Thank God the Boston Globe Is Getting to the Bottom of the Anthony Smith Story

Jackie MacMullan is doing the Lord's work. In the minutes following the Patriots' throttling of the Steelers, the veteran Boston Globe columnist gave a 24-year-old second-year player one more chance to clarify his mid-week "guaranteed Pittsburgh victory" comments.

"Anthony," I asked him, just minutes after New England shredded his team, 34-13, by scorching the secondary for 399 passing yards and four touchdowns, "If you could do it over, would you guarantee the win again?"

"Yes," he answered. "I come out every game to win. In this league, if you walk into an arena planning to lose, you're not a guy anyone will want to play with."

In theory, he is correct. But Smith not only heaped undue pressure on himself with his misplaced arrogance, he also juiced a weary Patriots team...

I've mentioned before that I don't put much stock in players making guarantees. Ultimately, it comes down to execution (John McKay is in favor of it), and yesterday Smith was dreadful. Apparently, MacMullan had no interest in writing a story that wasn't completely predictable, and that's why she posed the question to Smith after the game. Can't Stop the Bleeding offers a different, more nuanced take:

Perhaps this would've been a good time for some mature observer - Mike Tomlin? Jackie McMullen? - to suggest that perhaps Smith is more naive than arrogant. His "guarantee" of a Pittsburgh win wasn't volunteered out of the blue, it came from being questioned about the Steelers' chances. Can we presume that if any members of the Jets profess to being scared ... of facing the Pats next Sunday, McMullen and colleagues will applaud their honesty rather than questioning their desire?

Yes, I think that's right, because MacMullan and colleagues are forever searching for the truth. I mean, we're not talking about blogs, for cripes sake.

Seriously, I understand MacMullan's angle -- nobody's wants to read about the possibility that Smith didn't grab a reporter's tape recorder and just started yelling "GUARANTEE! GUARANTEE!" Or better yet, MacMullan asking her question this way: Anthony, if you could do it over, would you answer the "are you guaranteeing victory?" question a reporter posed to you?

So consequently, here we are.