The New England dynasty has been counted out more often than the Bayonne Bleeder, Chuck Wepner.

 

Instead of being carried off the canvas like another aging, overmatched pretender, the Patriots yesterday rose up off the mat, gained their bearings and unleashed a potential knockout blow to yet another trendy pretender to the throne of NFL supremacy. The off-the-mat performance came in the form of a 38-13 victory at previously unbeaten Cincinnati.

 

In the process, New England reestablished itself as a member of the NFL power structure, announced to Planet Pigskin that its not dead yet and held at bay the circling vultures and salivating vipers in the Boston sports media, who have been waiting to pounce on the desiccated corpse of this arrogant NFL dynasty that refuses to go quietly.

 

Those of you who don't live in the Boston area might suspect that there would be a fairly good relationship between the local media and the NFL's most successful franchise of the past decade.

 

There isn't.

 

In fact, there is currently a race on in the media to be the first to declare the New England dynasty dead. The "usual suspects" from the Boston Globe and elsewhere have a head start. But many others are attempting to catch up. It seems everybody wants to say "I told you so" when it finally all unravels for the Kraft-Belichick-Brady power troika. Others just fear looking like toadies – as if there's shame in standing by the NFL's most dominant franchise of the past decade.

 

(By the way, one of the "usual suspects," Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, will be the subject of a profile in Boston Magazine soon asking if he's the most hated man in Boston sports. He'll certainly be portrayed as a "hero" by some in the media for standing up to the New England victory machine – as if it's heroic to be proven wrong time and again.)

 

The circling vultures are not limited to those in the Boston sports media. Virtually every national "pundit" and prognosticator predicted a rousing Bengals victory. The Cold, Hard Football Facts were no exception. All the numbers pointed in favor of Cincinnati.

 

But just when the "pundits" think it's all over, the Patriots pieced together one of those vintage, up-off-the-canvas performances that salvaged the dynasty – for at least another week.

 

It got us thinking about these classic performances during the Belichick-Brady Era. So here's a quick look at the five most impressive off-the-canvas performances in recent years – games New England won just when everyone was ready to declare it all over.

 

It was all over because: New England never wins at Denver. The air is too thin. The Denver ground game is too powerful. New England had too many injuries on defense (Ted Johnson, Ted Washington, Richard Seymour).

 

The up-off-the-canvas performance: The New England defense was missing its top three run-stuffing specialists, including gameday scratch Seymour, but held the Broncos to 114 rushing yards on 29 attempts (3.9 YPC). The Patriots still needed to take an intentional safety and reel off a last-minute, 58-yard touchdown drive to pull out the victory.

It was all over because: The undefeated Bengals were too fast, too hot and too talented. New England's offense was in disarray following a 17-7 loss to Denver. Brady was angry at Patriots management for not re-signing his top two targets from 2005. New England had too many injuries on defense (starting defensive backs Ellis Hobbs and Eugene Wilson). 

 

The up-off-the-canvas performance: The Patriots unleashed their greatest rushing output since 1993 (41 attempts, 236 yards, 5.8 per attempt) and their greatest point total in 24 games against the not-ready-for-primetime Bengals. The injury-riddled defense (which once again fielded wide receiver Troy Brown at defensive back) stifled the talent-filled Bengals offense, holding it to 208 passing yards, a single red-zone visit and 1 TD.

 

It was all over because: The Titans were the "toughest" team in football. Steve McNair was "tough." Eddie George was "tough." New England's 2001 championship was a fluke. The Patriots had settled back into mediocrity after a 9-7 season in 2002 and a 2-2 start in 2003. New England's players were angry because Lawyer Milloy was cut before the start of the season. The Patriots "hate their coach." New England had too many injuries on defense (Mike Vrabel, Willie McGinest, Ted Washington, Ted Johnson).

The up-off-the-canvas performance: The 2003 season was shaping up to be a disaster for New England. The Milloy fiasco, a 31-0 Week 1 loss to Buffalo and an embarrassing 20-17 Week 4 loss to Washington all spelled doom. The bad-ass Titans (3-1), meanwhile, were coming off a 30-13 demolition of the Steelers. Big plays on offense, defense and special teams sparked New England's 38-30 victory. It was highlighted by a 7-carry, 73-yard, 2-TD performance by the immortal Mike Cloud. He not only came off the bench, he also just came off a four-game suspension. The win turned out to be the first of an NFL-record 21 straight.

 

It was all over because: The Colts boasted the fifth-highest-scoring offense in the history of the NFL and, arguably, the greatest passing attack ever assembled – one highlighted by Peyton Manning's record 49 TD passes and record 121.1 passer rating. New England had too many injuries on defense (Richard Seymour, Ty Law).

 

The up-off-the-canvas performance: In what is probably the single most dominant performance of the Belichick Era, the Patriots rattled off scoring drives of 16, 15 and 14 plays while humiliating the seemingly unstoppable Indy offense. The Colts were held to their lowest scoring output since a 41-0 playoff loss in 2002.

 

It was all over because: "The Greatest Show on Turf" would establish itself as the next NFL dynasty with a thorough destruction of the overmatched Patriots. The Rams had scored 500 points in a record three straight seasons. They were playing on the fast track of a dome. New England was lucky to be in the Super Bowl.

 

The up-off-the-canvas performance: The future New England dynasty should have suffered a knockout blow before it even stepped into the ring. Instead, Rams two-time MVP quarterback Kurt Warner was harried all day and picked off twice as the Patriots built a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead. The lead disappeared in the final moments, leaving the overmatched Patriots looking at overtime against an offense that had found its mojo late in the game. Instead, Brady engineered the only walk-off scoring drive in Super Bowl history, launched his own legend and launched a dynasty that seems to get counted out every other week ...

 

... no matter how many times it rises up off the canvas.