It's Over

Ding dong the witch is dead.

The Patriots finally ran out of magic on Saturday night and with a whimper the dynasty has come to an end. What a tough way to go out. 5 turnovers, (2 by the previously unflappable Tom Brady, 1 by the normally sure handed Troy Brown, and one caused by a kicker) a missed field goal by the immortal Adam Vinatieri, an absolutely atrocious pass interference call on Asanti Samuel, and a couple of missed receivers was too much for the champs to sprinkle their fairy dust on this time.

It's tough to imagine that such a historical run could be ended by someone with such questionable taste in facial hair like Jake Plummer. I'm not ready to talk about what this run has meant to me and to New England yet, so I'll just stick to Saturday's game for now.

In the end this game did not in any way resemble what I was expecting. Most observers thought that if the Pats could stop Denver's running attack and force Jake Plummer to lose the game with mistakes then it would be another trip to the AFC title game for New England. They did all that. The problem was they didn't hold up their end of the bargain. Tom Brady looked very ordinary all day (despite his stats) frequently missing receivers and looking rattled, they could not establish a run to slow down Denver's blitz, and they did the unthinkable (at least to Belichick) they made mistakes.

The most frustrating thing for me, as a fan is that Denver did not beat them, they beat themselves. I knew that the dynasty was going to end and probably this year, but I never thought that I would be sitting here writing about how the Patriots lost a winnable game in January because of sloppy play (particularly sloppy play by Brady). That simply has not been their M.O. throughout this championship run. If they had played a solid game and lost to a better team that would be one thing. Then again, if they had played a solid game they wouldn't have lost.

3 plays changed the complexion of the game.

1. The pass interference call on Asanti Samuel. This has been widely discussed but I need to throw my 2 cents into the pot. My biggest pet-peeve in sports is bad officiating. There is no excuse for it. Those purists who say that human error is a part of sports have never lost a game because of a horrendous call that could have been avoided with better eyesight or technology or if they have they are just stupid. With the replay technology in place there should never be a missed or blown call. Just get it right, I don't care how long the game takes just do not cost a team their season because of a human mistake. The referees are there to moderate the game, not win or lose it for one side or the other. Ideally they should never be discussed because they should never screw up, and if they do the technology is there to fix it. Use it. This call wasn't even questionable, Ashlie Lelie committed P.I. on Asanti Samuel, not the other way around and everyone from Boston to Denver, including the 2 officials who royally cocked it up, knows that. It was a game changing mistake, and while you can't say that one play cost the Pats the game it certainly put them behind the 8-ball.

2. Tom Brady's interception at the goal line, returned 100 yards by Champ Bailey. Unthinkable. That's just one of many words that start with "un" that could be used to describe this play. Brady doesn't make these mistakes. He doesn't completely blow a read at a crucial time, effectively costing his team the game. It just does not happen. But it happened and everyone in my bar at the time had the same look of shock and bewilderment on their face because no one had ever seen this before. There isn't really anything else to say about it, Brady made a mistake and they payed dearly for it, period. The end of the play was puncuated with another questionable call as Ben Watson put the hit of a lifetime on Bailey on the 1 causing a fumble that may or may not have gone out of the end zone, but unfortunately in this case the replay really was inconclusive. That point is beside the fact because if Brady hadn't made the initial mistake they wouldn't have been there to begin with, hoping to get bailed out by the officals (they did owe us one).

3. Troy Brown's fumbled punt. I love Troy Brown, but this was inexcusable. He's not even fast anymore, he can't juke anyone, he presents no threat to take a kick back for a touchdown. The only reason he would ever field a kick (and he didn't field many this season) would be his sure hands. So much for that theory. It ended up being a killer as Denver took it in for their game clinching score.

You'll notice that I didn't include Kevin Faulk's fumble on this list. 1 reason, without the P.I. call it's probably irrelevant. I also didn't include the Ellis Hobbs' fumble because: a. I refuse to discuss any fumbles caused by a freaking punter, and b. I'm still in shock that he even had the the ball, isn't that just asking for trouble?

As the saying goes, "Dance with the gal that brung ya." The Patriots tried to dance with the "gals" that brought them, i.e. Brady and Brown, but this time they stepped all over our feet.

Now that the season is over we as fans have to admit to ourselves that we always knew it wasn't going to happen this time. We all got excited, myself included, in their late season run against soft competition, as we should have, but at the end of the day we knew that this just wasn't the same team. The injuries and having to play 2 playoff games on the road were too much to overcome for a team that, as Brady put was, "running on fumes." Had they stayed healthy, or even gotten some of the guys who went down back for the playoffs, they very easily could have won the Super Bowl again. I can say that with confidence because they could have won it anyway. If you take out 3 plays from Saturday's game the AFC Championship game is in Foxboro on Sunday (which you have to think they would have won) and then a week later they would be in Detroit to play a team (either one) that would have lost to every AFC team in the playoffs (except maybe Jacksonville). Call me a homer but it could have happened.

The rest of the NFL should be on notice, the Pats will be back next year, and they will be healthy, and they will be very good. I would hold off on sticking that fork in the dynasty just yet...

