It was something of a Dickensian year for the
Patriots. It was the best of times (12-4-0, AFC East Champs, First Round Bye)
and it was the worst of times (no Wilfork, no Mayo, no Gronk, still no
replacement for Randy Moss). In the end I have to say this has been one of the
best, most enjoyable regular seasons for New England since 2001. I like this
team. It’s been great rooting for them. If this season was a movie I’d be going
back to see it again next weekend and I’d be looking for an IMAX theater.
Here are some thumbnails sketches of the Patriots
2013 regular season. Seriously, has this been released on Blu-Ray yet?
The 2013 season began inauspiciously. Or so it
seemed. The Patriots eked out a 23-21
victory over the Bills in Buffalo, a game Patriots Nation
seemed to count as a loss. It just wasn’t the 30+ point dominating win we’d all
gotten used to. And these were the Bills. We own them. Lost in the shuffle was that bottle of vintage Brady, 7
for 7 on the game-winning drive. Stephen Gostkowski goes 3 for 3 on FGA
including the game-winner, a harbinger of his record-breaking season. Danny
Amendola plays through pain, catching 10 passes for 104 yards, but the groin
injury he suffers in the first half will ultimately cause him to miss multiple
games, effectively derailing his first season with New England. LeGarrette
Blount seems an odd choice for kickoff returns and he nets just 35 yards on two
returns. Stevan Ridley loses his first fumble of the year and New England shakes
its collective head. Still, a win is a win!
The Patriots followed their underwhelming season
opener with an equally unimpressive win over
the Jets, 13-10 at Foxborough. We New England fans will
take a win over the Jets no matter how it comes, of course, and it’s always
good to get wins in the division but the talk was already starting. The Patriots are vulnerable. The losses
of Welker, Hernandez and Woodhead, the absence of Gronkowski; it was all too
much. Amendola was hurt already and the rookies were clearly not ready for the
big stage. For this one game, Gostkowski and Talib are enough but Patriots
Nation begins to brace for the worst. Miami, the preseason favorite to unseat
the Patriots, is also 2-0-0.
The 23-3 win the following week against
Tampa Bay looks respectable on the scoreboard but carries
the qualifier that it came against the winless Buccaneers. Still, we get a
glimpse of what the rookie wide receivers can do as Aaron Dobson has 7
receptions and Kenbrell Thompkins scores 2 TDs. LeGarrette Blount gets 14
carries against his old team and returns 1 kickoff for 24 yards. Gostkowski is
3 for 3. Pigskin pundits and bobbleheads agree; New England is the worst 3-0-0
team in the league.
Everyone is sure the Patriots will fail their
first real test of the season, a road trip to Atlanta. The Falcons
were preseason picks to make a run at the Super Bowl from the NFC bracket.
Atlanta had slipped to 1-2-0 with a road loss to Miami the week before but they
were in their home dome and expected to expose the fraudulent Patriots.
Instead, Tom Brady played his best game of the year to that point, throwing for
316 yards and a couple of TDs. LeGarrette Blount scored on a startling 47-yard
run. Gostkowski hits 3 more FG and the Pats escape with the win as Aqib Talib
knocks down a 4th down pass in the end zone. Unfortunately, the
Patriots lose Vince Wilfork for the season to an Achilles injury. The game will
prove to be a microcosm for both the Patriots and the Falcons in 2013 as New
England will continue to win games while losing starters and Atlanta will
continue to lose tragically, with only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to help break
their fall.
After the gutsy win in Atlanta there was hope New
England would keep things rolling in Cincinnati but it was
not to be. They suffered their first loss of the season,
13-6. Brady had arguably his worst game of the season, a brutal 18/38/197 with
0 TD and 1 INT. His consecutive game TD pass streak ends, two games short of
breaking Drew Brees’ record. Incredibly, the Patriots were driving through a
torrential downpour for what could’ve been a tying TD but fell short in the
end. I’m just wondering, in the wake of the Peyton Manning “he would’ve broken
the record anyway” decision, should Brady retroactively be given the consecutive
game TD pass record? It was raining pretty hard. He probably would’ve tied the
game with a TD pass if it hadn’t been raining so hard. Anyway, the game plays
to the narrative that the Patriots’ kryptonite is a big, fast, physical, smash
mouth defense that can get pressure on Brady with just their front four. Yeah,
because that doesn’t work against other teams.
