I'll start by saying I was a wreck during the final few minutes of this game. When Banta-Cain got the well-deserved penalty, I almost lost my mind and broke the TV. This was not a pretty win for the team and they looked as if they weren't into the game for most of it. Maybe they'll blame it on another bad week of practice (or maybe they would have had they lost). This was not their best game by a lot: Brady should have had about three INT's in the game; the run defense allowed Jackson, who is absolutely terrible, to run all over them; the O-line was putrid, etc.
BUT
A) This is exactly the kind of game that the Patriots needed to experience. Complacency is a very real things that players and coaches (and even fans) must worry about, even on the professional level. After the 5-game stretch the Patriots experienced before this game where they were annihilating their opponents, a game like this was necessary to bring everyone (even us) back down to earth, especially a team made up of so many young players. Sustained success is not always a good thing and I think Reiss realized that when he talked to Tedy about whether or not the team was peaking too soon. The Patriots needed a game like this to regain a certain focus that winning all the time doesn't afford a team. Remember how good that Cleveland loss was for the team?
B) This is perhaps the more important of the two point: The Playoffs are around the corner and the game tonight more closely resembles what playoff football is like more than the stretch where the Pats were killing everyone. Games are closer, more intense, and often come down to the last possession in the playoffs. You can't simulate that in practice or the meeting rooms. The players needed to experience that now and maybe that will carry over into the playoffs. This is the time when the team needs to be preparing for that type of atmosphere and those types of games. They played a desperate team tonight that was going all out, and that's what every playoff team does.
So, I say to all my Patsfans.com brothers and sisters that there is no reason to panic or be weary. The Pats will hopefully learn from this game. Playoffs are around the corner. Let's get excited.
