Boston-Homer

Part 1: Pats Musings at the end of a season

What more can be said about the Pats loss to the Jets this past Sunday? Nothing... the radio and local papers have pretty much come up with these excuses:

1) The Jets outplayed the Pats.
2) The Pats made too many mistakes.
3) The Pats were never supposed to be this good this year.
4) The missed fake punt was the turning point.
5) Blah...
6) Blah...
7) Blah...

This Pats loss hurts as bad as it does because it was the Jets. After all the trash talk this week, all the Jets trash talk this year, it was my team's chance to shut them up. It was my team's chance to move on in the playoffs. It was, once again, my team's chance to win the Super Bowl. It all blew up in three hours on Sunday afternoon.

Eric Mangini wrote a great piece this weekend about how to beat the Pats. As I read it it seemed obvious to me. However, the one thing that stood out to me is that in the NFL games are lost more than they are won. I found that a fascinating theory, and as I watched the Pats game progress it really rang true. The Jets played a great game, the Pats made the mistakes that cost them the game. I will not say the Pats lost the game (because I think the Jets did win it), but those errors, those uncharacteristic errors, hurt their chances.

The first mistake was on the first drive. Brady threw a bad pass that was intercepted. Alge Crumpler made an incredible play and managed to catch David Smith before he could get in for a touchdown. The Jets did not score, Folk missed a field goal. However, this interception was like a boxer getting clocked in the face in an early round when he expects to win the fight without much of a battle. That interception was the punch, and the Pats were stunned for most of the game.

The Patrick Chung fumbled fake punt will go down as the biggest mistake because it led to points right before halftime. A 7-3 deficit grew to 14-3, a punch to the gut. Pats punter Zultan Mesko said after the game that the decision to run the play was Chung's. He read something in the Jets coverage and changed the play. If that is the case you have to wonder what kind of future Chung has with the Pats. That seems like something Belichick would not put up with. I guess we will have to wait and see.

For me the thing that stood out in this game was the ability of the Jets to cover the Pats receivers. A lot of people will point at the 5 sacks of Brady and say that the Jets pass rush was outstanding. It was good, but so many of those sacks and pressures on Brady came after Brady had time to look down the field. Coverage sacks were the name of the name. The Jets dressed 11 defensive backs. They have 45 players in uniform. Rex Ryan knew what he was doing.

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Edwards before he pulls in a big catch... Playmaker...

Another thing that stood out was the Jets playmakers. They have them, and honestly the Pats do not. Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes were very good, and Jerricho Cotchery made a huge 58 yard play to kill the Pats momentum. Santonio Holmes and Edwards both made great catches down the field. Holmes' TD catch was ridiculous, and Sanchez's throw was pretty solid too.

The Pats playmakers were nowhere to be found, and I think it is because the playmakers are not that great. Clearly getting rid of Randy Moss was a good choice, however, having a guy like Moss, that can go deep will help this team. Moss would not have been the answer last night, but after watching Holmes make that play and then thinking that the Pats were targeting Alge Crumpler in the red zone makes me want to throw up. The Pats need a guy who can "go up and get it." The Packers, Steelers, and Jets all have one (or more). Moss was not that guy, he quit on balls that were not thrown right to him. Greg Jennings, Donald Driver, Holmes, Edwards, Mike Wallace are those types of guys. Could you pick a Pats receiver that would make the catches that Holmes made on Sunday or the one Edwards made against the Colts? I can't.

As the game came to an end was anyone else SHOCKED at how many people left early? Really? Are we that spoiled as sports fans that we cannot stick around for the end of a playoff game? That was despicable. I would have been pissed sitting there watching the end of the game, but I would have been sitting there. That was inexcusable.

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Brady looking confused was not a normal occurrence this year... until Sunday...


My last thought on the game is this: Can the Pats get back to their winning ways in the playoffs? It seems like they are a team that can be stopped by the best coaches when they need to. A regular season game has a different feel, and this playoff game proved that. Rex Ryan dialed up some very different defensive looks that the Pats would not typically see in September-December. When do they start to figure that out again? When do they win a playoff game again?


Stuff to read:
Brady thinks Jets get to Super Bowl? Reverse Jinx?
Branch chastises "classless" Jets...
Bob Ryan.. the guy I go to first...the best...
Chris Gasper, another good piece about Pats...
Sanchez is world-beater...
Brady is human...
Pats future starts now...
Good photo gallery of game...
Go to 36:35 mark of this Mike and Mike Podcast from January 17. Tom Jackson claims he picked the Pats to win 30-10 to get the Jets angry and ready to play. And then he takes credit for the Jets winning!!

Part 2 coming tomorrow. Looking back at the season and looking forward...