With the New England Patriots meeting the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Sunday Night Football, here in week 3, it brought to mind their meeting last January
in the playoffs. (Actually, how could it not. Every mention of this
game is accompanied by discussion of that one. This weekend they seem
to be inseparable - Siamese games.)
And when that game is discussed it will always bring to mind for me the touchdown return of Denver's Champ Bailey, and with it the remarkable effort of New England's tight end Ben Watson, who ran down Bailey 98 yards after the pick. Here's a taste of The Essence Of Sport, the post I wrote after that remarkable play.
Ben Watson, the second year tight end out of Georgia, had run a flare pattern to the left side of the formation, and Brady had rolled away from him. He saw the pick, and then saw the speedy Pro Bowl corner head upfield, the pigskin under his arm, and a phalanx of blockers ahead of him. Watson started to run.
