Someday the Paul Simon of a future generation will sing a line like “Where have you gone, Tom Brady?” And like Simon’s famous question about baseball legend Joe DiMaggio’s whereabouts, the Brady query will signal that an entire era has been swept away by history. Because the New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady is as synonymous with the NFL–the wildly popular cultural phenomenon NFL, that is, not the Ray Rice-riddled NFL–as Michael Jordan is with the NBA and Tiger Woods is with golf. But for now, Brady still has to go to work on the field every week–and last week it wasn’t pretty (four sacks, two fumbles). This week it should be prettier, if bookmakers are right. Pats are a 3-point favorite in Minnesota on Sunday at 1pm.
But how do you make the Patriots a 3-point favorite in Minnesota after the Pats got dumped in Miami and the Vikings obliterated the (albeit hapless) Rams, 34-6? Could be nostalgia. People just aren’t ready for that Tom Brady song. The Viking may not be as dominant as they appeared last week, but their confidence should be high. Fans in New England are decidedly with the oddsmakers–they’re all counting on the fact that Tom Brady doesn’t want to hear that song yet either. DiMaggio, for the record, never much liked Mrs. Robinson.
