SAN DIEGO, CA -- Before the season began Patriots head
coach Bill Belichick had given his players T-shirts targeting their first
four games of the season.
They fell one short.
After a 3-0 start the Patriots came into San Diego on Sunday facing
a Chargers defense that was ranked first in the NFL and were stopped dead
in their tracks, failing to score in the final two quarters of play during
Sunday's 21-14 loss to the Chargers.
The frustrating part for Bill Belichick will be the mistake riddled
game his team played for the second straight week. New England committed
6-penalties, all of which came on the offensive side of the football.
Four offensive linemen committed a penalty during the game, including Kenyatta
Jones who was called for both a holding penalty and a false start.
They committed three turnovers, including a fumble in the final moments
of the game to seal the victory for the Chargers. Brady also threw
two interceptions, both of which came on consecutive drives at the San
Diego 30 and 23-yard line, ending two potential scoring opportunities.
They allowed two plays of over 50-yards, including a 52-yard touchdown
pass to Curtis Conway who beat Otis Smith on a bomb from Chargers quarterback
Drew Brees. Runningback LaDanian Tomlinson opened the third quarter
with a 58-yard touchdown run.
They've seen six starters injured, along with rookie tight end Daniel
Graham who's status is now up in the air after suffering what appeared
to be a shoulder injury and left the game on Sunday.
Not exactly the way Belichick probably wanted to close out the end of
September.
Now the team will head to Miami to start off the month of October.
They'll be facing a Dolphins' team that is coming off of a 48-30 loss to
Kansas City in a game where Miami committed 9-penalties and five turnovers,
with quarterback Jay Fiedler throwing interceptions on three straight drives.
They currently find themselves tied with the Patriots at 3-1 for the AFC
East lead heading into next Sunday in what the weather forecast is already
predicting to be a hot humid afternoon.
However if they lose next weekend, things certainly won't get any easier.
They'll be facing some stiff competition in October, with Green Bay
and Denver coming to Foxboro after New England returns from Miami.
With Sunday's loss and their defensive struggles these last two weeks,
the Patriots are getting their first real test in adversity.
Belichick now needs to come up with a new plan to help his players deal
with the problems that have plagued them these last two weeks. They've
allowed a total of 35 points in the second half over the last two games,
and now suddenly find themselves exposed with a weakness of which there
doesn't currently appear to be a solution.
For now it's on to October, and hopefully they can put Sunday's loss
behind them. Win or lose next weekend against Miami they'll need
to at least show that teams will need to figure out a different way to
beat them. Otherwise a bad October will only lead to a more difficult
November and December.
Which will eventually mean January won't be an issue.
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