From Super comeback to embarrassing collapse
What a strange turnaround for the New England Patriots.
The mood was so festive at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night before the opening game of the season. Fans frolicked as they watched highlights of the Patriots’ Super Bowl rally to beat Atlanta. They rocked the house when the players came onto the field and the fifth championship banner was unveiled. They even talked about a 19-0 season.
A few hours later, the Patriots were 0-1.
Yes, they could wind up going 15-1. And it’s surely not a time to panic, particularly in the weak AFC East where it’s possible combining the best players from the Dolphins, Bills and Jets still wouldn’t present a roster capable of challenging the Patriots.
But a bunch of issues cropped up as Kansas City took apart New England in the second half for a 42-27 defeat that was among the worst the Patriots have experienced under coach Bill Belichick.
Just listen to what Tom Brady said after the offense was ineffective and the defense got torched, particularly on long plays.
“I just think we need to have more urgency and go out there and perform a lot better,” said the now40-year-old quarterback and four-time Super Bowl MVP who looked anything but for much of the night. “That is a winning attitude and a championship attitude that you need to bring every day. We had it handed to us on our own field.
“It’s a terrible feeling, and the only people that can do something about it are in that locker room. We’ve got to dig a lot deeper than we did tonight because we didn’t dig very deep tonight.”
That was shocking to hear. Mistakes rooted in bad decision making or inexperience, or even in a lack of enough talent are more acceptable than not having the proper mental approach. Of the criticisms sometimes leveled at the Patriots, being illprepared or lacking an edge rarely if ever has been one of them.
That might be the most dangerous aspect of the loss for New England.
Not surprisingly, Belichick offered far less insight into the loss than did Brady. He did, however, emphasize that only the here and now matters.
“I think I said it a thousand times. I think we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Belichick said Friday. “I don’t think anything that we did really was good enough. I’m not really interested in living in the past, in 2014, 2015, 2003, 2004, which constantly keeps coming up. I mean, everything’s about some other year, but (it’s) this year and this team. I don’t really think all that’s relevant because we’re talking about another team, but we’ve got a thousand questions about it every week.
“So, I’m really concerned about the 2017 team, what this team is, what this team needs to do. I’m not trying to live in the past like everybody else is.”