There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance.  Athletes should be confident.  They should be confident that they're going shoulder to shoulder with, confidence in their coaches to put them in the right place and the right time with the right play called.  Most of all, they should be confident in themselves in anything they can achieve. 

Then, there's overconfidence.  Call it arrogance, call it cockieness, whatever you call it, it can be dangerous.  The first sign of the Patriot Arrogance comes from their leader, the face of the franchise, Tom Brady.  When informed about Plaxico Burress' prediction of a 23-17 win over the Patriots, Brady's comment was only 17 points?  Well Mr. Brady, seems that Plaxico gave you too much credit. 

Then comes 4th and 13 from the Giants 31.  Conventional wisdom would say kick the field goal.  Not the arrogant Patroits.  No problem getting 13 on a 4th down and forego the field goal.  Once the offense took the field, I made a comment to those at my super bowl party saying how cocky that was.  Sure enough, Brady's pass falls incomplete and this "unstoppable" offense was stopped. 

If I were a Pats fan, I'd be disturbed.  They seemed to have far too much confidence in their ability to do what they want and when they want to, as well as showing a lack of respect for the Giants defense, who by the way, led the NFL in sacks.  On the outside, it seems like they felt invincible, nothing could stop them.  This is dangerous.  Thinking you are untouchable or unbeatable makes you suseptible to something unforseen in your eyes.

I wonder if the Pats had truly lost this game prior to kickoff.  Their arrogance was apparent, and coming from their leader, isn't what should be shown.  Also, with the coaches backing up this arrogance by passing on a field goal that was makeable and in ideal conditions and going for a very long 4th down, 

Arrogance bit the Pats in the rear, and coincidentally, that's where Brady spent a lot of time on Sunday. 

Congrats to the New York Giants...the better team won on Sunday.