The Patriots returned home to face the undefeated
Saints. New England would be home
underdogs and try not once (failed 4th down
conversion) but twice (interception on an ill-advised pass downfield to Julian
Edelman) to lose the game in the final minutes only to come away with the 30-27
win on a beautiful Tom Brady touchdown pass to Kenbrell Thompkins in the final
seconds, a play that prompted the inexplicable “Unicorns! Show
Ponies! Where’s the beef?” call by Scott Zolak. More than a few season ticket holders listened to that call on their
car radios having left Gillette early. Stevan Ridley rushes for 96 yards and 2
TD (and 0 fumbles), LeGarrette Blount returns two kickoffs for 51 yards,
Stephen Gostkowski kicks 3 more field goals and Jerod Mayo is lost for the
season to a torn pectoral muscle.
The rematch
with the Jets would introduce another 2013 theme, the
involvement of the officials in Patriots’ end game scenarios. Certainly the
Patriots were guilty of pushing in their attempt to block the Jets’ FGA in OT
but it isn’t a penalty called consistently – OR EVER – by NFL officials. Rumor
had it the Patriots provided the league with an example of the Jets committing
the same violation of the rules earlier in the game, which had not drawn a
flag. Whatever. Brady struggles except when he’s throwing to Rob Gronkowski who
returns to action with 8 catches for 114 yards. Logan Ryan announces himself
with authority (perhaps a little too much authority) on a 79-yard
Pick 6, LeGarrette Blount returns 4 kickoffs for 96 yards and Stephen
Gostkowski kicks 2 clutch field goals in the 4th quarter to send the
game to OT. And then… I don’t want to talk about it.
The Patriots were 5-2-0 as they faced
the Dolphins in Foxborough. The Patriots were winning
but winning unimpressively. Luckily for the Patriots, unimpressive wins count
just as much as impressive wins. Miami had been the trendy preseason pick to
unseat New England in the AFC East but they traveled north sporting a 3-3-0
record and riding a 3-game losing streak. This game featured another theme for
2013, the big second half comeback. The Pats trailed 17-3 at halftime but
outscored the ‘Phins 17-0 after the break. Brady struggled to a 13/22/116 slash
line as he forces the ball at least one time too many to Gronkowski. Ridley
handled the heavy lifting with 79 yards rushing and a TD, Devin McCourty makes
the sideline tip to Marquise Cole for an INT and Gostkowski kicks 3 more field
goals.
Next up for the Patriots were the struggling
Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers had started the season 0-4-0 and were just
2-5-0 as they came to Gillette following a disappointing road loss to the
poorly constructed and hopelessly inept Oakland Raiders. Things would not get
better in Foxborough. The Patriots dropped acid in our Sam Adams Boston Lager
as we all flashed back to 2003-04 for the
55-31 win. Brady had his best game of the season, posting a
23/33/432 with 4 TD and 0 INT. Unsurprisingly, it was also Rob Gronkowski’s
best game of the season as he caught 9 passes for 143 yards and a score. Rookie
Aaron Dobson had a big day with 5 catches, 130 yards and 2 TD and Danny
Amendola had his best game since Week 1 with 4 for 122 and a TD. LeGarrette
Blount returns 3 kickoffs for 72 yards and runs the ball effectively with 47
yards and a TD on just 5 carries. Despite all the touchdowns, Stephen
Gostkowski still manages to hit 2 field goals (to go with his 7 extra points),
Stevan Ridley has a big day rushing with 115 yards and 2 TD on 26 carries but
also fumbles, the beginning of a streak that will see him benched against the
Texans four weeks later.
The Patriots came out of their bye week at 7-2-0
but they would need to travel to Charlotte to face the streaking Carolina
Panthers. After starting 1-3-0, the Panthers had won five in a row, capped by
an impressive road win over the 49ers in Week 10. The Patriots again struggled
in the first half, trailing 10-3, but this time the
second half comeback fell short, 24-20. Once
again, the officials played a significant role in the outcome, picking up a
pass interference flag when replays showed that Rob Gronkowski was absolutely
mugged by Carolina’s Luke Kuechly. Would the Patriots have won, given a 1st
and Goal from the one-yard line against one of the best defenses in the NFL with
time for just one more play left on the clock? We’ll never know, obviously.
