Patriots Roll Steelers, and I'm Depressed
This was supposed to be The Game the Patriots Lost. Not that I ever really believed -- the Patriots have crushed every team this season that got their attention. Even vaguely.Those two close calls the past two weeks ... I mean, those were the Eagles and Ravens, middling competition that snuck up on a team that shifted into cruise-control after beating the Colts to get to 9-0.
They were focused and ready for the Steelers, and it wasn't close.
By the tenor of the hed, above, you are correct in assuming I don't like the Patriots, I don't like New England/Boston and I don't like Bill Belichick, the arrogant cheater who runs the team with such brilliance. It's frustrating to think this guy almost certainly WILL get his team to 19-0 by the time the season is over, and I hate the idea of Belichick as the only 19-0 coach ever.
Anyway, yeah, the past two weeks, if you saw those games, the Patriots were the team that showed up flat and disinterested ... and then just flipped a switch in the final minutes to extract victories.
When you've got their attention, well, good luck. As the Steelers can tell you, trailing 34-13 with a few minutes left.
I am reminded of what Pete Carroll said a few weeks ago, when asked about the Patriots -- a team he coached for three years in the late 1990s, remember.
He said he knew one or two of the coaches there, and one of them told him, "Tom Brady is playing at a level nobody has ever seen before."
If you're watching this game, you know what that Patriots coach was talking about.
The Patriots threw the ball. All day. Play after play after play. Not only were they able to get away with it, they thrived on it. Because Brady basically NEVER throws a bad ball.
Pittsburgh is caught up in the basic Brady dilemma:
1. You drop seven, eight and rush three or four ... and Brady throws a completion because he has too much time, and your seven or eight can't cover his receivers that long.
2. You blitz, send an extra guy almost every play, and Brady always, ALWAYS finds the "hot" receiver on the short route, the one left open by the blitz, and the Patriots get 7-8 yards anyway. This is how the Steelers tried approached the game, and they were shredded.
Now and then, Brady's receivers drop a ball, and maybe it gets to, say, 3-and-2 ... but the Patriots (and Brady) seem able to throw for a first down without any problem.
An interesting part of this team ... is how it seems to infuriate opponents. The Steelers lost their composure, toward the end, just as the Ravens did (in spades) last Monday.
I'm thinking it stems from the Patriots' non-physicality (if that's a word). They don't power the ball at you; they barely run it at all. Their defense is fine, but not Steel Curtain-ish. So teams show up thinking they're tougher than the Patriots, and maybe they actually are, and believe they prov it on the field. But not on the scoreboard, because the Patriots finesse them to death. Usually by a a couple of touchdowns. Or four. And it drives NFL guys nuts, which leads to all the personal fouls late. Frustration, pure and simple.
I absolutely see them winning the Super Bowl. Home field, time to prepare, focus all set. Done and done.
And now they're down to three regular-season games, home games against the Jets and Dolphins, which will be blowouts. Over the Jets, because it was the Jets who turned in Belichick, and this is the ultimate payback game for them ... and because the Dolphins are so horrible they're about to become the first team to go 0-16 in NFL history.
Then the Patriots finish on the road with the Giants. There is a tiny, remote chance they could lose this game ... because the Giants could be playing for the postseason, and the motivation of playoffs checks can take pros to another level.
But the Patriots would be playing for 16-0, and Belichick will play all his starters, even if they should take a week off. He wants that 19-0.
Anyway, I'm sick of the Patriots. This will be, what, four NFL titles in six years? (Unless the Colts get healthy enough to go into New England in the AFC title game and somehow win a shootout ... or Brady gets hurt. That's the big one. Brady getting hurt.)
I'm sick of New England/Boston which suddenly is winning EVERYTHING. The World Series, the Super Bowl ... the Celtics look like one of the best 2-3 teams in the NBA. Even Boston College in football and hoops is good. Geez.
Final: 34-13. I'm disappointed, but not surprised.