Yesterday was a strange day in the NFL, with the Jets getting blown out by the Eagles, the Packers losing their first game to the Chiefs (?) and the Colts winning their first game against a team trying to make the playoffs (Titans). Yet the Patriots, and more specifically their defense, was possibly the strangest development.
I can't recall a game this season where the Patriots' defense was alternately atrocious and dominant over a single 60-minute effort. The Patriots were straight up brutal on defense to start the game, allowing Tim Tebow to lead the Broncos down the field mostly on the ground, staking the Broncos to a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
At this point it looked like the Pats couldn't stop anyone, the coverage sucked, the tackling sucked and the pass rush sucked. For one week, Tebow and the Broncos actually started the game on fire as opposed to the fourth quarter awakening we have all grown accustomed to seeing.
My new-found faith in Tebow aside, he didn't really do much in the first quarter, riding an insanely effective running game up and down the field. Tebow's shining moment came at the end of their first drive, when he scrambled under pressure, shedding a Rob Ninkovich tackle before barreling into the end zone, sending the fans at Mile High into a brief frenzy.
The game turned around in the second quarter, when the Patriots forced two fumbles and capitalized on a muffed punt, turning three turnovers into 13 points and headed into the locker room up 27-16.
Aaron Hernandez stepped up in a major way all game long and Tom Brady became the second quarterback in NFL history to throw 35 or more touchdowns in consecutive years.
The second half became more of a beatdown than I had anticipated headed into the game. After Andre Carter went down with a quad injury that will require surgery, the Patriots' defense held up their end of the bargain, clamping down on the Broncos offense and figuring out their schemes. Mark Anderson was huge in relief of Carter, racking up two sacks, forcing a fumble and recovering the fumble as well.
Overall it was a solid win for the Pats, who clinched the AFC East (again), however I have no idea what this team is made of. Do they have the talent on offense to make it to the Super Bowl? Of course they do, they lead the AFC in scoring offense and are third overall in the NFL (behind Green Bay and New Orleans). But the defense? Holy shit. If they play like they did in the first half against any playoff team, it will be tough for them to advance past the first round.
Brady and the offense was brilliant once again but as we have seen in recent years, they have a hard time translating regular season success into playoff victories. In order for this team to reach that next level, which we all think they can, they need to be more reliable on defense and give Brady more room for error. Do I think their defense is as bad as they looked early on yesterday? No, but I don't think that they are as good as they looked in quarters 2-4 either.
With Brady's window of greatness closing, Belichick better conjure up some magic in the next few weeks if he wants to bring home a fourth Lombardi trophy to Gillette Stadium.
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