Brady plays well in the second half to finish with a 29/40/296 slash line,
Shane Vereen returns to action with 8 catches and 65 yards, Gostkowski hits 2
of 2 FGA and Stevan Ridley fumbles for the second game in a row.
The biggest
game of the year was next up; Peyton Manning and the Broncos
juggernaut were coming to Foxborough for Sunday night football. The Broncos
were 9-1-0 and on pace to break every team and individual record listed under
“Offense” and “Passing.” Peyton Manning would settle the GOAT argument once and for all and stick that “Manning
can’t win in the cold” narrative where the sun don’t shine with a big win
over Brady and the Patriots. It certainly looked that way early on as the
Patriots had apparently contracted an allergy to leather, fumbling three times
on their first three drives. It was 24-0 at halftime. Who could blame the
unicorns and show ponies if they left early for this one; nobody comes back
from 24 points. Besides, it was cold and a school day tomorrow. We all know
what happened next, of course. New England would mount a comeback of historical
proportions and win in overtime on the mishandled punt by Wes Welker, recovered
by Nate Ebner and converted to the winning points by Stephen Gostkowski. 34-31.
Simply put, this is one of the greatest regular season games I have ever seen.
Belichick put together a defensive game plan that would happily give up rushing
yards to keep the ball out of Peyton Manning’s hands and it almost worked too
well as Knowshon Moreno totaled 224 yards on 37 carries. Manning was clutch on
the game-tying drive that sent the game to OT but overall he had arguably his
worst game of the season with a 19/36/150 slash line, 2 TD and 1 INT. Brady
finished 34/50/344 with 3 TD and 0 INT. Julian Edelman was an absolute stud in
this one, catching 9 passes for 110 yards and 2 TD. It seems unfair to single
out Ridley when there were six fumbles totaled by the Patriots (two by Brady)
but his opening drive drop marks the third game in a row he puts the ball on
the ground. This game is also noteworthy for Belichick’s decision to take the
wind in overtime. Belichick’s respect for Manning is well documented but even
after the 4th quarter drive into the wind for the tying touchdown,
he decided to put the ball in Manning’s hands to start overtime. Even with the
change in OT rules that ensure both teams will have a chance to score, having
the ball first has a significant tactical value but the Broncos could not take
advantage. Then, in a flashback to 2001, the Patriots win the game on special
teams. Welker fails to make a fair catch of Ryan Allen’s punt as it falls unpredictably
back to earth with the driving winter wind behind it. Welker making a negative
play in the clutch was a moment hardly lost on those Patriots’ fans that are
still bitter about the dropped pass in Super Bowl XLVI. The Patriots were now
8-3-0 and would have the tie-breaker for home field against the 9-2-0 Broncos
should these two teams finish with the same regular season record. Oh, and that
GOAT argument? Yeah, it wasn’t even close.
New England continued their pattern of poor first
half play when they traveled
to Houston the following week. The Texans, a preseason
favorite to vie for the AFC South and a playoff run, were mired in a nine-game
losing streak. So this was one of those “this is their Super Bowl” kind of
games for Houston. Stevan Ridley watched in street clothes from the sideline,
clutching a football, as LeGarrette Blount and Shane Vereen handled the rock 22
times for 82 yards. Brady played well (29/41/371), Gronk and Jules had big
games. Josh Boyce replaced Blount on kickoffs and totaled 149 yards on 6
returns and Stephen Gostkowski kicked two 53-yard field goals in the 4th
quarter to tie and win the game 34-31. This game also featured James Develin’s
will not be denied/bumper car 1-yard TD run where
he broke seven tackles on his way to the score.
