Pats no longer invincible

Boston Globe football writer Nick Cafardo answers your questions about the Patriots every Thursday. Click here to submit a question for next week ...

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How will the Pats' loss to Miami affect their preparation for the Jets this week? And what do you think the chances are of them losing in New York on Sunday and possibly losing a first-round bye in the playoffs? Help me Nick, is the sky falling, because it sure feels like it is!?
Tom, Whitinsville

A: The sky isn't falling, but personally I don't feel this is a slam dunk team anymore. Prior to the Cincinnati game I thought this team would just blow everyone away and never lose. It always seemed as though they had answer for everything and maybe they still do. Both the Bengals game and the Miami game brought out how vulnerable they are. Let's face it, they have a few holes, namely the secondary. I think New York can beat them, but we're going to see what the Patriots are made of.

Great responses to letters Nick. We saw a Patriots team make tons of errors against the Dolphins, but what I was particularly upset about was the play calling when the Pats had the ball with 4 min. left on the clock. We saw three pass attempts, mostly for long yardage. No mixing it up with the run. They showed their cards, and Brady got picked off. They had four minutes to march down the field, why was there such a rush?
Gregory

A: Well, OK. Let me refresh your memory. With 3:52 left, the Dolphins ran their first play after the Pats had taken a 28-17 lead. The Dolphins went down the field and scored and the Pats got the ball back with 2:03 remaining and a 28-23 lead. Their first play was a pass from Brady intended for Branch. I'll give you that maybe this should have been a run. I'll agree with that. The next play was a 1-yard run by Dillon. It's third and 9 with 1:52 left. You've got to throw it on third and 9 because you need the first down to keep the drive going. But this is where Brady throws the pick and Miami takes over at the Pats 21 and scores the game-winning TD. Brady got the ball back with 1:17 left, and of course you've got to come out throwing here. I think we might have an issue with one play in the final 2:03.

Brady may get the blame for this loss, but even If he took the sack and the Pats punt, the Dolphins would have scored anyway based on the defense the Pats were in. I was very disappointed in the defensive play calling and execution on Monday. In particular, why did the Pats continually blitz in the second half even though it was ineffective? Also (hard to be sure with what we see on TV) it appeared that the def. backs were sometimes playing off the receivers on a blitz thus giving A.J. Feeley some easy targets. Why bother to blitz if you are not going to play tight coverage on the receivers? And why continually force a weak secondary into man-to-man coverage?
David, Poland Spring, Maine

A: David, I don't think they blitzed that much. They blitzed at the end of the game, which was certainly a questionable call because it left Troy Brown one-on-one with 6-foot-2 receiver Darrius Thompson, which is exactly the matchup the Dolphins wanted. I don't know why they blitzed there, except for the fact they thought they could get there and sack Feeley. But as you say, the Dolphins did a nice job of picking up blitzes and keeping Feeley fairly clean with the exception of the four sacks. I think, as in some of their other games, the Pats are trying to do things defensively to keep the heat off the secondary. That means they have to get pressure on the QB and force him into bad throws so he can't pick apart the Pats' shortcomings in the secondary. But the Dolphins had a smart game plan. They were able to get rid of the ball quickly to the receivers with a short to medium passing game, and basically took the Patriots' front seven out of the game.

I sure didn't see any adjustments in the second half for the Miami game. Was Charlie Weis' mind elsewhere? The announcers noted how Miami was challenging Brady to throw long ...why no mid range passes? Why no screens to offset the rush? Why not stay with the run that was unstoppable? On defense nothing was done to contain Feeley to the pocket, where his passing is weakest. I put much of this loss on the coaching this week. Your thoughts?
Paul, Kennesaw, Ga.

