This Is Getting Silly: Patriots Crush Another So-Called Contender-the Lions-34-9

At some point soon, maybe next Sunday in Green Bay, a team is going to challenge the Patriots. Until then, we can only bask in the glow of another beating. New England (9-2 overall, 6-0 home) destroyed Detroit (7-4 overall, 3-3 away) 34-9 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium. The Lions came in with the top-ranked defense in the league but they honestly didn't stand a chance as the Patriots picked up their seventh straight win. You'd have a hard time objectively arguing that the Pats are not the best team in the NFL at the moment for what it's worth (nothing).

Sock puppet Lions head coach Jim Caldwell and his penchant for kicking field goals down three touchdowns in the second half or even better, taking a timeout then choosing to punt on fourth down never stood a chance. It takes a little more balls and creativity to beat the Patriots at Gillette. We should have known that he was not the guy to get it done.

Tom Brady (38 of 53 for 349 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) spread it around to five different receivers who all had at least five catches, led by Brandon LaFell (9 catches, 98 yards), Julian Edelman (11 catches, 98 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (5 catches, 78 yards). The two unexpected x-factors on offense that came through today were their goal-line weapon Tim Wright who caught two more touchdowns and LeGarrette Blount (12 rushes, 78 yards) who ran for two scores in his return to New England. Last week's hero Jonas Gray never got off the bench as he served his punishment for showing up late to practice. As if you didn't know this already, Blount proved that they literally can put any bum off the street in there and odds are they will produce.

New England's defense continued to excel, holding the Lions to three measly field goals by disgraced ex-Broncos kicker Jason Prater. Logan Ryan picked off Matthew Stafford (18 of 46 for 264 yards, 1 INT) while Rob Ninkovich and Akeem Ayers each notched a sack. Reggie Bush didn't play for Detroit and Golden Tate (4 catches, 97 yards) was the only Lion to have any real success on offense. The normally unstoppable Calvin Johnson (4 catches, 58 yards) took a trip to Brandon Browner Island and he wasn't really heard from as you can tell.

Two Stephen Gostkowski field goals accounted for the other New England points. The scary part for opponents is that the Patriots weren't flawless: they punted five times (a 66-yard bomb by Ryan Allen was a key play in the first half) and Brady threw an interception. What I'm trying to say is that they could potentially play even better than this which sounds ridiculous. Granted it was 24-6 at halftime so you never thought they could lose. Danny Amendola had an 81-yard kick return for the Pats so you knew it was their day.

New England will go for the sweep of the NFC North next Sunday (4:25, CBS) at historic Lambeau Field in what should be the biggest game in the NFL this regular season. You know everyone will be calling it a Super Bowl preview so I might as well get that out of the way too. Similar to the Patriots, the Packers (8-3 overall, 1st in NFC North) have been on fire (7-1) since a shaky start (1-2). Aaron Rodgers is probably the leading candidate for NFL MVP so you have to enjoy it because games like this don't come around that often. Now all we need is a little snow and there potentially could be record ratings.

Tweet

The Most Cut and Dry Patriots Playoff Loss that I Can Ever Remember

Well I think today's AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Broncos left no doubt who the better team was today, tomorrow and in two weeks: Denver. The Broncos controlled play from start to finish and won 26-16 at Sports Authority. New England overachieved all season and at some point, you knew that their lack of playmakers on both sides of the ball would catch up to them. Unfortunately, this afternoon was that painful time.

I honestly can never recall a loss in the playoffs by the Patriots that was so simple. No drama, no bad calls (either by their coaches or refs) in terms of affecting the contest in a major way or things to second guess. Nope, this was an old fashioned beatdown. The Broncos should have won by 20+ points and if they were decent in the red zone (2 for 6), they would have accomplished that.

The lazy/hot sports take way to look at this result is that Peyton Manning (32 of 43 for 400 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) badly outplayed Tom Brady (24 of 38 for 277 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs). Clearly, Peyton was better but this just came down to his abundance of weapons and Brady's utter lack of anything outside of Julian Edelman (10 catches, 89 yards).

Denver got up 10-0 in the second quarter and 20-3 in the third quarter, thus eliminating New England's favored mode of attack: running the ball. SI cover boy LeGarrette Blount predictably plummeted back to Earth with five carries for six yards.

Meanwhile, the Thomas brothers-DeMaryius (7 catches, 134 yards) and Julius (8 catches, 85 yards)-dominated the Pats sorry secondary which lost Aqib Talib to a knee injury. PS they're not related. That makes it two years in a row that he went down with an injury in the AFC Championship Game. However, like last season I don't think his absence was the difference between a win and loss. Make no mistake, the Broncos would have won this game 10 out of 10 times.

Matt Prater opened the scoring with a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter. Jacob Tamme caught a 1-yard TD from Manning halfway through the second quarter for a 10-0 lead. New England's only points of the first half was a 47-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. Prater added a 35-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the first half for a 13-3 Broncos lead.

Demaryius Thomas caught a 3-yard touchdown in the third quarter and Prater's 19-yard field goal increased Denver's lead to 23-3 early in the fourth quarter. As they did all season, the Pats showed plenty of pride by not rolling over when most would. Edelman caught a 7-yard TD but Prater's 54-yard field goal and a missed two-point conversion after Brady's 5-yard TD run sealed New England's fate.

It doesn't make up for two weeks of crap but Broncos-Seahawks should be an excellent Super Bowl. More importantly, the Patriots need to get to work immediately to figure out how to maximize the next few seasons. Brady and Bill Belichick won't be around forever so they need to show more urgency by spending as much as they can and getting better players all around them.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that Brady and Belichick can rack up the (meaningless) regular season wins and even a few playoff games (assuming they face some scrub team) but they need way more help to beat super squads like the Broncos.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate