An Obituary for a Dynasty
The Patriots ruled the decade that has just come to a close. They fielded the greatest team of that decade, and came within one chewed piece of strategically placed bubblegum of unprecedented perfection with that team. They began the Aughts as hopeless underdogs and by the middle years were a juggernaught, a force of nature. During their run they put together an iconic offense once, but other than that 2007 passing attack (which was ultimately exposed for its lack of balance), they never relied on memorable casts of characters. There was no Steel Curtain defense for them, no Monsters of the Midway. They didn’t even have the Quarterback of the Decade. That honor would more than likely fall to the prolific Peyton Manning, since he did get his Lombardi Trophy to go with all his records. No, the Patriots fashioned their triumphs as a monolithic Team with a capital T, switching in and out interchangeable parts like a cotton gin and living a mantra of unquestioning belief in The System and The Coach (even the great Brady was replaceable: a high school quarterback came in for him and won 11 games). Me-guys routinely came to the Pats and turned over new leaves, and they were rewarded with a trip to the Super Bowl. The System is what gets us there, and The System is what will be remembered about this team.
But now, as I sit here watching the opening round game between my Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens, the decade is over, and the spare parts shelf is getting sparse. Hardly a player is left from the championship teams. Sure, they are back in the playoffs where they belong, but they are up against a team that actually did have the iconic defense of the decade, though they only have one trophy to show for it. The way they are playing, book-ending the last ten years of dominance by this Ravens D seems more than possible. The Ravens if nothing else have their emotional leader from their 2000 Super Bowl season, who is still a dangerous threat and around whom they have built and rebuilt. In contrast, all the leaders of the Patriots’ championship defenses are network analysts these days. The rebuilding effort is in progress, but it is a rebuilding effort.
The game has barely begun, and already I am in a frothy rage. The Pats are flat-footed, slow, and losing every battle on every side of the ball. Right now there is a minute left in the first quarter, and we are down 24-0. Twenty-four to nothing! Brady looks like a kid who had his blanky taken away, which he very well might be, and besides the indomitable Kevin Faulk, the entire team looks lost and already beaten. This is a humbling experience. The arc of the Patriots’ success appears to be coming back down to earth in a hurry.
The Ravens haven’t even thrown a pass. It is now five and a half minutes into the second quarter, and it is 24-7, our points only coming off of a BS muffed punt recovery. The offense looks like it is only hoping to succeed, and as my father always says, hope is not a strategy.
Well, Flacco finally threw, and he was picked. Naturally, the Pass-Happy Pats can’t do a thing with it. Throwing on third and two does not win playoff games. It should be noted that I was not going to write a “running diary” -style article at first, but it was the only way I could keep from disturbing the neighbors with my screams of pain and frustration.
Hey kids, it’s Junior Seau! I love it. That’s Belief in The System personified. Junior came out of retirement to New England to be part of something special. That’s why they all come. I’m just not sure that we are all that special anymore.
Our defense got a stop, but they don’t have a choice, and with that big lead the Ravens aren’t going to do anything crazy. The punt return by Edelman was good. He caught our touchdown (third and goal from the 6, we threw. I wanted to run it twice but, you know, results) and is one guy who wants to win. Faulk does as well; he was rallying the troops on the sideline. Good to see. 5:23 left in the half.
The O sucks. They can’t run, they can’t block, and Tommy is far from sharp. It used to be that it didn’t matter what the other defense did, Tom could make the reads and get the ball out of his hands quickly, with pinpoint accuracy and just where the seam was. Now, he’s been hurt, he’s had to get back into form, and he has had Wes Welker open on every play, so he hasn’t had to be as good as he was when he was actually winning super bowls. I know that an inconsistent running game doesn’t help, but they have gotten by with that before. I loved the days of running for 0 yards once a series just to show that we would. Now we need to run, because we don’t have that surgical passing game, and when we can’t the screen and short passing games get blown up and we are left sitting on our hands.
There is than a minute left in the second quarter. We are blowing our chance for a shot with the ball at the end of the half because we can’t stop the run on short third downs. Well, we can’t stop it at all. When the Ravens need to move it, they do so at will. The halftime score will be 24-7. Jim Nantz can hardly say it, he seems so excited.
We didn’t roll to these playoffs. We won more games last year and missed them. Last year we had an easy schedule but didn’t really ever win when we needed to, but that was without Brady. This year we had two big tester games, and lost them both, as well as virtually every game on the road. We are only here at all thanks to our weak division. It would seem that the Patriots truly are a shadow of their former selves. Nearly all the heroes of championships past are gone, so many coaches and assistants are gone, the GM who built those Super Bowl teams is gone. Even the Belief might be gone. No one, besides Faulk, who is one of the few current players left from the Championship teams, and Edelman, who is rising to the challenge of being Baby Wes as best he can, seems to want to win this game, and I include Brady in that latter group even as I sit here in his jersey, honestly believing that he will bring us back and win this game.
