This game was most definitely a game of two halves. The Patriots outscored the Ravens in the first half, but the second half looked like a game between two completely different teams. Another bunch of guys showed up wearing Ravens uniforms, and dominated on offense, scoring 28 unanswered points. A different bunch of guys showed up in Patriots uniforms, and looked (to use the old Led Zeppelin tune name) totally dazed and confused. Once the Ravens began throwing the ball down the field, the Patriots looked like a team with no secondary worth a damn. Losing Aqib Talib in the first half did not help, but Joe Flacco and his offense shredded the Patriots defense in the second half. However, at the same time, the Patriots could not score enough additional points on their possessions in the second half to even make the game close. They seemed to lose the ability to move the ball down to the red zone, and then to come away with points.
Not scoring enough points in big games is becoming a fundamental issue for the Patriots. The main reason they lost against the Giants, as Bill Belichick pointed out afterwards, is that they only scored 14 points, and that is never going to be enough to win a Superbowl, no matter how good your defense is.
Talking of Bill Belichick...most of the column inches about him today are devoted to his decision to blow off the post-game interview with CBS. Instead another Patriots player came out in this place, and was suitably gracious in defeat.
The failure to talk to CBS, plus some grouchy responses at his official press conference, displayed Bill Belichick, horse's ass, to the world once more.
I find this aspect of Belichick's behaviour difficult to understand. As my old man used to say, good manners cost nothing. Belichick is actually one of the most measured and polite of coaches when talking about the opposition in public. He is always careful to praise opposing teams and players, and I cannot ever remember him straying remotely near anything that might be construed as trash talk. In fact the Patriots as an organization seem to have a focus on letting their play do the talking, period. Yet, when put in front of a roomful of journalists, Belichick always seems to inhabit the zone between indifference and flippancy, his facial expressions alternating between boredom and contempt. He doesn't have to do that. It would not take much effort for him to, actually, you know, smile once in a while, and, while being careful not to give anything away, to answer a question without contriving to give the impression that he considers it to be a waste of his time. I have to conclude that he considers the effort a waste of his time. This is a pity, since for many people, he is the face of the franchise. Players come and go, but he has been there a long time, and looks like he will be there a while yet. Yet, every time he blows off a press conference, or shoots a look of withering contempt at a journalist, he undermines the image of the New England Patriots.