not since 2003 Pats have team with best record won SB & why Vini should get into HOF

[bayone]

In playoffs, expect the unexpected

 

 The team with the best record hasn't won the Super Bowl since 2003, when the New England Patriots did it.

 

Over the past eight seasons, a team playing on wild-card weekend has gone on to win the Super Bowl six times.

 

There's also hope that one of this weekend's teams can pull another upset over a No. 1 seed. Dating to 2005, No. 1 seeds are only 7-9 in the divisional round.

 

In a season in which upsets have been common and the best teams have proved to be flawed, this shapes up as a wide-open postseason. Seattle might be the favorite in the NFC and Denver might be the favorite in the AFC, but it means as much as a player's non-guaranteed contract.

 

The football world thinks favorites have the best chance; they might not. The football world might think it has an idea about what to expect; it does not. The football world might think it knows what's coming; it does not.

 

This postseason is about to kick off. So are the surprises.

 

Hall of Fame résumé: The NFL's oldest active player, Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, turned 41 on Dec. 28. As the season and his career wind down, Vinatieri keeps compiling enough stats to build his case as to why he should become the second kicker in NFL history to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

Vinatieri is the most prolific postseason scorer in NFL history with 196 points, is in the top 10 in scoring in regular-season history and has plenty of big, long kicks.

 

Most important, Vinatieri made what may have been the greatest kick in NFL history -- a 45-yard field goal in a blizzard to tie a divisional playoff game against Oakland and send it into overtime, where he won it for New England with a 23-yard field goal.

 

When the stakes have been greatest, Vinatieri has been most clutch. He will have the chance to be that way again Saturday, when Indianapolis hosts Kansas City

.

As the Hall of Fame selection committee once considered the candidacy of another worthy candidate, one voter asked, "Could the history of the league be written without him?" With Vinatieri, the answer is no.

 

It is the biggest reason he deserves to be the second player who was strictly a kicker inducted into the Hall, following Jan Stenerud.

 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/10231481/schefter-blitz-playoffs-expect-unexpected&ex_cid=MyESPNToday_Team

[amfootball]

This time of year is always about the team playing the best with some luck too. I always think the WC teams have an advantage in the divisional because they are already battled tested and know what it takes to win a playoff game.

[TAPLOOK]

If AV isn't a 1st ballot HOF'er the Hall's a joke. The guy is money. It's shocking when he misses a kick.

[GoPats]

I'd also take AV's teammates' word for it... I heard more than one guy say, "He's not a kicker, he's a football player." 

 

Man deserves to be in Canton. No doubt. 

[amfootball]

Why would Adam be denied HoF? Just because kickers don't get in as a rule? I mean kind of a silly criteria and really should have no bearing at all.

[Jules]

Adam needs to get in, period.

 

And that's so crazy about the best record statistics. It makes playoff weekend that much more fun and exciting for fans too though since you genuinely feel as if you have a shot even if you are a lower seed. Forget the rosters and the weather and the location at times......so much can just come down to crazy luck which cannot be predicted ahead of time by even the most imaginative of football fans.

[PrincetonTiger]

AV should get in early

[adamthyst]

Kickers/punters get no love but he is a first ballot HOF'er no question about it.