A: Paul, I think people will be blaming Weis for his "mind being elsewhere" but I'm sorry, when a 12-1 team is facing a 2-11 team, I could be coaching and the Patriots should be able to win the game. We can blame the coaching all we want, but Brady was awful. He made poor decisions on the field. That has nothing to do with coaching. I will say that I thought the Patriots were outcoached defensively. I don't know if that's Romeo Crennel or Bill Belichick, but the Dolphins were able to get good matchups and the Patriots need to be able to counteract that, and they didn't.

Do you believe the Pats place in history should be affected by league-wide incompetence? I look at the Pats lineup and I see a steady, flawlessly coached group of mostly average players who, in a better era would be a consistent 9 to 11 game winner. The most recent Super Bowl victory came at the expense of a team one-year removed from a near-winless season, and this year not one of the elite, or even average teams among a sorry lot. I can't see New England comparing favorably to the Dolphins of the early to mid-70s, the Steelers of the mid to late 70's or the quality Niner and Cowboys teams. In this age of diluted talent, salary cap and free agency, the Pats have discovered a winning formula. Steady production at the skill positions, few mistakes and superb coaching. I rate Tom Brady as on the par with Pat Haden, and not a star.
Don, Miami

A: Don, I don't agree with your assessment of their talent. Their talent is top notch. Brady is no Pat Haden. Brady is a lot closer to Joe Montana. They have many No. 1 picks -- Willie McGinest, Ty Law, Ty Poole, Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork. They have an elite running back (Corey Dillon), an elite kicker in Adam Vinatieri, superb receivers. I do agree they have a lunch-pail offensive line though Matt Light is a second-round pick. Their players are more than "average." Sometimes we equate a lower or middle of the road paycheck with ability. Don't fall into that trap. You can't win in this league without top tier players. I don't care how good the coaching is. In Belichick's first year they went 5-11 because they didn't have talent or depth. In 2002 they finished 9-7 and out of the playoffs because they signed players like Donald Hayes, Steve Martin and Tom Knight to man key positions and none of them panned out. I agree there aren't that many good teams any more, which should make it easier for NE to amass a great record and likely get to if not win another Super Bowl.

After the Miami debacle, isn't it plainly obvious that the Patriots offensive line cannot pass protect and is a huge drag on the team? ... As it is, they often have to compensate by running two tight-end sets having them make up for the inadequacies of the offensive line itself and by using Richard Seymour in short yardage situations. But the question is, how long will it be before Brady's shoulder injury becomes something real?
Derek, Ashland

A: You certainly raise a legitimate concern with the offensive line, Derek. They are smaller than most lines and I think good opposing teams can manhandle them, no question about it. Smaller lines do need tight end help, and the Patriots normally get good blocking from Dan Graham. For some reason things broke down against Miami, but I think they've done a pretty good job overall through most of the season. As for Brady's shoulder injury, it just seems to me he can make all the throws. He made a beautiful pass to Kevin Faulk for a TD. They use Seymour because they don't have a big blocking fullback. They chose not to use a roster spot on a fullback.

Dazed and confused ... that's what the players looked like in the Monday Night Frights this week down in Miami. But here's the bigger question: how much did Charlie Weis' divided attention play in this meltdown? What's Bill doing about it? Does Mr. Kraft stay hands off , deferring to coach B. And what implications are suggested for the playoffs?
Christopher, Salt Lake City

A: I'm not big on blaming Charlie's divided attention on Brady throwing four interceptions. I don't see the link. Certainly Weis is devoting time to his Notre Dame duties. But think about it. He's calling plays during the game, are you telling me he's thinking about the recruit he's trying to lure to Notre Dame? I don't think so. I know we always want to blame the easiest thing. What was Romeo Crennel's excuse? Or Belichick's? Were they thinking about Charlie, too, with some of the defenses they were calling? How about the one with no defensive linemen? Didn't work. How about the blitz call on the winning TD leaving Troy Brown to cover Darrius Thompson in the end zone? Was Romeo thinking about a head coaching job? As for Bob Kraft, yes, he is hands off. As long as the Patriots continue to win, he will let Belichick run the show. As soon as that changes, Kraft will be more hands on.

