Welcome To The AFC East: Where Everybody Is 3-3 After 6 Mediocre Weeks In 2012

Do you remember when the Patriots could put teams away when they had a comfortable lead? Can you recall a New England defense that made timely stops? Finally, what has happened to Tom Brady (36 of career-high 58, 395 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) who used to be one of the most clutch athletes in sports history?

We are left with all these unanswered questions after yet another unexpected loss by the Patriots (3-3, 2-2 away) to an inferior team. In this case, the Seahawks (4-2, 3-0 home) benefited this afternoon from all of New England's mistakes in a 24-23 win by Seattle at rain-soaked CenturyLink Field.

The funny thing is that the Patriots' three losses so far this season are by a combined four points. That means two things: they've been in every game and they simply don't know how to close out a win against a decent opponent anymore. New England led 23-10 with 9:21 left in the fourth quarter but apparently, that's exactly where Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson (16 of 27, 293 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT) and his awful receivers wanted them.

Former Jets great Braylon Edwards cut it to 23-17 with a 10-yard touchdown catch with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter. Sidney Rice (3 catches, 81 yards) had the winning score, a 46-yard touchdown catch with 1:18 remaining. The Patriots bungled two chances to get a bigger lead between Seattle scores there but they were forced to punt both times. That's not even as bad as their bungled possession at the end of the first half that ended with Brady's intentional grounding penalty so a 10-second run off and no points. Brady had another intentional grounding called in the fourth quarter, what's with that (remember the last Super Bowl)?

He was off his game, especially in the second half. Brady badly underthrew a deep ball to Deion Branch (and why look for him in that spot?) in the third quarter which led to Richard Sherman's interception. Then he forced a pass to Wes Welker (10 catches, 138 yards, TD) in the fourth quarter and it deflected for Earl Thomas who picked it off.

After running the ball so well in the first five games, the Patriots seemed to leave that part of their team at home. Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden (who left with a knee injury) and Danny Woodhead combined for 87 yards rushing. The lack of a dependable running game really killed them at the end since they were forced to pass on every down which played into the top defense in the NFL's hands.

This game unfolded eerily similar to the loss at Baltimore in Week 3. In the same manner, the Patriots built up a lead after playing well on both sides of the ball then everybody (including the coaches) had a complete meltdown where everything went wrong.

Needham and Middlebury's Steven Hauschka gave Seattle a 3-0 lead with a 34-yard field goal. Welker answered with his second touchdown in as many games. He went 46 yards in the first quarter for a 7-3 advantage. Doug Baldwin (2 catches, 74) ensured that Kyle Arrington would see extended time on the bench in the second half with a 24-yard touchdown catch late in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Aaron Hernandez returned and made an impact with a 1-yard touchdown catch on a beautiful fade pass by Brady to the corner of the end zone. Gostkowski's 25-yard field goal made it 17-10 in favor of the Patriots but as I said before, it should have been more.

The only points of the third quarter came on Gostkowski's 35-yard field goal that extended the lead to 23-10. Brandon Lloyd (6 catches, 80 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 61 yards) had decent performanecs but I'd love to see them get more cracks in the red zone. Chandler Jones (9 tackles, 4 solo, 2 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, forced fumble) was a beast as usual.

As pathetic as this loss was, to a team that the Patriots normally should wipe the floor with, they still have no chance to lose the AFC East to the assorted cupcakes around them. More importantly, they will look to get back on track as they host the Jets (3-3) on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m., CBS) at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots will have to put another disappointing loss behind them as they try to put together the first full 60 minute effort of the season.

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When did the New England Patriots turn into the Indianapolis Colts?

If the NFL playoffs have taught us anything, especially this season, being a top seed or favorite doesn't mean anything these days. Last week, the New Orleans Saints lost to the Seattle Seahawks, the Indianapolis Colts lost to the New York Jets and on Saturday, the Atlanta Falcons got creamed by the Green Bay Packers.

Those were all trumped by the epic no-show, choke job pulled off yesterday by the New England Patriots who lost 28-21 to the Jets in the AFC Divisional Round at Gillette Stadium.

New York took the rubber game of the season series with New England and advances to its second straight AFC Championship game, on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Everything was falling the Patriots' way before the loss; all they had to do was win two games at home (against teams they had already beaten this season) and then top an NFC team that they would be favored over and they'd have their fourth Super Bowl title of the decade.

However, unbeknownest to myself and most of the fan base, we have become the Colts or San Diego Chargers, team built to rack up mostly meaningless regular season games and then turtle in the playoffs.

It's time to face facts: the Patriots haven't won a playoff game since the 2007 AFC Championship. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have lost their last three playoff games and each has been in horrific fashion: losing the perfect season to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 42, getting crushed by the Baltimore Ravens last season at Gillette and then yesterday, losing to your most bitter rival.

While we're dealing with some real talk, can we also admit that Rex Ryan despite all his ridiculousness (foot fetish videos, diahrea of the mouth, etc.) can coach a football team and his method works. All week leading up to the game, it was endless trash talk from the Jets and you had to hope that the Pats would let their play on the field do the talking. Who knows if it had any effect but clearly, there's more than one way (Belichick's no fun model) to win in this NFL.

Patriots honks are the most delusional fan base around here so it'll be interesting to see if this makes them admit the truth, that Belichick and Brady aren't perfect. What is the excuse for yesterday? There is none not that it will necessarily stop them from whining.

I hate the Jets but I have to admire the way they play loose and back up their big talk. They still have to win two games to capture a Super Bowl but this was the biggest win for them in a long, long time.

