Week 5 Snapshot: A Tale Of Two Halves (Again)

I’m truly convinced that this New England Patriots team is bi-polar.  Rather, the offense is bi-polar.  One half of great football, one half of terrible football.  After second half melt-downs against the Jets and the Ravens (a game they held on to), the Patriots again couldn’t secure a win after playing a great first half of football.

The Broncos are clearly resilient, I’ll give them that.  You put them in a hole, you ask them to do the impossible, they keep finding ways to win (even if their wins are due to a missed chip shot field goal or a lucky tipped pass).  The Patriots clearly outplayed Denver for most of the game today, but their fourth quarter collapse sealed their fate.

The Pats’ defense, once again showed why they are becoming a force to be reckoned with.  With Jerod Mayo back, the Pats’ were even harder to move the ball on.  While the Broncos had some early success running the ball, the defense stiffened up and played well almost the entirety of the game.  Several times late in the fourth quarter they were placed in tough spots, and yet they held the Broncos out of field goal range.  I like what I’ve seen from them.  Vince Wilfork, Rob Ninkovich, Jerod Mayo, Leigh Bodden, and Brandon McGowan had particularly good games.  Had the offense done its part in the second half, this would have been an easy win for the Patriots.

Yes, the Patriots should have won the game today.  And seeing the Red Sox get eliminated just minutes before kickoff made this loss particularly painful.  Still, the Broncos deserve a lot of credit.  Bottom line, it’s all about wins and losses, and the Broncos are 5-0.

Next week, it’s the winless Tennessee Titans.  Stay tuned for more thoughts on the game tomorrow.

The Patriots offense really flopped in the second half | Courtesy Patriots.com