Please speak to the "stupid" plays. I believe they LOST the Miami game. Rodney Harrison's interference penalty -- AND HE KNEW BETTER -- was the biggest. While he makes good plays 95 percent of the time, he can negate them in one of HIS stupid plays. Brady looking like Bledsoe was scary. Tom, too, knows better. Stupid plays do not always loose games. These did. Harrison needs smarts and humility soon or he'll hurt us again this season.
Holly, Fort Myers, Fla.

A: No argument here Holly. Rodney and Tom both admitted they made mistakes. I'll keep both of them, though. They are terrific players and once in a while they're going to mess up. I think both guys are trying too hard to make plays. The secondary is a mess and Rodney probably feels he has to do more.

Some have said that there are teams with bad records that are not far from being good teams. As I have watched the Pats the last few months, would you agree that they may not be far from being a bad team (or at least heading that way) with a good record? The Miami game is the first, so far, in which they could not recover from their own foolishness.
Gary, Springfield

A: I don't agree. As I outlined in a previous response, they have excellent talent. Some of it is injured at the moment. I'd say the one area where they are thin is in the secondary and that's where the problem is right now. I think they're a little tired on special teams because some of their guys are just really tired at this time of the season because some of them are playing offense and defense as well. I think they're far from a bad team.

Has the team considered moving Eugene Wilson to cornerback for the end of season & playoffs? He played CB in college & seems to have good coverage skills. He would have to be an upgrade over Moreland & Troy Brown.
Sean, Milton

A: Wilson does play some corner in some of their nickel and dime coverages. So yes, he's already doing that. Right now they just have a numbers problem. Losing safety Dexter Reid didn't help. It's amazing that this team in training camp had something like 16 defensive backs including vets like Terrell Buckley and Otis Smith. Wish they had held on to Buckley.

Nick, everyone is surprised by the loss to the Dolphins, and understandably the most visible scapegoat is Brady. Was I the only one that noticed the poor route running that led to two of his interceptions. The last INT was not Brady's fault, Givens kept backing up waiting for the ball giving the Safety a chance to get it at its highest point. Brady's second INT on the out route was also due to a rounded of route that allowed the safety to step in front of the receiver. To me this shows a lack of concentration on the receivers' part and should be addressed.
Chris, Great Mills, Md.

A: Chris, I'm afraid I didn't notice the route running. Normally, these guys run very good routes, so I'm surprised to hear that. I will say I was surprised to see so many out routes from the Pats considering the Dolphins have such a good secondary and good cover corners.

Now that the Patriots have shown the world that they are in fact mere mortals after all after getting beat by the lowly Miami Dolphins, do you think that this loss will have an adverse affect on them, or will it fire them up and get them ready for the postseason?
Bill, Anchorage, Alaska

A: If history is our guide, the Patriots should use this as motivation to show they are an elite team and that last week was a fluke. I just don't know how they can correct what's going on in the secondary unless Ty Law returns and immediately plays like an All-Pro and shuts off his side of the field. One thing I think has hurt the Patriots is their bye week was so early in the season that they've had to play and prepare every week without a break. I think when they got their bye they were fairly healthy and never reaped the benefit of it.

Thanks for your kind words about the Bengals, Nick. I'm a transplanted New Englander with Bengals season tickets but still a Patriots fan too. Believe me, it's a struggle when they play each other. What worries me though, is this past Monday Night when the Patriots lost the game to Miami in former Bengal-esque fashion. As a comment rather than a question ... I wonder if it was good for the Patriots to get taken down a notch going into the playoffs.
Anonymous, Milford, Ohio

A: I've heard the lose one before the playoffs theory. They won six straight to end the 2001 regular season and 12 straight to end the '03 season. Proof they don't need to lose. I would say that now Belichick can certainly point out clearly that mistakes, bad coverage, bad tackling can lead to a loss. Maybe that will be the motivation they need to play at a high level from here on out.