FOXBORO \u2013 Forget the terrible officiating in the second half of Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
That scapegoat is way too convenient for a Patriots team that is starting to show striking similarities to the 2015 gang that started 10-0 and lost four of their final six regular season games, earning a trip to Denver, where they fell in the AFC title game to Peyton Manning 20-18.<\/p>\n
The 2019 Patriots really only have themselves to blame for a 23-16 loss Sunday to the Chiefs that all but eliminated any hopes of them reaching the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They are 10-3 and with Baltimore winning in Buffalo, they now trail the 11-2 Ravens by a game and lose on the tiebreaker.<\/p>\n
The real takeaway from Sunday\u2019s \u201cBogerman\u201d fiasco is that the Patriots are going to have to raise their level of play against the teams they\u2019re likely to face in the playoffs. Right now, they don\u2019t look like they\u2019re capable of sustaining 60 minutes against the elites of the AFC to even reach another Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
And no one is hearing the clock tick louder than Tom Brady. Against the Texans, the Patriots fell into a 14-3 halftime hole and lost 28-22. Sunday, they scored on their opening drive and then had a golden opportunity to make it at least 10-0 when J.C. Jackson undercut a Demarcus Robinson route and picked off Pat Mahomes. Instead of turning the pick into points from the KC 40, the Patriots lost a yard in three snaps and punted.<\/p>\n
They wouldn\u2019t score again until Brandon Bolden\u2019s jet sweep with 4:23 left in the third quarter, set up by a Nate Ebner blocked punt. A Devin McCourty forced fumble of a Travis Kelce catch should\u2019ve resulted in a Stephon Gilmore scoop-and-score. But it didn\u2019t thanks to bad officiating. The Patriots would manage just a 29-yard field goal from Nick Folk. Those would be the last points the Patriots scored on the night.<\/p>\n
For two straight games, the Patriots offense went into premature hibernation during long spells. And it cost them in both cases.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, I think we’re just trying to figure out what works,\u201d Brady said. \u201cSo, I think you have an idea and then you see how the game unfolds and then you’ve got to make some adjustments. So, we tried to make some adjustments there in the second half. They threw a lot of different defenses at us, some we handled pretty good, others we didn’t. It was a good game by them.\u201d<\/p>\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/bshh3mH9itA<\/a><\/p>\n The Patriots were an abysmal 2-for-12 on third down Sunday. They again looked lost in the red zone, converting just one of three red zone chances. They gained just 278 yards against the re-worked Chiefs defense of Steve Spagnola. Yes, the officials had something to do with that in the second half.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s remember that drive after the J.C. Jackson interception. The Patriots have always been a team to seize the moment early and run a team out of Gillette Stadium. The Patriots don\u2019t look like they have that knockout punch and it\u2019s unchartered waters, to a degree, for the team to turn it over to the defense and special teams, which almost worked again. But that\u2019s the thing, relying on two phases that don\u2019t include Tom Brady against the elite of the AFC doesn\u2019t sound like winning playoff strategy.<\/p>\n Granted it worked against Jared Goff and the Rams in the Super Bowl. But it\u2019s hard to imagine the Patriots using that formula to get past Lamar Jackson and Pat Mahomes in the postseason, especially if those games are on the road.<\/p>\n Over the years, Brady and Belichick have figured out what they have and don\u2019t have as strengths late in the season better than anyone in the game\u2019s history. The sense that a solution will just appear this time like it did in Week 16 last year is obviously not assured, and Brady knows it.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t want to make any predictions,\u201d Brady admitted. \u201cI don’t think that’s \u2013 I think we come in with a plan to get better every week and try to win each game. Each game takes on a little different feel and the situations are a little different, and it’s a different team every year, too. So, I may have certain experience doing things, but this particular team as a whole hasn’t been through different situations. So, you just try to work through them over the course of the whole season, and we have three big games to go, and we’ve got to get back to winning football.\u201d<\/p>\n BECAUSE @stonecoldjones_<\/a> SAID SO #ProBowlVote<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/eeGbRzUVCh<\/a><\/p>\n\n