Conservation of Momentum

So, Dominic Raiola decided to teach us all a lesson about sportsmanship by doing something unsportsmanlike.

I get it. You just got your ass kicked. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The defense was going to dominate and the offense was going to keep it simple and put some points on the board. It was going to be a signature win.

It didn't happen.

You’re hurt. Angry. You're (literally) lashing out.

I think someone needs a hug.

Okay, we can start with the caveats and qualifiers that seem the inevitable epilogue to each Patriots victory this season. The Lions (like the Colts, Broncos and Bears) aren't that good. Matthew Stafford is a fraud and Jim Caldwell may not even be alive. Ndamukong Suh is just a big bully and you know what happens to bullies when you smack them in the mouth. That 34-9 win over Detroit really proves nothing. The real test is coming next Sunday in Green Bay against the Packers. Then maybe (maybe) we'll know just how good the 2014 edition of the New England Patriots are.

I do agree next week's game against the Packers is the most important game of the season. Why? Because it's the next game on the schedule. That's the way Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots roll. They’re on to Green Bay. There is no other game. There is only this game. There is nothing else.

I also think that Lions game – and their seven game winning streak – does tell us something about the Patriots.

There was a familiar, methodical, workmanlike feel to this Patriots win over the Lions. Not surprising for a team whose mantra is “Do your job,” I suppose. Most NFL games strike me as a series of highs and lows; five straight completions followed by three straight incompletions, a wide open receiver drops a pass after making four tough receptions in heavy traffic, 21 points scored in the 3^rd quarter and zero in the 4^th, an offense that can't seem to stop stepping on their dicks for the first 28 minutes of the half suddenly clicks in their 2-minute drill, etc. Any team can make a bad play (like that dumbfounding interception thrown by Brady at the start of the second half) but some let it snowball into a series of miscues. Simply put, most NFL teams play as if momentum was a real and tangible thing; a small leather tie-string bag of juju you either have in hand or which must be wrested from your opponent. When holding this juju, you can do no wrong.

Which would beg the question as to how one loses momentum (if momentum actually existed on the football field or anywhere else outside the science of physics and Newton’s Laws of Motion, of course).

When people talk about momentum in football what they're really talking about is a lack of consistency in performance. There's a primeval part of our brain that would like to ascribe these variations in performance to supernatural causes rather than something more prosaic like human fuckupery; hence, momentum. Momentum is also a lot easier to understand than advanced analytics or any mathematical formula with 22+ variables (especially if one of your variables is a backup quarterback replacing an injured starter). Why did Jay Cutler throw an interception in the end zone that was returned 106 yards for a TD? Because God hates Jay Cutler, of course! Or maybe it had nothing to do with God being a Packers fan. Maybe the tight end broke in when he was supposed to run a corner route. Or maybe God told the tight end to break in because God hates Jay Cutler. Every team is trying to play well for sixty minutes in all three phases of the game; on offense, defense and special teams. This is not easy to do, of course (with or without momentum). If it was, every team in the NFL would finish 8-8-0 and playoff seedings would require a minimum of seven tiebreakers.

Maybe the Patriots have cornered the market on momentum. Bill Belichick has that bag of juju tucked away in his sock along with his red challenge flag. It would explain a lot. 

Maybe what the Patriots are doing right now has nothing to do with momentum (and except for Week 8, little to do with how much God hates Jay Cutler). Maybe the Patriots are simply playing consistently good (sometimes great) football in all three phases of the game.

Now consider this. The hallmark of the Belichick-era Patriots has been that they play their best football after Thanksgiving. And they can play better. They left points on the field against Detroit. They’re still getting flagged for too many penalties, giving up yards and second chances to their opponents. Chandler Jones, their best pass rush threat, will be coming back from injury to bolster an already scary defense.

They need to keep improving. After all, they haven't won anything yet.

This one's for you, Dominic.