Tim Brown: Keep Your Eyes on Exxon

No matter how good some teams play, its nearly impossible to live up to expectations. Every year, the New York Yankees are expected to win the World Series by team management. Anything less is considered a failure.

The same goes for the 2007 New England Patriots. This team steamrolled through the regular season, winning every single game. After a performance like that, anything short of winning the Super Bowl was considered a failure.

And yet, the Patriots came up short, falling to the underdog New York Giants. Looking back, do you think anybody is really going to say, "Wow, the Patriots sure had a great season?" It's highly unlikely. The 2007 New England Patriots will be remembered as the team that has a shot at immortality -- to go undefeated -- but came up just a little short in the big game.

Perception is not always in line with reality, however. I am willing to bet that most fans of NFL teams around the country would prefer the overall performance of the Patriots squad to that of their own teams. The fact still remains the Patriots are one of the best teams in the league year in and year out.

While they didn't meet expectations last year, they are still a force to be reckoned with. I feel the same way about Exxon Mobil(XOM).

Exxon said last week that its second-quarter earnings grew by 14%. Its profits checked in at $11.6 billion, or $2.22 a share, up from $10.2 billion, or $1.83 a share a year earlier. However, despite the growth, the company still fell well short of analysts' expectations, and The Street has sent shares lower. Analysts, on average, had been calling for $2.52 a diluted share.