Always nice to find a good Tom bashing post on A PATRIOTS MESSAGE BOARD.
stop expecting miracles.
No, the Indy game wasn't TECHNICALLY over on the final drive...
Reality: We had about a minute to go the length of the field for a TD to win the AFC Championship. Your receivers are named Brown, Caldwell and Gaffney. You can't run the ball and you're playing a defense that is trained to play cover-2 and read the QB and create turnovers.
Did I mention it's the AFC-C?
It was desperation time folks....time to force the ball....that's what the situation calls for....
Think back on some of the great postseason drives:
- Starr in the Ice Bowl (4:50 clock, all-star supporting cast)
- Montana in the SB (3 T/Os + 2MW + 3:20 on clock + Rice, Taylor, Craig)
- Elway in the AFC-C (5 min on clock, only down by 3, but it was 98 yards with a bunch of no-names)
- Brady SB (just needed 3, but 81 seconds and no TOs, and a cast of nobodies)
What did they ALL have in common (except for Tom's SB drive)?
T-I-M-E!!!!
We didn't have it.
Had we scored a TD in that situation it would've gone down as the greatest drive in NFL history....a MIRACLE.
If you want to criticize a performance, you'd have to single out the San Diego game (I've always said we can't win if he throws 3 picks)....but still, the 3rd and 10 deep-out to Caldwell that essentially won the game was not only one of his best, but might've gone down as one of the best plays in postseason history...should've been a TD, had Caldwell had the athletic presence to keep going (Chargers then came 5 yards from another chance at winning that game)
I will never get over the Colts or Broncos games from the past two seasons, and the pundits will keep talking about them until we go all the way again.
But it really is a new dawn....I know it's not easy, but can we at least try to move on....we now have some actual games to discuss.