Tale of Two Halves

The Cleveland Browns were coming to town. 4-8 record, should be a win as long as the New England Patriots don't play down to the visiting team. Hoping the defense does the best they can with what's left in the cupboard. Again. Another game where New England spends all of the first half on the field with shovels digging a hole.

You try googling "New England Patriots Shovel" and get back to me. 

Granted, the hole was only two field goals deep. It's becoming a worrying trend, though. If they keep this up, one game they'll end up in China at halftime, which could be problematic. I don't think they have a place to carry their passports in those uniforms.

Actually closer to Australia. Try it yourself, here.

There were no adjustments made at halftime with the exception of "see these plays? Execute them." Er, not that kind of execute.

Not a firing squad.

They did some of that, as well as losing Gronkowski to injury. Or as my daughter calls him, the Dunkin Donuts man. Hard to argue against that designation. Not posting a photo or .gif of that, I am tired of seeing it.

That didn't last long.

I wouldn't blame the player for the hit. T.J. Ward is just doing his job and playing hard. Coach Belichick understands he's just playing the game.

Let the hate flow through you. (™Lucasfilm)

The Patriots did the impossible again, coming back to win the game, 27-26. Incredible finish to a wild game. A nail biter, heart attack special kind of affair. Yes, there was a late penalty with 40 seconds left in the game. This makes the Patriots 1-2 in end-of-game deciding calls. They are a magnet for this kind of nonsense this year. Having said that, one call rarely decides a game. There is every single play up to that point. The pass interference call yesterday that some people are screaming about?

Some people, fig. 1

 Guess what people? The Patriots were down 12 points with 2:39 to go. One pass interference call doesn't give you two touchdowns. One pass interference call doesn't give you a free onside kick recovery. In fact, the last time the New England Patriots recovered an onside kick was January 1st 1995, 18 years ago against the Cleveland Browns. Despite the onside kick recovery,The Patriots still lost that game long ago against the Browns' fourth year coach, Bill Belichick. Last night's kick qualifies as a piece of art. Cleveland Browns players, catch that kick, the game is over. You win.

Like the Mona Lisa, but in pads.

One pass interference call doesn't explain why the Browns called their last timeout with 0:35 seconds to play, when they didn't need to stop the clock. Surely the pass interference call explains wasting the timeout when they could have run one more play, gotten 5-7 yards closer and made that kick to win the game.

Achievement not unlocked.

The New England Patriots scored two touchdowns in thirty seconds. The pass interference call helped, to be sure. It didn't execute all of the rest of the plays they needed to pull out a win, and the Cleveland Browns defense certainly didn't do their job and stop them.

Maybe the next time these teams play it can be fun times in Cleveland.

Credit to my daughter for this awesome video.

Feel free to tell me how wrong I am in the comments.