I want to be really bitter about this defeat but what can you say if you're a Patriots fan? They didn't get screwed by the refs (a loser's excuse) or a random play (tuck rule), they simply didn't execute as well as New York and they seemed rattled from the beginning of the miserable game until the end.

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (16 for 25, 194 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) played better than Patriots icon Tom Brady (29 for 45, 299 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception) and that was supposed to be the one area where New England had the biggest advantage.

All day, the Patriots receivers were covered by the Jets' outstanding secondary or simply thrown off their routes. Whatever the case, Brady had to wait too long and getting sacked five times didn't help his confidence either.

Shayne Graham had the only points of the first quarter, a 34-yard field goal. Brady threw a terrible pick, on a screen pass but New England's defense held the Jets to a field goal attempt which Nick Folk promptly missed.

New York got on the board in the second quarter when LaDainian Tomlinson scored on a 7-yard pass from Sanchez.

Braylon Edwards gave the Jets a 14-3 lead with 33 seconds left in the half when he fought through tackle attempts by Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty and safety Brandon Meriweather to reach the end zone.

That late score was the biggest one of the game and it came as a result of a bizarre call which will go down in Patriots' lore as one of the worst in history. Apparently, Patrick Chung called for a direct snap on a punt. The problem was he fumbled it then couldn't get a first down and that gave New York prime field position deep in New England territory. Why would you ever make that choice in that spot? Mystifying.

Alge Crumpler got the Patriots back into the game with a 2-yard touchdown catch from Brady late in the third quarter, the frame's only points. Sammy Morris took a direct snap on the two-point conversion and ran it in to cut it to 14-11 Jets.

In the biggest quarter of the season, New York made the plays. Santonio Holmes, one of the most clutch players in the NFL, made an absurd 7-yard touchdown catch and Shonn Greene had a 16-yard touchdown run when the Jets were running out the clock.

Shayne Graham's field goal in between those New York touchdowns had made it 21-14 but there was only 1:57 left. Deion Branch (5 catches, 59 yards) caught one last touchdown with 24 seconds left but New England couldn't recover an onside kick (it couldn't get the one after Graham's kick either) and the upset was official.

This one will take a while to get over. The Patriots overachieved all season with a collection of young players and no-names that combined to go 14-2 in the regular season. Still, when it mattered not enough of them showed up to beat a team they knew very well. And I hate to be a realist but the window on Belichick and particularly Brady closes a little more since they'll both be a year older when the team gets back together for training camp in August.

Jets repeat as Week 2 Super Bowl champions

There is no sport that clings to cliches like football, perhaps because so many of its players, coaches and announcers have suffered so many head injuries but I digress.

One of my current favorites that I truly believe is that the team with more urgency usually wins. Therefore yesterday's 28-14 by the Jets over the Patriots at the New Meadowlands was not a surprise at all.

New York (1-1) could simply not fall to 0-2 (when the Patriots and Dolphins would be 2-0) and New England (1-1) played over their heads in their Week 1 laugher vs. the Bengals.

The biggest surprise was how much Mark Sanchez (220 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions) badly outplayed Tom Brady (248 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions). This wasn't a passing of the torch (there I go) but it was a sign that Sanchez isn't as hopeless as Hard Knocks and Week 1 vs. the Ravens made us believe.

The two hallmarks of the forgettable 2009 Patriots were that they were awful on the road (2-6; one of those in London) and they couldn't protect leads in the second half, forcing them to crumble.

Here we go again. True to form, the Pats started out on fire in the first quarter and went up 7-0 on a six-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Wes Welker (6 catches, 38 yards).

New England controlled the ball for the first half but couldn't go up further when Stephen Gostkowski missed a 37-yard field goal (he's 1 for 4 this season).

Braylon Edwards (5 catches, 45 yards) tied it up with a 10-yard touchdown grab from Sanchez.

Randy Moss (2 catches, 38 yards) helped New England go up 14-7 with an amazing 34-yard one-handed touchdown catch. It was the 150th catch of his NFL career, the fourth skill position player to reach that mark but it became a footnote when he was held without a catch in the second half.

That was shocking since Darrelle Revis went down with a hamstring injury on Moss' touchdown. Antonio Cromartie (4 tackles, interception) did a great job against Moss in the second half.

Nick Folk hit a 49-yard kick to end the first half and give the Jets a manageable 14-10 deficit.

From there, it was all Jets all the time. They outscored New England 18-0 in the second half as the Patriots were left to one play (throwing it deep to Moss) which never worked.

Folk added a 36-yard field goal, cutting it to 14-13 in the third quarter then Jerricho Cotchery put the Jets ahead for good with a two-yard touchdown catch. Edwards' two-point conversion catch put New York up 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

Dustin Keller (7 catches, 115 yards) capped the win with a 1-yard touchdown catch.

Trading Laurence Maroney was fine with me but I assumed that the Pats running game wouldn't be so pathetic (52 yards).

Rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez had a great game, catching six passes for 101 yards.

Too often, New England's young corners (Darius Butler and Devin McCourty) were beaten downfield against the Jets' bigger receivers.

Tully Banta-Cain had eight solo tackles and a sack and rookie Brandon Spikes added nine tackles (five solo). Gerard Warren had two sacks in the loss.

I'm sure the Patriots will beat up on the hopeless Buffalo Bills (0-2) next Sunday afternoon at Gillette and everything will be right in the world but there has to be some progress if they ever hope to beat any good teams and/or win on the road.