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Other Divisional Weekend Stuff:

They say that the true measure of a player is revealed, not after a victory but after a loss. Peyton Manning showed his true colors yesterday. In typically post-loss weasel fashion he turned on his offensive line, that had protected him beautifully all season long and promptly threw them under the perverbial bus after Indy's (God affirming) 21-18 loss to the Steelers. The headline in Indy probably reads something like "Colt's overcome Ref's, NFL, Bettis - Still Lose."

Don't tell me that the NFL wasn't dying to get Peyton Manning to the Super Bowl. Don't even try it. The reversal of Troy Polamalu's interception was the worst call of the replay era and revealed an agenda on the part of the referees. There was NO evidence on that tape that could conclusively prove that he did not have control of the ball. He stood up with it for the love of Pete, if that isn't a football move then clearly I am misunderstanding the definition of the term. I was driving to work during that play so I was listening on the radio, and the commentators were having the following discussion during the reveiew.

-Well this certainly is a desperate move by Tony Dungy here. There is no way they can overturn this one.

- You're right absolutely no way. Dungy had to throw the flag here and take a shot but Polamalu clearly had it the whole way.

- They are heading towards the exits here at the RCA Dome, everyone seems to sense that this one is over.

(silence as the ruling is announced)

- Oh that is just highway robbery!

Now that was not on Steelers radio, it was national Westwood One coverage of the game, and he used the term highway robbery. That certainly says something about the validity of the call. It's so shocking because it wasn't one of those bang-bang plays where they made the wrong call on the field and then didn't have a good angle at the play for a review. They made the right call on the field, had perfect visual evidence of it, and then reversed it based on...an NFL mandate that D-Caf has to make it to Detroit maybe?

This just makes me sick. The whole season was set up to force Indy through the regular season with homefield advantage (they played the Bridgewater State J.V. team for the first 8 weeks of the season) so that they wouldn't have to go on the road (ah hem New England) in the playoffs. Oddly enough they get their bye right before their Monday night game at the Pats, after New England has been playing only 10 win teams since week 1. Then this crap yesterday, it's just so transparent and nauseating, I can't (bleeping) stand it. I know I'm completely off the reservation here and am conspiracy theorizing out of my rear end but there is absolutely no denying what the NFL wanted. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit but if that call wasn't an attempt to keep Indy in it how do you explain it? Do you have to take 7 steps and dance a jig before you have possession now? Not to mention the non-P.I. call earlier in the game when Marlon Jackson just mugged Antwan Randle-El 2 steps before the ball arrived when Pittsburgh was threatening to go up 21-0. Either this was the worst officiated game in the history of the NFL or there was a little unspoken thing around the water cooler that it would be a good thing for everyone if D-Caf moved on. (Or I'm just nuts.)

Anyway, it makes me unendingly happy that after all the hype and all the 19-0 talk that the Colts will be watching the Super Bowl at home (and you can bet Peyton won't be invited to too many BBQs at his offensive linemen's houses this offseason). Remember when, earlier in the season, there was talk that this Colt's team might be literally the best professional sports team ever? People were actually saying that. Good looking out guys, they made it exactly was far as the immortal Washington Redskins. Oops. Practice your "Daddy why!?" face with Eli this offseason Peyton, you're going to need it.

Moving on. Wow, the Bears lost! Holy Cow, how did the Monsters of the Midway, the best defense since 1986, the indominable Rex Grossman lose at home in their first playoff game? Oh right, they're just not that good. Their offense still stinks and they won a crappy division. All those crashing noises you hear are the people leaping off the Bears bandwagon. A couple numbers for you on that impenetrable Bears defense: 432 yards of total offense, 218 yards receiving for Steve Smith (ah...Lovie...you had some clue they were going to go to him right...because you probably should have covered him...once...at all), 319 yards for Jake Delhomme, 123 yards rushing for Carolina as a team, and 29 points allowed. That much offensive production surprised even me, who picked against the Bears all season.

On the positive side for the Bears you do have to give Grossman some credit. He was playing in his first playoff game against a ferocious Carolina defense and he played about as well as someone who once rode the bench behind Kyle Orton could. In all seriousness, I was impressed by his poise, too bad he's just one cog in an absolutely stagnant offensive machine.

And finally in the shocker of the week the Seahawks beat the Redskins at home. Yawn...what else is on? I thought Seattle was going to absolutely kill the Redskins. I also thought that Shaun Alexander was going to play so that probably had something to do with the relatively close score. This game contained nothing for me, I was just waiting for the Seahawks to put the hammer on the 'Skins which they finally did with a 6 minute drive for a field goal in the 4th quarter after Washington had pulled within 7. The NFC is just boring isn't it? It's like the NL East, you know the Braves are going to win but you also know that it doesn't matter because they're out in the playoffs anyway.

More Pats dynasty stuff this week and an Championship game preview, even though I don't really care anymore. Maybe I'll start talking about the Celtics, maybe I'll look into the JFK assasination since I seem to like conspiracies right now.