Making matters worse, the giddy locals rubbed it in by playing “Livin’ On a Prayer,’’ and “Sweet Caroline’’ over the loudspeaker system.
Yeesh. You know it’s bad when they are mocking you in Buffalo.
The Patriots collapsed in the same moment that the Sox were choking away another game in New York. As the footballers packed for their flight home, fans back in New England faced the hard truth that the only man standing in the way of a region’s abject humiliation was … John Lackey.
Wow. Have there been worse days in the history of New England sports? Maybe the night Buddy LeRoux staged a Fenway coup when the Sox were supposed to be honoring Tony Conigliaro? Maybe the day John Y. Brown bought the Celtics? Maybe the day Harry Frazee thought it would be a swell idea to sell Babe Ruth?
This was a shocker. On a day when Brady threw for another four touchdowns and 387 yards … on a day when Wes Welker caught 16 passes for a franchise-record 217 yards … on a day when Rob Gronkowski caught another pair of touchdowns … the Patriots blew a 21-0 lead to the Buffalo Bills.
It was a day when the “bend-but-don’t-break’’ defense finally broke. Big-time. In the spirit of his old school fight song (“Fight fiercely Harvard - demonstrate to them our skill’’), Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick burned the lightweight New England secondary for 27 completions and 369 yards. The clunky finish was particularly galling as a series of New England blunders resulted in Fitzpatrick taking a bunch of knees, bleeding the clock as Patriots coach Bill Belichick came apart on the sideline.
It looked like the Patriots would have one last crack with 1:48 remaining when Fred Jackson appeared to stretch across the goal line on a 38-yard pass play. Had the touchdown been allowed, the Patriots would have trailed by 7 but would have had ample time to tie the game and win in overtime. Unfortunately for New England, the play was reviewed. The Bills lost the TD, but gained valuable clock time. First-and-goal from a half-yard away.
