SITE SEARCH
FOXBOROUGH - This was sort of like the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) winning their only pennant of their 53-year existence in 1944.
At that time, all the prime ball players were in the Armed Forces fighting World War II. MLB was left with 4-Fs and minor league dregs. The Browns were so woefully bad over all the years that it took this sort of personnel anomaly to get the Browns into the World Series that year. They would lose in six games to the crosstown Cardinals.
Given recent history, how else could have the Buffalo Bills pulled off a win in Gillette Stadium on Sunday?
The Bills have been a team that is good but not great, who battles the Patriots tough every game, but can never seem to "get over the hump". The Bills currently own the longest playoff drought, not having been in the postseason since losing the "Music City Miracle" game to Tennessee following the 1999 season. They had never won a game at Gillette Stadium since the Patriot Palace opened in 2002.
All that changed on Sunday. The Bills finally won over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, 17-9 in a game which was reduced to meaningless status last weekend. The Patriots had the top playoff seed locked up, and the Bills were eliminated from the playoffs by losing to Oakland. Not needing to win, the Patriots looked like a shell of themselves in most every way, resting regulars, playing with zero intensity and enthusiasm, and basically conceding the Bills the game on the pretense that nobody gets injured.
Bill Belichick had a tough coaching quandary all week long. On the one hand, he has to keep the team sharp so that they don't look rusty and out of sync for the Divisional playoff round. On the other hand, the last thing the Patriots need is a repeat of the devastating Wes Welker blown knee of 2009 in a meaningless season finale at Houston. The game screamed for resting regulars, and a lot of regulars were indeed rested.
But many regulars did play, and if anything is rankling the coach right now, it is that few of the regulars did much to make the coach feel safe and secure about making it to the AFC Championship Game and beyond. The defense made some plays to keep Buffalo under 20 points, but the offense was pretty lackluster and still showing cracks on the offensive line. Tom Brady wound up playing the entire first half, and never got into a rhythm at all.
The best way to summarize the Patriot effort on Sunday is this: Thank goodness the team did not suffer catastrophic injury, like Welker in 2009. Nate Solder and Sealver Siliga did get bunged up slightly (actually, Solder's status is still unknown at press time), but other than that, nobody of extreme consequence got injured. The players on both sides of the ball played like they didn't want to get hurt, rather than to try and muster the necessary effort and intensity to win the game. It was clear from the outset that the Patriots were disinterested in this game, much more than the non-playoff-bound Bills, who could have been forgiven for being in "get on the bus" mode.
 Jimmy Garoppolo played the second half of Sunday's loss to Buffalo.(USA TODAY Images) |
Jimmy Garoppolo did come in in the second half, and had a chance to show everyone that he will be ready to take over from Brady when he steps down in a few years. Like Brady, Garoppolo had very little support from his offensive line and was running for his life for most of his time out there.
What Garoppolo did well was in two areas. First, he showed much more mobility than Brady and had four rushes for 16 yards. He seemed reckless at times and preferred to plow for extra yards rather than to slide and give himself up. He had a nine-yard run on third and six in the fourth quarter while outrunning a sack by former Patriot Brandon Spikes, and drew a big roar from the crowd that was there in attendance. He also picked up another first down on third and short in the third quarter.
The other thing Garoppolo should be praised for is that, despite being under pressure all game long, he made no foolish or stupid throws. He was frequently presented with situations with no receiver open, a jailbreak, or both, and in all situations he did well and made the right decisions. When he did complete passes they were mostly good to above average throws, but he needed more time and more open receivers to have produced better stats (he finished 10 of 17 passing for 90 yards and a 73.2 passer rating).
Unlike Garoppolo, who looked like a kid in a candy store for simply being in the game, Brady was disgusted for most of the first half. All the Patriot offense could muster was three Stephen Gostkowski field goals. Brady never got into a rhythm, and the offensive line was once again at times overmatched by the Buffalo front seven. Granted, Brady was missing Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Jonas Gray, all of whom were inactive for the game. But Brady never looked happy or enthused out there, and Belichick almost had no choice but to leave him out there for the entire first half to see if he could get something going to leave a good taste in his mouth as the bye week sets in.
Brady was 8 of 16 for 80 yards and a 64.6 passer rating.
To their credit, the Patriot defense held Buffalo scoreless for the second half, keeping the Patriots at a one-score distance for most of the third and fourth quarters. Jamie Collins had a strip sack of Kyle Orton in the second quarter and recovered the fumble at the Buffalo 44, but all the Patriots could get out of that was a long field goal. Orton was sacked twice, the Bills as a team averaged only 3.2 yards per carry, and Darrelle Revis for the most part did a good job on rookie Sammy Watkins.
The Patriots must now wait a week to see who they will face in the Divisional round. Baltimore defeated Cleveland while Kansas City jolted San Diego, so the Ravens won the six seed and will likely face the champion from their division next week. If they win, they will come to Foxborough in two weeks. Given how dilapidated the offensive line is, you are dared to stand up and cheer if you are happy with the prospect of the Ravens coming to town.
Oh, well. Nobody got hurt. Belichick and the Patriots will take it.
The players will take it, too. As in tough workouts and a lot of tongue lashings in the classroom. One mistake - one stupid mistake - ends it for you guys. Watch the Belichick episode of A Football Life on the NFL Network.
Just don't tell anyone that that sentence was made prior to a home playoff game against the Ravens, and Baltimore blew the Patriots out at home.
SITE SEARCH