Overlooking
an opponent is not in the Patriot way. Yet it seems that's exactly what
happened to the Pats on Sunday.
The Patriots had a long week of practice heading into Sunday's tilt with the
Cardinals, but apparently not a very good one. New England's defense allowed
Arizona to score on their first two possessions — although one started in
Patriots territory as a result of a Tom Brady interception — and the offense
sputtered out of the gate with about as much effectiveness as the Jacksonville
Jaguars.
The
game progressed in that fashion for the much of the afternoon, too, at least
until the final few minutes when both Brady and Rob Gronkowski seemed to awaken
from their collective stupor and finally get into the end zone. But it turned out
to be too little, too late, as New England fell to a 20-18 defeat in front of
the home crowd.
To
give credit where it's due, the Cardinals did plenty to slow down the Patriots
on Sunday. But then again so did the Patriots, and it might have all started
with the week of practice.
Preparing
for an opponent who is starting a backup at quarterback and finished with an
underwhelming 8-8 record in 2011 doesn't necessarily provide the extra motivation
an AFC Championship Game repeat would — then again, that's next week. But
every team deserves proper preparation.
Bill
Belichick seemed disappointed in his team's effort heading into Sunday's game,
explaining in very curt terms that they need to better utilize their practice
time.
"Practice
is never perfect," Belichick said when asked if his team was prepared for
the Cardinals. "There are all these [mistakes] to correct in practice;
that's why we practice."
Maybe
the Cardinals were just the better team on Sunday, but the Patriots players
undoubtedly believe they just didn't do enough to get ready for Arizona.
"We
just didn't come out firing," Wes Welker said of the Patriots'
lackadaisical start. "We didn't have a great week of practice and coach made
a point of that, that we needed to almost play some catch up."
And
catch up they did. After falling behind 6-0 early in the first quarter, the
Patriots responded with three straight scores on the way to a 9-6 lead. But
that didn't last much more than four minutes before the Cardinals reclaimed the
lead, building it all the way to 20-9 early in the fourth quarter.
The
deficit was a tall task on its own, but tack on six penalties for 60 yards on
the day, including a pair of costly penalties on Gronkowski on the game's
final drive, and its going to be near impossible to pull off the win.
Gronkowski
was irked by the penalty calls after the game, especially one that brought back
a would be Danny Woodhead game-winning touchdown, but he accepted responsibility
and admitted that he and his teammates just weren't prepared enough.
"You've
got to be ready for any situation and any game, that's what practice is for all
week," Gronkowski said. "Clearly we didn't practice good enough. I
didn't practice good enough and we just need to be ready for all situations at
all times."
Logan
Mankins expressed similar sentiments, explaining that his frustrations with the
loss started with the lack of preparation during the week.
"We
didn’t have a good practice there towards the end of the week and I think it
showed up today," Mankins said. "We didn't play very well. When
you're playing a good team like [this] week, they're good. So if you don't play
good against a good team, you're going to lose."
The
loss drops the Patriots to 1-1 on the year and marks their first loss in a home
opener in 11 seasons, one year before Gillette Stadium was even opened. So
without question it's a disappointing loss, and even more so for a team with
championship characteristics and Super Bowl-caliber talent.
So
while the Patriots head back to the drawing board to prepare with their
upcoming AFC Championship repeat, they'll have to keep in mind the old adage
that practice makes perfect.
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