The Patriots returned home to face a troubled and
stumbling Browns’ team in what would be perhaps their
most incredible and bittersweet win in an
incredible and bittersweet season. Cleveland had lost six of their last seven
and was starting their third string quarterback, the much traveled Jason
Campbell, who looked anything like the journeyman his career stats would lead you to believe. Against the New
England defense, Campbell posted a 29/44/391 slash line with 3 TD and 0 INT.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this was probably the best game of
Campbell’s career. It doesn’t hurt having Josh Gordon to throw to, of course.
Gordon had 7 catches for 151 yards and a TD and ran the ball once for 34 yards.
Did I mention the Patriots got off to a slow start again? They trailed 6-0 at
halftime and were played off the field to a chorus of boos. Brady had a huge
day (32/52/418), Stevan Ridley returned from Bill Belichick’s dog house to
split running back duties with LeGarrette Blount and Shane Vereen was a one man
wrecking crew with 12 receptions for 153 yards but the outlook was bleak when
they carted Rob Gronkowski off the field and absolutely doomy when Cleveland
scored at the 2:39 mark to go up 26-14. It seemed that the game – and the
season – was lost. Gronkowski had given the Patriots the edge they needed on
offense to offset the injuries on defense and now he was gone like Wilfork,
Mayo, Tommy Kelly and Sebastian Vollmer before him. What happened next will be
the stuff of legends for Patriots’ and Browns’ fans (obviously for different
reasons) for years to come. Brady drives the Patriots from their own 18 to a TD
in 11 plays running just 1:38 off the clock. Edelman absorbs a huge hit but
hangs onto the TD pass; the contact draws an unnecessary roughness penalty
which is enforced on the kickoff. Everyone knows the Patriots have to kick
onside and recover the ball to have any chance to win. And by “everyone” I mean
everyone. Instead of the angled kick designed to produce a big hop for the
kicking team that you usually see in these circumstances, Stephen Gostkowski
dribbles the ball right down the middle of the field, chasing it as it seems to
be rolling in slow motion to the 10-yard mark where the Patriots can legally
touch and recover the ball. A Cleveland player dives in at around 9.5 yards,
making contact with the ball and it’s live! Kyle Arrington recovers and New
England is in business at the Browns 40-yard line. Two plays later, Josh Boyce
draws a pass interference penalty in the end zone. On 1st and Goal,
Brady rolls to his right and hits Danny Amendola for the TD. New England 27,
Cleveland 26. The Pats miss on the two point try meaning the Browns can still
win with a field goal. Because nothing is ever easy, Jason Campbell drives the
Browns downfield in the 31 seconds he has left but Billy Cundiff’s 58-yard try
falls short. (In his nightmares, Bill Cundiff is always trying for the game-winning
field goal in Gillette Stadium. Without pants, of course.) Remember when I said
the Denver game was one of the best regular season games I’d ever seen? Well,
I’m putting this game on my list, too.
Heading to Miami, the consensus of pigskin pundits
and bobbleheads was that New England would return to mediocrity on offense
without Gronkowski, struggling to score touchdowns in the red zone. With the
defense that impressed early on now decimated by injury, the Patriots would
surely be one and done in the playoffs – if they held onto the AFC East. The
Dolphins had improved to 7-6-0 with road wins against the Jets and the Steelers
and had seemingly put the Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin bullying scandal
behind them. I must admit, I’d
penciled in the W for
this one. I thought the Patriots would play hard and look
to prove that even losing Gronkowski would not stop them. Instead, the
narrative seemed to overtake them as they settled for two short Gostkowski
field goals; touchdowns in those situations would’ve clearly changed the
outcome. Brady did put the Patriots in the lead at 20-17 with 4:07 but the battered
defense couldn’t hold the lead and New England fell, 24-20. Statistically, it’s
hard to explain how the Patriots lost this game. First downs, total yards, 3rd
down conversions, and time of possession were all in New England’s favor. One
of life’s bitter realities is that the better team doesn’t always win. Patriots
Nation would stop talking about the tie-breaker with Denver for the #1 seed
after this game and start worrying about losing the #2 seed to Cincinnati or
Indianapolis instead.
