You wouldn?t think so by listening to the self-appointed experts -- except for Homer J. Jaworski -- who if they were the betting kind (Wink, wink) would lay the New England Patriots? points with their house, car, boat, dog, refrigerator and pull-out bed in the basement.

Now don?t get me wrong. As the kids say, I?ve got mad respect for the Pats.

After hoisting the Lombardi Trophy -- with confetti flying -- two out of the last three seasons, Bill Belichick?s boys are good. No, they are great. It starts with Belichick?s organizational skills and game day schemes coupled with the play-calling of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel isn?t getting the Browns head coaching job just because Tedy Bruschi is a ballhawk.

Oh, by the way their quarterback Tom Brady with the perfect 8-0 playoff record should get a little credit. The matinee idol is 48-14 in the regular season and is justifiably drawing comparisons to Joe Montana and Bart Starr. Brady is only 27 years old, and already has two Super Bowl MVPs. Some day, the next big winner in the NFL will be called the next Tom Brady.

This is a team in the truest sense of the word. This is a team that has only lost four games the last two seasons and had a 21-game winning streak. They make good on the cliché, "one game at a time." There are no prima donnas, no garbage on Belichick?s block. It?s as if he walks around the practice field with his E-Z Reacher, picking up litter.

Like I said, I?ve got mad respect.

The main difference between the two teams is professionalism. While Eagles receiver Freddie Mitchell calls himself "Fred Ex," he has only delivered 90 catches in four years. If you were an Eagles fan, you?d wish that Mitchell would stop riling up the Patriots? defensive backs and use his two cents to buy a haircut.

Now, Patriots receiver Troy Brown with a 100-catch season is more like UPS. What can Brown do for you? He can play flanker, return punts or make three interceptions -- in half a schedule -- because you are in desperate need of secondary help. Brown does it without the antics. Belichick is a big fan of rock music, but, again, he gets more sanitation work done than Steven Van Zandt ever will on the Sopranos.

So I?m not exactly making my point for this being a close game. Here goes.

Philadelphia is the second best team in the league. They are better than the Indianapolis Colts who have little defense and a quarterback who has never won a big game. The Tennessee version of Peyton Manning never beat Florida in four tries and the Volunteers won the national championship the year after he graduated. They are better than the Pittsburgh Steelers who were starting a rookie quarterback and a secondary that got exposed.

The Eagles are a complete team. Jim Johnson?s defense is great and in my opinion stacks up with the Patriots. Yes, they blitz more than a Bush with an agenda. But Johnson?s aggressive strategy would be nothing without a great secondary led by safety Brian Dawkins. It is the best defensive backfield Brady will have seen this year.

Jevon Kearse and Derrick Burgess are excellent on the ends and since linebacker Jeremiah Trottter moved into the starting lineup in the middle of the year, the Eagles have been stuffing the run. Philly has a reputation for being a "bend, don?t break" defense, but the last five or six games they have been stiffer than a Jack and coke poured by Artie Lange.

Despite what Rush Limbaugh might think, or every other white guy over 50 who is still hanging on to an archaic idea that a black guy can?t play quarterback, Donovan McNabb is one of the five best QBs in the league.

Sure, McNabb has occasional bouts of inaccuracy where he throws balls at receivers? shoelaces. But, the guy threw 31 touchdowns to only eight interceptions and had a rating of 104.7 (Brady?s was 92.6). McNabb also ran for three scores and 220 yards. Michael Vick may look to run first, but McNabb is different. This is not a running quarterback, but a quarterback who can run. Too bad, his big-game resume isn?t as big as his smile.

Even if Terrell Owens plays, he?s not going to be 100 percent. Against popular thought, I believed that the reason that the Eagles lost the NFC championship to Carolina last season was not because of the lack of a big-time receiver, but because running back Brian Westbrook did not play.

Westbrook brings a lot to the table. Head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Brad Childress have made large strides in using him effectively. Getting Westbrook 15-20 carries to go along with lining him up in the slot makes him a serious weapon in the mold of Marshall Faulk.

The Eagles were 13-1 before essentially tanking the last two games by resting virtually all their starters because they had already wrapped up home-field advantage. The coaching, abundant speed and talent make the Eagles no pushovers.

Brady and kicker Adam Vinatieri will probably play a factor in a close game, and I anticipate that happening.

The Patriots being a favorite is logical, but if the Eagles were to win, I don't think they?ll need a rock and a slingshot.