Having recently moved to New England, I was never subjected to the abject horror that is Boston sports-talk radio following a bad Patriots loss. Don’t get me wrong. Monday Night’s debacle in Kansas City was as ugly of a performance as there has been in the Brady/Belichick era, but I think the past thirteen seasons should have earned the Patriots brass a tiny bit of faith amongst the locals. I can’t tell you how many times I heard somebody call Tom Brady washed up, or say that Belichick should be fired. Conspiracy theorists abounded, touting how Robert Kraft is cheap and has purposely constructed the team to make deep playoff runs that ultimately end in failure to keep fans interested each year. It was pure unbridled and uninhibited insanity. I thought New York was bad…
Last week, fresh off the KC defeat, I wrote about how many of the recent Super Bowl Champions had experienced similar lows and that everything was not lost. So much changes on a week to week basis in the NFL. It seemed unfathomable that the team who got so horribly manhandled by the Chiefs, could then turn around six days later and do the exact same thing to the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. Yet one only has to look at the box scores from one Sunday to the next to realize that this sort of thing happens all the time.
Sure enough, a thoroughly embarrassed and highly motivated New England Patriots squad came out and started playing the type of football that everyone had been expecting from them this season. A fired up Tom Brady took charge and willed his team to an opening drive score. The porous offensive line finally got their act together. Gronkowski started looking like his old self. Tim Wright finally emerged as a “move” tight end and proved why the Logan Mankins trade may not have been all that stupid. Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen ran right over the Cincinnati defense.
After the poor showing against Oakland, I had expected the Patriots to come out swinging against the Chiefs. It seemed like it would be the type of game where a struggling Patriots team would finally get moving and establish their contendership in prime time. As it turns out, I was just a week off in my prediction. For anyone that’s followed this team for any length of time, this was the classic “nobody believes in us” game that the Patriots have been so historically effective in. There was nothing on paper this season that would lead anyone to believe the Patriots had any sort of shot in last night’s game. But in the end, it was the numbers that lied and the indomitable will of the Patriots that once again proved true.
Risers:
Tom Brady (QB) – For the first time this season, Tom Brady gets a spot in the riser column. With the O-line issues seemingly worked out, Brady put on a quaterbacking clinic and notched his 50,000 career passing yard in the process.
Tim Wright (TE) – After four weeks of searching for a reliable target not named “Gronk” or “Edelman”, Wright emerged as a legitimate threat in the passing game and showed flashes of the old Gronknandez tight end double threat.
Stevan Ridley/Shane Vereen (RB) – The Patriots two-headed ground approach helped set the tone for the offense last night and kept the Bengals’ defense honest.
Offensive Line (All of them) – It may not have been their prettiest performance, but it was, without question, the best game of the year for the struggling unit.
Darrelle Revis (DB) – Revis went one-on-one with A.J. Green and trapped him on the island.
Fallers:
Logan Ryan (DB) – As soon as Revis went out of the game temporarily with a hamstring injury, Mr. Ryan replaced him and immediately gave up a touchdown.
Alfonzo Dennard (DB) – Dennard got burned for a long touchdown after the Patriots secondary help disappeared.
The Refs – Too many penalties! The yellow flags were flying and killed any chance of East Coast fans getting any sort of decent sleep as the ground the game to a halt at times.
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