Just before a key San Diego third and three in the middle of the fourth quarter and with the game still within reach, the Gillette Stadium Jumbotron flahsed a picture of Tedy Bruschi watching the action intently from the Patriots sideline.
On the ensuing play, Drew Brees hits Antonio Gates for a seven-yard gain, a first down and the symbolic end to the game.
Where have you gone, Big Play Bruschi? I never thought we would miss your ability as much as we do. It seems none of your 2005 teammates has your ability for making the key play that will eventually swing the game in the Patriots’ favor.
Great plays + great times = great teams. Doesn’t feel like we can hang that equation on this squad, can we? So far.
Maybe we’re just going to have to accept that this is the way it’s going to be this season.
The 17-17 first half had its ups and downs but I am willing to wager that most of Patriots Nation believed that their team would make the better halftime adjustments, just as they usually do. If there has been one trait – besides the knack for making a big play – that has separated the Patriots from the pack in recent years, it has been the ability to adjust on the fly and outperform the other team in the second half.
Instead, their awful performance in the second half was arguably their worst performance since the 2002 season. Charger quarterback Drew Brees had all day to work through his progressions and find any one of a host of open receivers. Not once did it appear that Brees was hurried. I am willing to wager that his pants won’t have to be sent to the dry cleaners after the game.
Sitting in the end zone of the stadium, it was alarming just how large the holes were that LaDanian Tomlinson (25 attempts for 134 yards, 5.4 avg.) had to run through. I’m talking garage door-wide, folks.
And when Tomlinson did encounter a Patriots defender downfield, the result was either shoddy tackling or an outright miss. Often times, what seemed like a stop for no gain ended up being a gain of three or four yards. Past NFL history indicates that it’s very difficult to win games with matador impersonators on defense.
To be fair to the Patriots defense, there is plenty of blame to go around. They were on the field for almost 37 of the game’s 60 minutes, thanks in large part to the offense’s paltry 4 for 11 (36%) third down conversions.
And just as in the Carolina loss, the offense once again looked alarmingly out of synch and harried at times. Like the loss of Harrison and Bruschi on defense, perhaps the loss of Matt Light and Kevin Faulk will finally be the straw that makes this offense look, well, human. Let’s face it. We have been accustomed to the luxurious lifestyle of all-day pass protection and third-down conversions over the years.
Given the sad state of the Jets, Dolphins and Bills, it’s not nearly time to sound the alarm that the AFC East is out of reach. Far from it.
What this all means is that they are going to have to be the football equivalent of a Dewalt grinder if they want to be a playoff team in an AFC conference where the talent level is finally catching up to them.
Forget the Maalox. Pass the sandpaper.
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