It’s a strange statement to make in the hours after the Patriots scored 49 straight points and came back to beat the Bills, 49-21, yesterday. It was their eighth straight win and gave them home field throughout the playoffs.
But I can’t escape the feeling that this is a mirage. Yesterday doesn’t change anything. The 13-3 Patriots are a house of cards, a castle of sand, all smoke and mirrors.
Crazy, right? I’m talking nonsense, I know. The Patriots have one of the greatest offenses in the history of football. They can slap 40 points on you in less time than it takes David Ortiz to circle the bases after hitting a homer. Tom Brady this season threw for 5,235 yards (second-most in league history) and Wes Welker joined Cris Carter as one of two guys with a pair of 120-catch seasons. Rob Gronkowski is the greatest tight end of all time and Bill Belichick makes his counterpart look like a stooge every week.
But I can’t escape the feeling that the real Patriots are the ones who get gashed in the first quarter of just about every game. The real Patriots are the ones who fell behind the Bills, 21-0, who fell behind the Dolphins, 17-0. The real Patriots are the guys who got pummeled by Denver until the Broncos turned the ball over three times in their own end in the second quarter at Mile High.
Your 2011-12 Patriots just allowed the second-most passing yards in the history of the NFL.
Want to know the four teams that gave up the most total net yards in league history?
That would be the 1981 Baltimore Colts (2-14), the 2008 Detroit Lions (0-16), this year’s Green Bay Packers, and your Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots.
Yesterday was a true holiday festival at Gillette. The Patriots stomped the Bills to lock up the top seed and home field throughout the playoffs while the Jets lost to the Dolphins and were eliminated from the tournament.
