"I don’t think it affects the confidence," running back Sammy Morris said of the Patriots’ 20-17 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos. "I think we are a confident group in the ability that we have. I don’t think our confidence is lacking."
It can be tough to bounce back from such an emotional loss, as the Patriots were trying to back up their coach in a game against their former offensive coordinator. New England lost a 10-point, second-half lead and made a number of miscues that could have locked up their fourth victory of the season, which would have propelled them into first place in the AFC East.
Instead, the Patriots (3-2, 1-1 AFC East) will get back to work this week trying to figure out how they can correct the mistakes that led to their second blown lead of the season.
"Just some fine-tuning here and there," said cornerback Leigh Bodden, who missed a tackle during Brandon Marshall’s game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. "No game is perfect. Everybody is going to make mistakes. We just have to correct those mistakes and just not let them happen in the future."
It’s a matter of execution and staying in sync through the duration of an entire game — a pair of rare flaws that don’t typically haunt the Patriots.
The 2009 season will continue to be a work in progress for New England as it finds its way back to form with the return of quarterback Tom Brady and the addition of so many new faces. While things haven’t gone swimmingly so far, they’ve still got a pair of victories against two of the better teams in the league — the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens — and there are enough positive signs from which to build.
Plus, a growing team — yes, New England is a growing team — will tend to have difficulties on the road, and that is where both of the Patriots’ losses have come. Road defeats aren’t exactly rare in the NFL, as the league as a whole is 32-44 on the road and only nine teams have winning records away from home.
And after a brutal stretch to open the season, the Patriots host the winless Tennessee Titans on Sunday before traveling to London to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who might be the worst team in the NFL this season. There is plenty of time to correct the issues at hand, and with the talent on this roster, it’s safe to assume the Patriots will only get better from here on out.
"That’s the positive is that it’s fixable," Morris said. "It’s things that we have done in the past or done this year. Again, I think we’ll work on those things and kind of right the ship."
Who's hot
1. Middle linebacker Jerod Mayo returned to the field ahead of schedule — correct or not, he was reportedly going to miss 6-8 weeks with his right knee injury — and he forced a Knowshon Moreno fumble early in the first quarter. Mayo played longer against the Broncos than Bill Belichick expected, and he recorded six solo tackles.
2. Wes Welker continued to make an impact after returning from a knee injury. Welker had eight catches for 86 yards, and he scored his first touchdown of the season. The wide receiver has 14 receptions for 134 yards in two games since returning to the lineup, and he’s got 26 catches for 227 yards in three games this season.
3. The Patriots’ crunch-time defense in the fourth quarter was good enough to help them win the game. Give credit to cornerback Shawn Springs for making a diving play to break up a third-down pass to Jabar Gaffney, and then to Tully Banta-Cain for sacking Kyle Orton in the final minute when the Broncos were in Patriots territory.
Who's not
1. Safety Brandon Meriweather has been an absolute stud this season, and he’s on his way to stardom. But he had a bad missed tackle behind the line of scrimmage on Knowshon Moreno’s 11-yard rush in overtime that moved the ball to the Patriots’ 29-yard line and put the Broncos in field goal range.
2. The Patriots’ second-half offense was timid and couldn’t adjust to the Broncos’ defensive scheme. Denver backed off more and more as the game progressed, scaling back its blitzes and dropping as many as eight players into pass coverage, and Brady couldn’t capitalize. The Patriots were shut out in the second half, had the ball for 12:06, missed on all six of their third downs and only accumulated 110 yards. Meanwhile, Brady only completed 5-of-14 passes for 63 yards, and just two of his completions went for first downs.
3. The NFL’s overtime format still leaves much to be desired. While the college format is the most exciting brand of overtime, it understandably doesn’t sit well with too many people in the NFL. Maybe they can play a 10- or 15-minute overtime session — not a sudden-death format — and then progress to the college shootout version if there is still a tie after that. Or each team can get an equal number of possessions until a winner emerges, starting the overtime period with a kickoff and allowing the game to play itself out in standard format as it continues on. Either way, the current format is too dated, and its lack of popularity dictates that.
