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Adversity faced: After the team started the season 4-0, thanks to three wins of
three points or less, the Patriots hit the midway point of the season in good shape with a
6-2 mark. During the second half of the season, however, the team slumped and the losses
started to pile up.
How the team coped: Not terribly well. The Patriots were unable to string
back-to-back wins together the second half of the season, and thoughts of a championship
season eventually turned to thoughts of how this team missed the playoffs.
The Patriots’ season was on life support.
After starting the season 6-2, New England had lost three consecutive games against
division foes to fall to 6-5.
Now they had a home game against the Cowboys and were clinging to a 6-3 lead in the
fourth quarter. The Patriots’ heads were above water, barely, but it sure was getting
hard to breathe.
Just when they needed it most, the Patriots were thrown a life preserver from where
they expected it least — their sputtering ground game.
Entering this game, the Patriots were averaging an unimpressive 3.5 yards per rushing
attempt. Now they had the ball at the Cowboys’ three-yard line, knocking on the door.
A touchdown would give them a two-score lead in the final seven minutes of the game. A
field goal would still leave them vulnerable to defeat.
Old war-horse Terry Allen saved the day, scoring the touchdown that capped a 10-play,
65-yard drive and sealed the win for New England.
"That was a big drive for us," Patriots WR Troy Brown said. "It probably
kept our season alive. Everybody was involved in it, and we did the thing that everybody
said we couldn’t do. We ran the ball in on the goal line."
New England DE Willie McGinest said, "That (game) was a back-against-the-wall-type
situation. We needed that game to get ourselves going mentally."
For that day, at least, the Patriots also had the ammunition to tell their critics to
take a flying leap. Prior to the Patriots-Cowboys game, CBS commentator Craig James had
pointed to the Patriots as a team that was quitting.
After the win over the Cowboys, the Patriots’ chests were puffed out, and their
fists were clenched.
"That’s a ridiculous thing to say, especially for somebody who isn’t
around our football team and doesn’t know our players firsthand and doesn’t
spend any time with them," Patriots head coach Pete Carroll said. "Could it (be)
more obvious that they haven’t (quit)? I don’t think so."
Said Patriots LB Ted Johnson: "I know Craig and we’re friends, but if
you’re not here and you don’t know what kind of guys are in this locker room,
you really have no justification for saying that."
The Patriots seemed energized.
Even though the Patriots had been held to 17 points or less in the Cowboys game as well
as the three contests prior to that, there was a bounce in the step of the offense.
"When I’ve had setbacks, I have responded, and I intend to do that now,"
Patriots QB Drew Bledsoe said. "I expect our offense to get hot, and I expect myself
to get hot down the stretch."
This was big talk from Bledsoe given that in this four-game stretch he had completed
only 48 percent of his passes, during which time he had an unhealthy 4-11
TD-to-interception ratio. Conversely, in his first eight games of the season, Bledsoe
completed 60.5 percent of his passes and had a 13-4 TD-to-interception ratio.
"It’s been a tough stretch for me, but I expect this offense this week to
make a statement that we are and can be a prolific offense," Bledsoe said. "We
haven’t been that recently, but I would expect us to come out hot this week."
Who was this impostor? What happened to the normally soft-spoken Bledsoe?
"Maybe he’s going crazy. Who knows?" Patriots DT Chad Eaton said.
"No, I think it’s nice to see your quarterback suck it up and really attack
something."
The fiery version of Bledsoe had been apparent at halftime of the Patriots’ game
vs. the Cowboys after he tossed an interception into the endzone just before halftime.
"He was ranting and raving and saying, ‘Hey, this has got to stop, and I will
fix this. This will get fixed fast.’ And he did," Eaton said.
From that point on, though, very little got fixed for a Patriots team that sprung so
many leaks the rest of the season that an army of plumbers should have been called in to
address the situation.
Continued on Page 2
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