Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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Reche Caldwell, who dropped a couple of passes against the Colts, and the other receivers simply aren't good enough to make people forget, oh, say, the Indianapolis receivers for Peyton Manning.
Associated Press Photo by
Atrell Hawkins, 25, and James Sanders are ineffective in an injury-prone secondary, and Asante Samuel may be pricing himself right out of New England.
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Tully Banta-Cain failed to cover Indianapolis tight end Dallas Clark, and the other linebackers were no better. Plus Tedy Bruschi could be calling it a career.
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Troy Brown may decide that the time for retirement has arrived, which would be one of the big changes for the Patriots next year.
HEADING TO NEXT YEAR
FREE AGENTS: Cornerback Asante Samuel,tight end Daniel Graham, linebacker Tully Banta-Cain
RETIRING?: Receiver Troy Brown, linebacker Tedy Bruschi
INDIANAPOLIS - So what's next for your New England Patriots?
Who stays? Who leaves?
Who do they draft? What free agents do they go after?
There's always turnover in the NFL and no team has done more with less than the Patriots over these last few seasons.
But Sunday night's gut-wrenching 38-34 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC championship game showed that while the Patriots are good -- or gritty -- enough to reach this level, they are no longer among the NFL's elite teams.
Face it, New England should have lost in San Diego in the divisional round, winning that game only when the Chargers refused to take it. San Diego's mental and physical gaffes allowed the Patriots to hang around long enough until Tom Brady and Co. made enough game-changing plays to win it.
But the Colts exposed the Patriots' biggest faults and that's why they were able to come back from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit and make the biggest comeback in either AFC or NFC championship-game history.
The Colts took away the Patriots' running game -- Corey Dillon had 48 yards, 35 on one run, and Laurence Maroney 13, dancing his way into losses -- and forced the game into the hands of Brady and his receivers. While the Pats' offense improved during the season, they are by no means Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.
Reche Caldwell's two drops showed New England needs a top-flight receiver.
The Colts exposed New England's linebackers, who couldn't cover anyone downfield, and the secondary, which left gaping holes for Manning to find.
For some reason, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick gave Eric Alexander his first career start at inside linebacker, benching Tully Banta-Cain and moving Mike Vrabel back to the outside, his natural position.
Belichick wouldn't say why he started Alexander, only "We played the defense we thought was best for our team."
And why was linebacker Rosevelt Colvin benched for most of the second half? Belichick wouldn't say, either. And Colvin wasn't injured. Strange indeed.
The guess is Alexander was the only linebacker who could cover Colts tight end Dallas Clark. If that's the case, it didn't work. Clark had six catches for 137 yards.
And while Alexander led the Patriots with 10 tackles, most were far downfield.
The secondary is another issue. Cornerbacks Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel played well, but safeties James Sanders and Artrell Hawkins left the middle of the field wide open. That's why Manning was able to throw for 349 yards.
Afterward the Patriots dressed slowly in a dejected locker room. They knew they had let one slip away. And they also knew they were beaten by a great team.
"Give them credit," said linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "They made some great adjustments and were able to do a lot of things on us in the second half. It seems like both defenses were doing what they could to make a stop, especially in the fourth quarter, and they got their stop to win the game."
That stop was an interception by Marlin Jackson with 16 seconds left to end Brady's comeback try.
So what's next for the Patriots?
They face decisions on some key free agents, the top ones being Samuel, who tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with 10 in the regular season, then had two more in the playoffs. including his 39-yard return for a touchdown Sunday; tight end Daniel Graham, a devastating blocker and underrated receiver; and Banta-Cain, who played well this season but showed a knack for picking up stupid penalties.
Samuel probably priced himself out of New England this year and likely will be gone. Graham also may leave for a team where he can have more of a receiving role. Banta-Cain? Not sure, but his ability to get to the quarterback surely will intrigue other teams.
Then there's Bruschi and Troy Brown, the longtime faces of the Patriots.
There have been whispers that Bruschi will retire and that wouldn't be entirely shocking. Remember, he had a mild stroke two years ago and while his comeback has been inspiring, he needs to think about the rest of his life.
Brown has proven his value over and over -- his forced fumble in San Diego was the play of the season for the Patriots and he caught two passes for 32 yards against the Colts -- and whether he returns could be entirely up to him.
So look for the Patriots to try to upgrade their linebackers and secondary, and maybe find another offensive playmaker in the offseason.
In the end this Patriots team, riddled with injuries in the secondary again, lacking strong receivers and relying on the hearts of their finest players, probably overachieved this season.
"We played our hearts out," said nose tackle Vince Wilfork, an hour after the season had ended.
"That's all you can ask."
Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:
Questions/Comments
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In my mind there are some concerns at Safety. With a healty Harrison and Wilson they're fine but if they need to play Sanders and Hawkins I think they're in trouble. In my opinion they stink.
I'd also like to see them acquire a top notch linebacker, even if Brushci comes back along with Colvin and Vrabel. Two of those three are a year or two away from retiring and honestly they're getting slow. Plus they still need a 4th good linebacker for the 3-4. They really don't want to play Banta-Cain.
After linebacker I'd like to see them get either a good free agent wideout or possibly trade up to get one of the young studs in the draft.
If they can just do these few things there is no reason they shouldn't be among the top 4 or 5 teams next year and be one of the front runners for the super bowl. report abuse
They are an Eilte Team, and will be again next year. Saying they aren't on the level of, SD and INDY should be a punishable crime. report abuse
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