No Laurels in Sight

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They won, so what's the big deal?

I guess I might not be over the first minute and thirty seconds, to be honest, in which our defense folded like a deck chair and allowed a touchdown. A touchdown. In the first minute and thirty seconds.

There are several reasons I found this deeply disconcerting. For one thing, by the end of last season, the Patriots had scored first in 21 straight games and were 20-1 in those games.

For another, it was Murphy's Law on that drive by Oakland with the newly reconstituted Patriots defense, from the line to the secondary. Ted, Tedy and Ty's losses were felt...like a punch in the gut. With brass knuckles on.

This first minute and thirty seconds slapped me awake. I realized I had become used to the Patriots' style of play in a certain, set way, to the extent that the first half of this game was like walking into my house to find all the furniture rearranged in my absence--and with the couch on top of the TV. The Patriots I know would have stopped Oakland on three quick downs--Randy Moss or no Randy Moss--and then set about a brilliantly executed 80-yard drive featuring a methodical alternation between the Corey Dillon running game and Tom Brady to Deion Branch in the air for the first touchdown of the game. They might then have allowed Oakland a field goal--if they were feeling fiesty, maybe not. They would then have scored a field goal of their own and led by at least seven points to end the first quarter. That's the Pats playbook. That's how it's done.

Except Corey Dillon was absolutely stuffed throughout most of the game. The guy who routinely got into the three figures last year for rushing yardage gained just 67 yards yesterday. Stupid penalties plagued both the offense and defense (though thankfully, Oakland kicked off a penalty-fest of their own in the last quarter). Have I mentioned they absolutely stuffed Corey Dillon? The Patriots could not buy a run against that Oakland front. Having Bobby Hamilton and Ted Washington in the line probably didn't help their case much, either--it seemed not only that Oakland was able to stop the Pats with sheer brute force but that they anticipated correctly every time whether or not the Patriots were going on the ground or in the air, regardless of whether they slotted Corey or Kevin Faulk behind Brady. It was...disheartening, to say the least.

I remember an opening night when the Patriots "came out, guns blazing, spreading five wide receivers around Tom Brady like a Roman phalanx, setting up that empty backfield as if to say, "Y tu mama tambien."

This was hardly the same. It wasn't even similar. Adam Vinatieri had an extra point blocked, for Chrissakes.

Another key play, to me, came in the early fourth quarter. In their first possession of the quarter, Oakland, beginning at their own 27, incurred a face-mask penalty that drove them back to a first down and 23 (or, as my father calls it, "First and a Train Ride") on their own 14.

This is key, right here. I thought to myself at the time. This will show how the Patriots are really looking compared to last year.

Last year, the year before that, I would have expected an interception for a touchdown here. Just expected it, the way I expect Tom Brady to complete most of his passes and Adam Vinatieri to make 99.9% of his kicks. Backed up to their own 14? Forget it. Interception, six points, Patriots. Or a sack for a safety. At the very least, a quick and businesslike three and out.

Instead, Kerry Collins dropped a bomb, completing an 18-yard pass to Randy Moss to push them all the way to their own 32. He then completed a 22 yard pass to Alvis Whitted to put them on New England's 46.

From their own 14, first-and-a-train-ride, to across our 50? Say it ain't so. If you were looking at that play for a barometer, the reading was "Storm Coming."

Were it not for Kerry Collins' dreadful inaccuracy and Oakland's sloppy penalty-inducing play, New England would surely have lost this game. I hate to say it, but Peyton Manning and the Colts are not so inaccurate or penalty-inclined. If we were playing Indianapolis this game, I'd venture a guess we'd have lost, and lost big.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda, right? And the Patriots aren't about blowouts--like last night's game, it has been their pattern to be just good enough to win (and to often give you a heart attack in the process). But I still maintain that had the Patriots been in true form last night, they'd have kept Randy Moss rolling between the twenties, had [edit: more than one interception] against the dreadful Collins, and found a way to punch Corey through by the second quarter, not late in the fourth.

I'm not jumping ship, don't get me wrong. I'm not predicting total doom and gloom. And, as I've stated, I am aware they did still win. But I also think it's safe to say after watching the game last night--especially where the defense is concerned--that there is plenty of work to be done if we expect to continue the lifestyle with the Patriots to which we have become accustomed.

Comments

[Kristen]

Just rusty, that's what I keep saying.

And I'm pretty sure Wilfork did have an interception against Collins. But I know what you're saying.

So long as they get it out of their system now.

[Mike]

The game was over after the Pats went up 23-14. That interception by Wilfork was the key to the game.

I have to admit it was a little scary seeing the Raiders score first and not seeing Dillon break out (running) wasn't fun, but he had those types of games last year. It all comes down to gameplanning, and Bill wanted to throw.