Patriots see green, flash back

By Os Davis  |   Tuesday, November 14, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

New England Patriots
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Flashback to 2002, the last time the New England Patriots dropped two in a row, as the northeast certainly is en masse this morning.

After struggling mightily in their would-be defense of the title, the Patriots of four years ago find themselves at 5-5. Games against three beatdogs (the ultimately 6-10 Minnesota Vikings, 3-13 Detroit Lions and 8-8 Buffalo Bills), however, beef the Pats' record back up to a respectable 8-5. Week 15 sees New England playing at the Tennessee Titans, who will eventually play in the AFC Championship Game. Steve McNair and his boys control throughout and cruise to an easy 24-7 victory.

At 8-6, the Patriots find their playoff destiny utterly in their own hands in Week 16.

Against the New York Jets.

In Foxborough.

Fans (because not even the silver gleam of three Lombardis can blind devotees to the sting of the missed opportunity) and haters (because, until Sunday, the Pats may never have looked so vulnerable) of the three-time champs no doubt remember the course of events with crystal clarity. After essentially answering score with score and with the Patriots' special teams once again coming to the fore, i.e. on Kevin Faulk's TD on a first-quarter kickoff return.

Down 17-10 at halftime, New England comes out of the locker room looking, well, looking like the now-familiar navy blue-and-silver. Tom Brady engineers a classic small-ball drive of 16 plays and 66 yards to tie it up. The Patriots' D remembers its characteristic clever nastiness and forces a three-and-out. The momentum may have shifted, think the television viewers, hope the Foxborough attendees, bets Bill Belichick.

And on the ensuing punt, Troy Brown can't handle the catch. Jets recover, Patriots never do.

Final score, 30-13. And despite the New Englanders taking care of business the following week against the Miami Dolphins, no playoffs were in these Patriots' cards.

Sunday, it was 17-14 and it all feels like 2002 again. Put the Indianapolis Colts in the Titans' spot, and have the Jets assume the role of the, um, the Jets, and things have got to be feeling a bit parallel.

Even with the loss, the Pats' playoff status is still not quite do-or-die. There are, after all, only eight teams with winning records in the AFC and one of them is the Jacksonville Jaguars, who can't be fooling anyone these days. New England still has a one-game lead in the East.

But football is so much a game of momentum, both in that 60 minutes on the field and in the weekly 167 or so hours off it. And the reality is that the Patriots haven't seen much momentum since visual evidence went against Benjamin Watson and New England on his crushing hit to Champ Bailey in last year's playoff game at the Denver Broncos. Patriot haters saw some nice closure in the call, with the New England dynasty born from "The Tuck Rule" call ending with cameras not catching a Denver turnover.

Less abstractly, the truth is that the three Patriots losses have all come against (seemingly, what with the rise of the Jets) playoff teams. This, as they say, is a bad sign. Ask the Jaguars who, while going 12-4 last season, were just 3-3 against contenders. J-ville took its inflated record into Boston and was taught a lesson to the tune of 28-3.

There is, as they say, plenty of football left to play. On this day, though, the Patriots' destiny in 2006 may have been taken out of their hands. That's an unfamiliar position these guys can't be relishing. If only they could get back under the radar...

Insights into the end of the New England Patriots as we know them on RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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