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Closer Look Defending champs find life tough as the favoritesPosted: Sunday October 06, 2002 7:50 PM
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated MIAMI -- What's wrong with the Patriots? Maybe nothing that can't be explained by those four words that come before their every mention: Defending Super Bowl champions. After a 3-0 start that convinced everyone that last season's team of destiny was no one-year wonder, New England has dropped two consecutive road games, getting thoroughly out-played by an AFC contender in both of them. New England's struggles actually began in Week 3, when those plucky Kansas City Chiefs extended them to overtime, before succumbing 41-38. The Patriots are discovering the reality that awaits every defending Super Bowl champion: Everybody they play considers the game their own little Super Bowl. "There's no lack of confidence," Patriots center Damien Woody said Sunday, following Miami's 26-13 handling of New England at Pro Player Stadium. "It's a 16-game season and we know we have to keep fighting. We know that every team is going to bring their A-game against us every week. We have to be prepared to face that." The Patriots started the season as if they were. New England averaged more than 38 points and 450 yards of total offense per game in beating the Steelers, Jets and Chiefs. But last week at San Diego, and this week at Miami, the Patriots have combined to score just 27 combined points, while allowing 47. Combining the second half of the 21-14 loss to the Chargers with the first half of the loss to the Dolphins, New England went scoreless for more than four quarters, surrendering 23 unanswered points in the process. At the break on Sunday, New England amazingly had just three first downs and 26 total yards of offense. Though New England rallied to score 13 points in the second half against Miami's tough defense, the Patriots once vaunted running game went nowhere all day (37 yards on 17 carries), and quarterback Tom Brady's 17-of-31, 240-yard performance was sullied by three sacks and two interceptions. "I think a lot of things went wrong early," said Brady, who is clearly missing his go-to receiver, Troy Brown, who missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury suffered in the fourth quarter against Kansas City. "We just didn't play a very good first half. ... We played better in the second half, but it wasn't enough and it's probably not going to be enough against good teams." And rest assured, the Patriots, who had their 12-game winning streak snapped at San Diego, have plenty of those in their future. In their upcoming five games, New England faces nothing but quality teams: Green Bay, Denver, at Buffalo, at Chicago and at Oakland. That's the heart of a regular-season schedule that was as brutal as any assigned this season in the NFL. At 3-2, the Patriots suddenly find themselves a game behind first-place Miami (4-1) in the AFC East, and a game ahead of the much-improved third-place Bills (2-3). If New England is to have its Dec. 29, regular-season finale against Miami mean something, it will have to stay alive in the division race for 11 more games.
"It's always a test," Brady said. "It's never easy and it's never going to be easy. ... Every game now from here on out is going to be a fight. Every team that plays the Patriots is going to play [its] best and that should push us up a level higher."
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