Fire at will, Commander!

At various points deep in the second half of last night's Monday Night Football ambush between the New Orleans Saints and the New England Patriots, the expressions on faces of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and countless other Pats partisans was reminiscent of the look of impotent dismay on the face of the young Skywalker late in Return of the Jedi when the Emperor informed him that the second Death Star was, in fact, fully operational.

The smug self righteousness that Luke had begun the scene with drained from his face as the Death Star's green laser exploded rebel ship after rebel ship. Such was the dissipation of the Patriots' characteristic overconfidence as Saints quarterback Drew Brees fired laser beams at his receivers. Hitting them in stride as they tore up seams. Hitting them on the back shoulder as they ran preise routes. Hitting them anywhere they could get to and leading defenders anywhere he wanted with a look or a pump fake en route to 371 yards and 5 touchdowns in a dominating 38-17 rout.

Wow. Just, wow. Being a Jets fan, I've been mostly miserable in my life watched these Patriots play a lot and I don't remember them being so thoroughly undressed. All that was missing was Belichick turning wildly to his assistants after Bree's 75-yard strike to Devery Henderson early in the second quarter and yelling "It's a trap!"