ESPN: Football gods punish Patriots again

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page...0118_tuesday_morning_quarterback&sportCat=nfl



Since taking the field with a 18-0 record in Super Bowl XLII, just 60 minutes from perfection, the New England Patriots have not won a playoff game. In their latest postseason collapse, versus the new York Jets, New England's offense, averaging a league-best 32 points, was held to 14 points at home until a garbage-time touchdown with seconds remaining.



There are many reasons for New England's postseason woes: some specific to the Patriots, others generic to all football, one particular to a great performance by the Jets' defense. But Tuesday Morning Quarterback thinks this is the core reason: The football gods are not yet finished punishing Bill Belichick for Spygate.





Belichick suffered public humiliation -- plus the Patriots' loss of a first-round draft choice -- when it was revealed that for years he had staff methodically film other teams' sidelines. But Belichick has never owned up to what seemed like cheating to practically everyone except him. Though NFL prohibitions against sideline filming are crystal clear, Belichick insisted he mistakenly believed such filming was allowed. To sum the whole of Spygate: If Belichick really thought filming the opposition sideline was allowed, why didn't the Patriots do so openly? After being caught, Belichick said he wished "to apologize to everyone who has been affected." But he's never admitted to cheating, hard as it is to think of any other word for what Belichick did. Apparently the football gods are still angry.



When the Patriots were denied perfection by the New York Giants, your columnist thought that was Belichick's punishment. The next season New England went 11-5 but was denied a playoff appearance: perhaps, I thought, that concludes the punishment. The next season the Patriots outscored opponents by a spectacular 142 points, yet played terribly in their home postseason opener, losing to the Baltimore Ravens 33-14. That, I thought, must be the end of the punishment. This year New England finished 14-2 with the league's highest-scoring offense, then lost its first playoff game at home.



Punishment finally concluded? Perhaps not, since to paraphrase Longfellow, the mills of the football gods grind slow, yet they grind exceeding small. In mythology, the gods punish hubris by imposing frustration -- allowing a mortal to come close to his desires, then be denied. That's what keeps happening to Belichick. Perhaps until such time as Belichick may do the right thing and admit that he cheated, the football gods will continue to punish this team. It's a shame that New England fans are caught in the backwash.



Other explanations for the Patriots' collapse:



• The Jets watch NBC. Three weeks ago Rodney Harrison, a former New England star who's now an NBC analyst, said the way to beat Tom Brady was to jam his receivers at the line while mixing coverages in the center of the field. Too many teams, Harrison said, show Brady backed-off simple coverages because they're afraid of giving up a big play. Jam and mix instead.



That's what Jersey/B did. Its corners were almost always on the line, jamming receivers to throw them off routes. Linebackers jammed the New England tight ends: just before the fateful botched fake punt, Brady tried a quick out to tight end Rob Gronkowski on third-and-4, but Gronkowski was jammed at the line by linebacker David Harris and stumbling as the ball arrived. Jersey/B spent most of the contest in a 3-3-5, with the extra defensive back, Drew Coleman, sometimes playing man-to-man and sometimes playing zone. The Jets used combo coverages: man-to-man on some receivers, zone on others. Brady expected to be blitzed -- like all top quarterbacks, he wanted to be blitzed -- but the Jets rarely sent more than four rushers. It was a Rodney Harrison game plan. Rex Ryan should send Harrison a fruit basket.