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Belichick Has Pieced Together Patriots' Puzzle in Time for the Postseason
By JUDY BATTISTA
Published: December 23, 2005
They're back. And that's bad news for the rest of the league.
Just in time for the postseason, the New England Patriots are playing like, well, themselves, making them the team nobody wants to face in the playoffs. Their 28-0 thrashing of Tampa Bay last Saturday was all the reminder any opponent should need that the team that muddled through an injury-riddled 4-4 first half of the season is gaining fast.
The Patriots have won their last three games by a combined 79-10 and, despite a staggering series of injuries, will finish 11-5 if they beat the Jets and the Dolphins to close out the regular season.
The absence of safety Rodney Harrison weakens a battered secondary, but the Patriots have gotten healthy in a hurry, with defensive end Richard Seymour back to lead a strong front seven. That can't be good news for the Colts, whose inability to protect Peyton Manning against the Chargers' relentless pressure last Sunday led to their first loss of the season.
"Cincinnati and New England - they are the most dangerous teams in," Jets Coach Herman Edwards said in an interview this week as the Jets prepared to play the Patriots Monday night.
"They're playing with a lot of confidence again," he said of the Patriots. "They're back, no doubt about it. I think they can make a run. They can score. The quarterback can make plays."
If the seedings this week hold up, the Patriots will play host to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first week of the playoffs and, if they win, will head to the RCA Dome for a rematch with the Colts, who beat the Patriots in Foxborough on Nov. 7 by 40-21. It was a game that Colts Coach Tony Dungy admitted was a mental hurdle his team had to overcome.
The bad news for the Colts - and the Chiefs, the Broncos, the Chargers and the Panthers - is that the Patriots rarely lose twice to the same team in a season.
Since 2001, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is 17-2 when facing a team for the second time in a season. And he is 6-0 since 2001 when he has had the chance to avenge a loss suffered earlier in the season. The most recent occasion was last year. The Steelers beat the Patriots, 34-20, in the regular season but were trounced by them, 41-27, in the A.F.C. championship game.
"Who doubts them?" Tampa Bay Coach Jon Gruden said after his team's loss to the Patriots. "Right now, the people that doubt them, let's put their names in the newspaper so New England knows who they are. I don't know how you doubt them. They have the best quarterback in the league, the coach is a great coach, and they are a veteran-laden team. They are a handful."
Belichick has no use for looking ahead. During a news conference this week, Belichick wouldn't even acknowledge his team's ability to close well. (Since 2001, the Patriots are 44-7 in games played after Nov. 1.) But after last Saturday's victory, Seymour all but said that the Patriots will be a threat in the playoffs, stating the obvious. "We have been there," he said. "We know how to do it."
No team has taken the brunt of that experience more than the Colts. The Patriots have beaten them in the playoffs on the way to their two most recent Super Bowl titles. In a few weeks, the Colts may get another chance to dent Belichick's armor. But it might be a bit harder than anyone expected just a month ago.
"They are the best team in the N.F.L. until somebody proves otherwise," Tampa Bay quarterback Chris Simms said of the Patriots. "I don't care who has what record. They've won three of the last four, and they have proven they can get it done when they have to. Always."
