As of now, Pats not measuring up to past standards
Tom Brady scrambled and heaved up a wobbly pass off his back foot, the sort of thing a less-experienced, less-accomplished and, well, lesscool QB might do.
The ball was picked off, and the New England Patriots were on their way to a second consecutive defeat.
More importantly — and more interestingly — they were on their way to a fiveloss season for the first time in nearly a decade.
And, finally, they were on their way to putting this thought in the minds of other teams around the NFL: Maybe, just maybe, the Patriots are not who they've been for oh-solong.
Maybe, just maybe, they're not heading to another Super Bowl.
"Not playing well enough to win," is the way Brady put it.
The 17-10 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday dropped Bill Belichick's club to 9-5 overall, 3-5 on the road.
New England probably will wind up winning a 10th consecutive AFC East title; it only needs one more victory to do that.
"We're still in a decent position," the 41-year-old Brady said.
That's true, of course. And no one would be foolish enough to write off the Pats just yet. But two consecutive close late-season setbacks — last week's "Miracle in Miami," then this week's penalty-fest in Pittsburgh, with 14 flags against the Patriots — certainly make them look vulnerable.
Then there's this: New England is currently slotted into the No. 3 seed in the conference standings, behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, which would translate to a wild-card slot and no bye in the playoffs. Why is that significant? Belichick's Patriots never have reached the Super Bowl without a bye.
As for that pivotal interception thrown by Brady, a week after he blew a scoring chance at the end of the first half in the loss at the Dolphins? Down 14-10 with about 8 minutes left, but inside Pittsburgh's 20, Brady was flushed out of the pocket and basically threw the football up for grabs — into the hands of Steelers defensive back Joe Haden.
"I was just trying to flick it out of bounds," Brady said. "Didn't want to take a sack." Sure, Tom.
But what you did was worse than a sack. “I’m not used to seeing Tom Brady just throw the ball up and just panic like he’s a rookie,” former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said on NBC’s “Football Night in America.”
The rest of the league isn’t used to seeing Belichick, Brady and Co. seem this vulnerable.