we see Brady staples post-Weiss that day? I was getting some 2018 playoff run vibes from how they countered a DL that can get upfield and seen to have advantage (vs Chargers, SB vs Rams come to mind)
• Inv