↵↵"It seems like every year we won the Super Bowl, nobody gave us a chance to win the Super Bowl, and when everybody thought we were going to win it, we didn't make the playoffs," Ward said. "We don't buy into all that stuff. Every year we know we have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs. There's teams in the league that can't say that, can't say they have a legitimate chance of winning the Super Bowl. Every year, we have the core group of guys that can get it done."
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What do people think of this particular meme, this idea that because the talking heads have been wrong before, they'll be wrong again? If I were in Ward's shoes, I'd probably say exactly what he said, and of course I want the players to be confident. And in a sense, he's right: the amount of variance in a 16-game schedule gives lots of teams a shot.
↵Honestly, though, I'd rather hear a coherent argument as to why the pundits are wrong this time than to hear merely that they've been wrong before. Making that argument probably doesn't top Ward's list of priorities, though, which is fine. Our own Pete Wilmoth has a feature on this topic coming out later this week.
↵Elsewhere, Ward comments on whether he'll be able to maintain his skill level:
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"People are so quick to bury us and put us in an old folks' home like we can't play. I still caught 95 balls (in 2009). How can you explain that? Next year if I only catch 40 balls then you have a legitimate story to write."
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