And so an entire season of NFL football comes down to three cities: Indianapolis, New Orleans, Miami. For the Patriots and their followers, it’s as if they are being visited by the ghosts of Christmas during a time of critical soul-searching.

Indy, New Orleans, Miami. The Patriots played in all three cities during a span of 22 days from Nov.15-Dec. 6, and the results were damning. The Pats blew a big lead at Indy, got throttled by the Saints, and caved in against the Dolphins. In retrospect, no stretch of the season better encapsulated New England’s problems during the 2009 football season characterized by breakdowns on offense, defense, and the coaching staff.

Nobody here needs to relive those games, though all three had something in common. From Peyton Manning to Drew Brees to Chad Henne, the Pats could not stop the opposing quarterback, proving utterly defenseless against capable passing attacks.

The NFL has completely changed, folks. If we needed it to, the weekend offered further proof. The teams with the better running games and defenses got bounced by the clubs with Arena League mentalities, the Colts and Saints emerging as both symbols of dominance – both were No. 1 seeds – as well as the NFL’s complete metamorphosis into what might as well be known as the Devo era. Who needs a running game? Whip it good.

In the games against the Colts, Saints and Dolphins this year, the Pats went 0-3 while allowing 95 points. Combined, Manning, Brees and Henne – which one of those doesn’t belong? – went 75 for 119 (63 percent) for 1,033 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. That translates into an average of 344.3 yards and 3.7 passing touchdowns per game, numbers that would produce a whopping 5,509 yards and an absurd 59 touchdown passes over the course of a full season.

All of that only further highlights the Pats’ complete inability to defend the pass – they weren’t just bad, they were historically bad – when even moderately capable teams committed to throwing against them. If the Pats are to reclaim their place at or near the top of the NFL hierarchy, they must dramatically improve their abilities in the passing game on both sides of the ball -- but especially on defense.

With regard to this particular aspect, one can’t help but feel that the Pats have been, at best, inconsistent in their approach. Three years ago at this time, the Pats were coming off a historic loss at Indianapolis in the AFC Championship Game. New England’s answer was to go out and load up on wide receivers, adding Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte' Stallworth to the offense. The result was an 18-0 season that ultimately crash landed in the desert in Super Bowl XLII, the nearest of near misses that might have forever altered our thinking.

Here’s the problem: while the Pats have completely sold out to become a passing team on offense, their defense remains focused on stopping the run first. Over the last two years, the absence of a pass rush has been easily the team’s greatest weakness. Anyone who thinks the Pats’ greatest need is anything other than an elite pass rusher didn’t pay attention over the weekend and certainly didn’t pay attention to the 22-day span during the regular season against the Colts, Saints and Dolphins.

When you get right down to it, here’s the only thing the Colts and Saints have over the Patriots on defense: pass rushers. The Colts have both Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, the latter of whom was a thorn in New England’s side during the meeting between the clubs this season. And two months after rattling Tom Brady with three- and four-man rushes (in front of a makeshift defensive backfield), the Saints yesterday repeatedly had Brett Favre throwing from his heels, right up until he made a fatal mistake.

NFL experts may not regard the Saints and Colts as truly elite defenses, but that is missing the point. Defensively, the Saints and Colts force mistakes by bringing pressure.

As for the Pats, they traded away their two best pass rushers from recent years – Mike Vrabel and Richard Seymour. Unsurprisingly, the large majority of their victories this season came against clubs with no better than an average passing attack. Anytime the Pats faced a team with an average passing attack or better, they proved utterly incapable of forcing mistakes. In retrospect, the playmaking ability (or lack thereof) of the Patriots defense probably had more to do with their inability to force the issue than it did with any personnel deficiencies in their secondary.

As we all know, offense in the NFL now runs through the quarterback more than ever before. Rules changes have helped open the door for rookies like Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie to become central figures on a Super Bowl team. The best way to neutralize such receivers is to get to the quarterback, which makes pass protection and pass rushing the most valuable skills in the game.

The Pats generally did the former this year – at least most of the time - but they were positively wretched when it came to doing the latter.