The second half is underway and we get a good runback. As the drive begins its once again painfully clear that the Ravens are tacking well, and the Pats aren’t; at least not when they need to. Tom misses a third and long pass to Edelman badly. He makes that throw if we are going to win the game. He makes that throw when it’s Our Year.
There’s still time. It is three and a half minutes into the second half. There is a ton of time. If anyone can do it, it is Tom and the Boys. In Belichick We Trust.
As I say that Brady throws another pick. Baltimore is in the red zone. I will make no more prognostications about the results for the rest of the piece.
The Ravens get a field goal. 27-7 Baltimore. Jim Nantz declares “a win for the Patriots Defense.” The fact is that the Pats don’t have a single decent drive. They are losing the turnover battle handily, they are losing the big play count, they are losing the battles in the trenches, and they are losing the battle in the offensive secondary. Oh, and Tommy, our Knight, has done all the turning over, with three picks and a lost fumble. I guess it’s time to go to work.
The Patriots go 55 yards for a touchdown. 27-14 Ravens, with less than 17 minutes remaining in the game. The Ravens offense will come out with purpose on this drive, and the Pats have not stopped them when they have come out with purpose. Time to go to work.
The “time to go to work” karma did not pan out. A long kick return and a steady, methodical, and balanced drive, more balanced than any other today, might be the dagger. Flacco scrambles for a first down (though a challenge of the spot was required to get it). I would like to say that I saw a clear block in the back on that play, but no one seemed to notice in the broadcast booth or on the refereeing crew, so I acknowledge the possibility of bias. Three plays later and Willis walks in untouched. Phil Simms points out how obvious the offensive play call was. I concur. Untouched anyway. “My advice to you is start drinking heavily.” Thanks, Bluto.
They went for two and they got close but failed. A second challenge followed and though looking at the replay I believe Willis probably made it, if the referee follows the rules he has to uphold the ruling on the field, for there is no indisputable evidence to contradict the original call. The ref is back, and that’s how it went down. Good on him. Some good news about this game is the refs. They aren’t calling any BS roughing the passer calls on hits on Brady, who is getting tattooed by the way, and they are calling a fair game and letting the boys play.
The Pats run another kick return close to midfield. Both teams have covered kicks poorly all day. Tom has a short field again. 3 unanswered touchdowns win the game. There are nine minutes left. Is it sad that I still think this will happen?
God dammit, just as I sing the praises of the referees and they call a block in the back on the Pats that looked exactly like the one I mentioned on Flacco’s scramble. They called it, no less, on a truly unbelievable play by Edelman. It was fourth down and seven, he caught the pass in the flat and was dead to rights 5 yards short, but somehow, some way, fought his way past the whole defense and beyond the first down mark, breaking at least five tackles on the way. It was an incredible effort, and it made me realize that if everybody wanted it as badly as Edelman we would win this game. It was called back however, and we faced a hopeless fourth and 17, but Edelman refused to be denied again and the Ravens gave Brady the time, and they hooked up for a twenty yard pass. I love that kid. I can’t wait to see him on the field with Moss and Welker next year. And there it was, we were on our way. But no, the drive stalled promptly, and was capped by a missed 44-yard field goal. Vinatieri makes that kick easy. Easy. That is the first time I have missed him since he left.
With seven minutes remaining, the game is over, and Nantz is reminding me that when the clock is zeroes a lot of New England home winning streaks will be over as well. He says a lot, it’s really two. Home playoff games, and overall home games (it is Tom Brady’s first home playoff loss as well), both of which I have been conditioned not to care about. The Patriots have changed my whole outlook, spoiling me rotten in the course of their brilliant run through this decade. Nowadays I only care about the games played on neutral sites, and I am not talking about London. The rings are what count, now that we have some, right?
As the game, the football decade, and the last vestiges of dynasty all give way to the irresistible march of time, I can see a faint light through the devastation. It is a vision of hope, which I have not known for some time. I hope, not “know” or “expect,” that we can rebuild, that we can get stronger, draft well, drill, coach and train well, so that we will play well and win games. The feeling that championships are a birthright has been obliterated by the Ravens today, and as a sports fan it is strangely liberating. The disappointment and heartbreak is complete, but it comes with a realization that I have been blessed with an incredible decade, to which I have borne witness and have celebrated. Most fans are not so fortunate, and haven’t been for some time. I mean, hell, I could be my girlfriend, the Bills fan, for sobbing out loud. I’ve had a great run with this team, and in the stark contrast of today’s annihilation, I am grateful.
So the decade is dead, and with it has gone the Patriots’ Era. But gone as well is an era of obnoxious entitlement, of which I was a guilty party. The Patriots face seasons ahead as just another team, much like they did in 2000 and 2001. But we have Tom Brady, and we have Bill, In Whom We Trust, and the future, while uncertain, still looks bright. Rest in peace, Aughts. Bring on the Teens.
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