Linebackers dropping deeper than you expected? Write it down. Referee having to look at his fingers to remember what down it is? Write it down.
New England Patriots' coach Bill Belichick can often be seen with a piece of paper - not a notepad or a clipboard with anything halfway solid to support the pressure of that elementary school standard issue #2 pencil, just a folded up piece of paper....
...could be a grocery list, "Honey-do" list from the main squeeze or even a resignation note - no, wait, those go on a cocktail napkin - but whatever is on the back of it, the front of it is pure, unadulterated magic - containing the wisdom of the ages, constant adjustments to put his team in position to win games
For the third consecutive week and for the fourth time in the last five games, the Patriots have scored on five consecutive second half possessions - and for the third straight week and for the fourth time in five games, the Patriots have staged furious second half comebacks to win the game.
But they're going to have to try pretty hard to top Sunday's comeback over the Cleveland Browns.
Down 26-14 with 2:35 left in regulation and with a 1st and 10 at their own 18 yard line, The Patriots -sans injured tight end Rob Gronkowski - staged a comeback that required such precise execution that NFL films could make a two-hour DVD feature that breaks down the two minute offense on a fundamental level.
That New England got a little break on the last touchdown drive is inconsequential, in fact it may have given Cleveland a bit of a break in that the Patriots scored too quickly and left 32 seconds on the clock - about 4 seconds too few as the Browns had to settle for a 58 yard field goal attempt as time expired...
...falling well short, the Patriots escaping with a 27-26 victory in front of far less fans than there should have been at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Because this string of second half scoring binges are too bizarre to be just coincidence, and the fans should know by now that you should never, ever count the Patriots out of a game - hell, you can't count any Boston area team out of any game - Red Sox, Bruins, even the Celtics and Revs - there is no lack of fight, and that makes this Patriots' team very dangerous.
Yes, they lost their most potent offensive weapon for the year in the third quarter, but used the brutal Gronkowski injury as a point from which to launch their assault.
Actually, quarterback Tom Brady fumbled on the next play, literally adding insult to injury, but the next time the Patriots got the ball back started a string of five consecutive scoring drives that ultimately erased what had once been a 16 point advantage for the Browns.
Forget the first half. All anyone needs to know is that the punt teams were on the field more than the offenses were, the team combining for eight punts with two field goals for Cleveland and a bad Brady interception - and that the Browns doubled the score in short order just into the second half when some guy named Gary Barnidge caught a short pass and somehow rumbled 40 yards for a touchdown, though their try for a two-point conversion failed...
...then Gronkowski got hurt and Brady fumbled and then New England got the ball back - And then the Patriots' offense showed up.
Stephen Gostkowski hit a field goal to trim Cleveland's lead to 12-3, then Browns' all-world wide receiver Josh Gordon caught a seven yard slant in front of Aqib Talib and outraced both he and safety Devin McCourty to the end zone and Cleveland's lead was suddenly 19-3.
Not to be outdone, Brady hit running back Shane Vereen on a 50 yard bomb on the first play of the ensuing drive, then again for 16 yards and then handed the ball to him, and six yards and a two point conversion later the score was 19-11 and New England suddenly had life.
Another Gostkowski field goal trimmed the lead to 19-14 when the Browns put together a drive normally reserved for champions, an 8 play, 80 yard beauty highlighted by a 34 yard end-around by the speedster Gordan and culminated with a four yard pass from Campbell to tight end Jordan Cameron for the dagger with just two and a half minutes left in the game...
...or it would have been a dagger were they playing anyone but New England.
Throwing solely to Vereen and wide receiver Julian Edelman, Brady managed to fit 12 plays into 1:38 of game clock, a two-yard strike to Edelman in the back of the end zone made the score respectable at 26-21, a personal foul penalty on safety Jordan Poyer for a wicked shot on Edelman after the catch assessed to the 50 yard line with the obligatory onside kick attempt looming.
And wouldn't you know it? Cornerback Kyle Arrington recovered the kick on the Browns' 40 yard line and Brady was back in business with exactly one minute left.
Brady hit receiver Danny Amendola for 10 yards, then tried to loft a deep ball to rookie speed merchant Josh Boyce, he and Browns' corner Leon McFadden jockeying for position, the ball falling incomplete, but a flag fell as well, McFadden called for an iffy pass interference penalty in the end zone which, being a spot foul, move the ball to the Cleveland one yard line.
Brady hit Amendola on an out pattern for the touchdown on the next play, but the two point conversion fell flat and, perhaps more importantly, the Browns would get the ball back with 30 seconds remaining but with no time outs. Campbell went to Cameron twice to get the ball to the New England 40 where Campbell spiked the ball to give kicker Billy Cundiff a shot at a 58 yard game winner...
...but the kick fell decidedly short and the Patriots had their improbably victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment