To the editor:

Eighteen to 0. Moving on to 19-0. Moving on to Phoenix, Ariz., and Super Bowl 42. New England is again pitted against a New York team, the Giants, with their angst and attitude. Wouldn't they just love to be the ones to upset the New England football cart? Especially quarterback Eli Manning, with cheers from brother Peyton. Remember Peyton? He, not his brother, was supposed to be our arch quarterback rival. Alas, the Colts just didn't make it this year. Can't you just hear them all now, those Colts and New York fans, talking themselves into a Giants win against those need-to-be-knocked-off-the-pedestal Patriots?

Well, huff and puff away. It won't be a cakewalk or a blow-out. The Patriots had an off-day with Tom Brady playing one his worst games of the season against the San Diego Chargers. They won the AFC Championship anyway. They won because they now have a running game again and a defense of seasoned warriors that play like the "old" men of the "old" days and hold the opponents to field goals vs. touchdowns. Each player knows he has his work cut out for him in game #19.

As fans, we know the names, the team abilities and collective passion of the players, and it's not just Brady and the "Bradyettes." The New England Patriots have shown the NFL what it means to play as a team where everyone, in Coach Belichick's words, "just plays his game, one game at a time." How else could they have faced all of the pressure of this 18 to zero season?

It's been an amazing ride for all of us who've watched and cheered and held our collective breath at the toughest times. It's a story that we in New England hope will have a legendary conclusion. This is both a football fan's and an historian's dream. So many records have already been broken, and there will be more to come as the Patriots continue to make football history.

Bring on the stats, bring on the game, and bring on all those remarkable Patriots football players, their vaunted coach and staff, and supportive and principled owner, Robert Kraft. We the fans are ready for a Super Bowl that will live beyond our time. One that will live on as legend in our sports-driven New England Nation.

My father was an ardent football fan living in Penn. and rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers. No longer living, he was born and raised in Massachusetts, and it's up to me to tell him about each and every game of this amazing Patriots season. My father is definitely tuned in!

Yes indeed, for all of us in Patriots Nation, these are the best of times. Good luck and go Patriots! Because I believe,

BETSY H. WOODMAN

Newburyport