MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - What a week for Bob Kraft. His team got undressed on “Monday Night Football,’’ his $9 million federally funded bridge deal was shelved Friday, and yesterday the Patriots blew a 14-0 lead and dropped a 22-21 decision to the not-very-good Miami Dolphins.
Ouch.
Sure, the Patriots are probably going to the playoffs, but winning the super-soft AFC East is like finishing ahead of three teams of Baltimore Orioles. It doesn’t give you a lot of confidence going into January.
Can anyone really feel good about the Patriots’ chances in the tournament? Your take-no-prisoner Patriots have morphed into conscientious objectors. They don’t strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. The inevitability of victory is gone. The Patriots are no longer automatically better and smarter than the other guys.
“We’ve got to coach better, play better, we’ve just got to do a better job,’’ said Bill “I’ll-go-for-it-on-fourth-down-until-it-kills-me’’ Belichick.
It is the second week of December and the Patriots have not won a legitimate road game (London doesn’t count). They have lost two straight for the first time since 2006, and three of four for the first time since 2002. They have four games remaining and they’ve already lost as many games as last year when Matt Cassel was the quarterback. If the playoffs started today, they would have zero wins against playoff teams.
Kraft’s well-oiled media machine (“Welcome back to ‘Patriot Monday’ here at sparkling CBS Scene at gorgeous Patriot Place’’) is going to earn its money this week.
The Patriots have no pass rush, which makes one wonder about the deal that sent Richard Seymour to Oakland on the eve of the season opener. Sure it will be nice when Belichick grabs the Raiders’ 2011 top pick, but the deal made New England worse this year and Boston traditionally has been a town where fans care about winning today, not tomorrow.
The Patriots have no running game, which usually matters in the playoffs. They could use somebody like Jim Nance or Ron Burton in one of those nifty throwback jerseys.
Tom Brady threw for another 352 yards yesterday, but New England’s offense is becoming pretty predictable: Randy Moss is always a threat and Sam Aiken made a spectacular play on an 81-yard TD, but most of the time it’s Brady-to-Welker and pray for rain.
Meanwhile, Belichick has gone off the deep end with fourth-and-whatever. It’s not the mystics and statistics telling Bill it’s a good idea to go for it on fourth down. It’s now apparent that he’s just doing it because he has no alternative. No arrogance now. Belichick is afraid to give the ball to the other team.
