The Patriots’ opening loss brought an unfamiliar fear to Gillette Stadium
COMMENTARY
I checked. Weekend flights in early February from Logan to Minnesota, roundtrip, start at $368.08. It’s running nearly $100 more on Southwest out of Providence.
Maybe you figure this isn’t exactly the sort of occasion that pairs best with the sprouting priggishness that these parts have become known for when it comes time to harvest the tailgate setup. Such bluster might have been welcomed in the wake of the Patriots unveiling their fifth Super Bowl banner at Gillette Stadium Thursday night, more probably in the immediacy of the team’s opening drive march down the field, a leisurely process with such ho-hum ease that even Browns fans probably started praying for Pittsburgh, where the Steelers figure to be one of the few teams this season to threaten the Patriots’ dynasty-within-a-dynasty.
Or, dare we say maybe even the Kansas City Chiefs?
The Patriots delivered something most unexpected on an evening originally reserved for braggadocio, when 67,000-plus thrusted the final nail into the celebration that began on the evening of Super Bowl LI, complete with towels and t-shirts mocking the oh-so-anticipated presence of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Compared to the finely-tuned precision that we generally assume as the norm with Bill Belichick’s teams, the Patriots were an exhaustive mess for most of Thursday evening’s 42-27 loss — yes, loss — to the Chiefs. It was a dysfunctional showing uncharacteristic of many of the traits that have the Patriots at the end of everybody’s fingertips when forced to pick the favorites in the NFL this season.
“It was just a poor effort, and we’re going to have to do a lot better,” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said.
Instead of the conventional, the Patriots sent a splattering of fear, an apprehension that normally lingers in the visiting locker room, right into the stands at Gillette Stadium, where boisterous fans went home in a stunned silence that Foxborough hadn’t witnessed in more than a decade.
Prior to Thursday night, quarterback Tom Brady had been 51-1 against AFC opponents since 2007 at Gillette Stadium. The one loss was a season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills, a game in which he played only the first half.
The mark now stands at 51-2.
But this defeat was real one. It counts as the first time Patriots fans have watched Brady play at home and walk back to their cars along Route One asking themselves, “What the hell just happened?”
Brady (who’s now 40, you know) had difficulty remaining in any sort of consistent rhythm, a possible repercussion of missing wide receiver Julian Edelman, who limped onto the turf during the pregame celebration, hosting the Lombardi Trophy his ACL won’t allow him to compete for again one year later. The Patriots’ defense debuted worse than the opening receipts to the “Baywatch” movie last summer, with defensive end Cassius Marsh filling the role of overmatched newcomer, burned by Chiefs receiver Kareem Hunt, making one wonder why he chose this particular evening for his Cyrus Jones tribute.
“We didn’t really do anything much well enough tonight to deserve to win,” Belichick said.
As if you didn’t recognize those irregularities, the Patriots were even atrocious on fourth down, a situation during which they run something like a 102 success rate with Brady pulling off the QB sneak. Instead, the lingering LeGarrette Blount Truthers found a small dose of comeuppance when Mike Gillislee whiffed on his pair of chances.
“We didn’t make a lot of plays tonight, actually,” Brady said. “We just have to be a lot better in a lot of areas, starting with our attitude and our competitiveness. We have to do a lot better than tonight.”
Gillislee , the former Buffalo Bill, also ended the evening with three touchdowns, so it’s hard to fault his inefficiency in those short-yardage situations. Besides, we ended up wth a bonanza of other questions that will get the full dissection over the next nine days with a steady helping of unguided panic. Linebacker Dont’a Hightower left with a knee injury. Receiver Danny Amendola found himself in the concussion protocol during the second half. Edelman isn’t coming back and second-year wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell was placed on injured reserve before the game. If Brady looked like he was trying to figure out his tools with Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan, and a list of running backs that’s only missing Cousin Oliver, it’s probably because adapting to life without his security blanker in Edelman isn’t going to happen overnight.
Instead, the inexplicable has happened. The New England Patriots are in last place in the bumbling AFC East with a date on the fast rug in New Orleans looming next weekend.
After Alex Smith burned them for 368 yards and four touchdowns, how does Drew Brees sound right about now?
It would indeed qualify as the height of Patriotic arrogance to suggest that anyone with even an ounce of sportsmanship integrity should really book a trip to the Super Bowl 149 days from now, especially fully assuming that the Patriots would be making a repeat trip to the NFL’s title bout.
The season is, after all, all but one game old. It’s too soon for assumptions, especially when the 42 points the Chiefs managed to put on the board signify the most allowed by a Patriots team in the Belichick era. That tops the 41 delivered by the…Chiefs during the 2014 season.
Then the Pats were on to Cincinnati. And ultimately their fourth Super Bowl title.
No more talk of 19-0, probably to the delight of Belichick.
It’s still going to be a much better 18-1 season than last time though.