While I’d penciled in a “W” for the Miami game,
I’d used a pen to mark down an “L” for the roadie in Baltimore. Maybe the
injuries were finally too much, even for Belichick and Brady. The Ravens hated
the Patriots and they were the prototypical bad match up for New England (see
big, fast, physical, smash mouth defense reference, above). Baltimore was playing
in front of the home crowd and they needed the win to stay alive in the playoff
hunt. The defending Super Bowl champs had won four in a row to match Miami’s
8-6-0 mark and a possible wild card spot. The Ravens had stolen the Patriots’
lunch money before and they were going to do it again. Instead, it would be New
England playing the bullies in this one. The Patriots,
with LeGarrette Blount leading the way, rushed for 142 yards against one of the
better defenses in the NFL. On defense, they held the Ravens to a 5 of 14 mark
on 3rd down conversions and more importantly, 0 for 3 on 4th
down attempts. They intercepted Joe Flacco twice and backup Tyrod Taylor once
(a 74-yard Pick 6 for Tavon Wilson) and recovered a fumble (by Chandler Jones,
also for a touchdown) to total four turnovers. Yes, it was closer than the
final 41-7 score would indicate. 41-7 is a rout. 27-7 is simply decisive. 27-7
on the road in Baltimore is deeply satisfying, 41-7 is hilarious.
The Patriots entered Week 17 with the #2 seed
still at risk. The Buffalo Bills were bringing their big boy defense to
Gillette, fresh off some major ass-kickery of the Dolphins for the 19-0 win. New
England would be playing without Devin McCourty, suffering from a concussion
but what else was new? Another week, another starter down. The Patriots got off
to a rare fast start and carried a 16-3 margin into halftime on the strength of
100+ first half rushing yards from LeGarrette Blount and three more field goals
from Stephen Gostkowski. In the second half Buffalo threatened to make a game
of it. Twice they pulled to within one score; first at 16-10 and then again at
24-17. But this game belonged to LeGarrette Blount for the full 60 minutes. He rushed 24 times for 189 yards, an insane
7.9 yards per carry average. (Ridley also ran well as the Patriots totaled 267
yards rushing. They ran the ball 43 times and threw it just 24 times.) Blount
had touchdown runs of 36 and 35 yards. He returned 2 kickoffs for 145 yards (83 and 62). For this one day, he was Jim Brown; the
greatest running back who ever played the game. For this one
day, December 29, 2013, LeGarrette Blount played at a
Hall of Fame level. The Patriots fumbled four times – not once by Stevan Ridley
– and recovered all four. Gostkowski was 4 of 4 on FGA, setting the team record
for most field goals (season). Brady’s modest numbers were hurt by drops,
including a bobble by Shane Vereen that resulted in an interception but he
managed to find Julian Edelman with regularity. Jules’ 9 catches for 65 yards
pushed him past the 100 catches and 1,000 yards marks. Brady punted on a 3rd
and forever, triggering a flurry of replays of the Doug Flutie drop-kick PAT.
The Patriots secure the #2 seed and a bye in the Wild Card round with the 34-20
win over the Bills.
It’s been a hell of a ride. It would be a shame
should it end any time soon. However it ends, consider this…
I know it didn’t look like it but this was a
rebuilding year for New England. Most teams don’t finish 12-4-0 with a
divisional crown and a #2 seed during a rebuilding year but that’s just what
the Patriots did. They started the season with 14 rookies on the roster and a
completely revamped positional group at wide receiver. Injuries forced their
hand in some cases – playing rookies Chris Jones and Joe Vellano and second
year pro Sealver Siliga at DT and undrafted rookie Josh Kline at LG – but P
Ryan Allen, LB Jamie Collins, WR Aaron Dobson, Kenbrell Thompkins and Josh
Boyce, DB Duron Harmon and CB Logan Ryan all provided significant contributions
in their first year as pros. Check out the Patriots’
roster and sort it by experience. You have to scroll
down past the first page before you find a player with 3+ years of experience.
The core players in their third season include Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen,
Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon, who filled in admirably for Sebastian Vollmer at
RT this season. Rob Gronkowski is just 24 years old. Devin McCourty is 26.
LeGarrette Blount is 27. The Patriots have as good a chance as any team to get
to the Super Bowl this year and look to be set up for success in the future.
Tom Brady and Bill Belichick ain’t done yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment