Maybe it was the excessive (and wonderful) celebration at the parade yesterday, or just the realization that the offseason is now upon us, but I’m starting to feel the football void now.
I still can’t seem to shake the horror that the miracle Kearse catch brought upon me. Not even the elation of Butler’s pick could get that feeling out of my system. I’m sure it will fade in time, but for now it still can’t quite sink in what the Patriots pulled off.
It’s funny how you look back on all the debate surrounding the team since last offseason, about who they did or didn’t sign, about the games they lost early in the season and why, about their strengths or weaknesses and what would be their fatal flaw.
In the end, it comes down to one play, made or missed.
Sometimes the answers are just too simple when we need to write and talk about sports 24/7. If the Patriots make an interception in 2007 or 2011, the script is completely flipped. If Butler misses the interception or Lynch powers it in, the script is completely flipped this year.
But the breaks went the way they went, and this Patriots team can be remembered as “great” while the other two who couldn’t make that last play are just footnotes in NFL history.
So for all the talk of the Pats shitty offensive line, or lack of a deep threat or great pass rush, none of that really matters today. But of course, it will matter going forward this offseason as weaknesses must be strengthened.
Two stats are most remarkable to me, and speak directly to the kind of football this team played to win the Super Bowl is their red zone offense that went 12-for-14 in three playoff games and their third down defense, which only allowed a first down 23.3%. That’s just a ridiculous level when you consider they’ve been in the 40%-50% range the last four years.
Red Zone defense had come to define this defense in 2014, but they were quite as elite in the playoffs as they had been toward the end of the regular season. However, they were clutch.
Overall they allowed TDs on 8 of 11 opponent red zone possessions. But those three stops, were what allowed them to take the lead and beat the Ravens and Seahawks.
So now the blog will transition to the team-building portion of the season. I love watching football games, but I find putting the 2015 Patriots together pretty enjoyable (and less stressful) as well.
