Broken Hearted

The loud-mouthed Jets shocked New England Sunday night, defeating the Patriots 28-21 in Foxboro. For the second straight year, Brady and the Pats are knocked out of the playoffs after just one game. 

People who don't follow sports just don't get it. They have no idea what it's like to spend six-plus months pouring your heart and soul into a single team, watching it grow and mature into something beautiful like a child or a relationship. They're completely oblivious to what it's like watching the team you've been a fan of for your entire life overcome adversity, youth and inexperience to blow out the competition and silence the critics en route to an NFL-best 14-2 record. And, as a result, the non-sports fan is unable to fathom the magnitude of the heartache and devastation felt when your Hall of Fame coach and franchise quarterback let you down when it matters most, especially when you've grown so accustomed to watching them deliver in the most pivotal of moments.

Ask any non-sports fan why they could care less about professional athletics and most likely their answer will have something to do with the old cliche that "it's just a game." But for the true Patriots fan, watching New England crumble at home against the hated Jets 28-21 Sunday night in the AFC Divisional Playoff was more than just a game.

It was a tragedy.

It was a slow-motion nightmare that none of us could wake up from no matter how hard we tried, like a character from Inception trapped in the fourth layer of the subconscious with no hope of returning to reality. It felt like losing a loved one. Or getting dumped. Or having your heart ripped out by your bitter rival only to watch them stomp on it and dance to the once powerful but now faint and irregular beat.

Just like that, the New England Patriots' season is over. No debate. No discussion. No second chance. The very same team destined to reach the Super Bowl is now relegated to watching the rest of the playoffs instead of participating in them. This is precisely the reason why Sunday's no-show by the Patriots wasn't just a horrific loss, it was so much more than that. It was the abrupt end to a half-year journey that saw fans like you and me devote countless hours of time, energy and emotional capital only to have it cut short by a bunch of classless, trash-talking thugs from New York.

Leading up to Sunday's game, the Boston sports media kept telling us exactly what we wanted to hear and we couldn't help but believe it. Sports radio stations like WEEI told us over and over that not only were the Patriots going to beat the Jets but they would crush them. They told us it wouldn't even be close. They told us this Pats team was just as good if not better than the record-setting 2007 bunch. They spoke about the Super Bowl as if it was something the Patriots were entitled to.

The sad truth of the matter is that come playoff time, the past is meaningless. It doesn't matter that the Patriots went 14-2 and posted the greatest turnover ratio in NFL history. It doesn't matter that they blew out countless opponents during the regular season and took down juggernauts like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Chicago, San Diego and Green Bay. It doesn't matter that New England went undefeated both at home and during the second half of the season, earning the #1 seed in the AFC as well as a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

All that matters is that you win. And, despite winning more than any other team during the regular season, the Patriots couldn't when they needed to most. For the second straight year, New England saw its season end at home in the playoffs.

For all the trash the Jets talked leading up to Sunday's grudgematch, Rex Ryan and his players backed it up. Playing a nearly perfect game, the Jets made no mistakes while New England uncharacteristically committed several.

Nevertheless, the game began just as we expected it to. After forcing the Jets to punt on their opening possession, Brady led the Pats down the field with a methodical drive toward the New York endzone, spreading the ball around and looking exactly like the team we've grown to love all year. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, everything changed.

Attempting a screen pass, Brady overthrew his receiver and was picked off by linebacker David Harris who proceeded to return the interception 58 yards downfield. For Brady, it was his first interception since October 11th against the Ravens, breaking a NFL record of 339 consecutive attempts without throwing a pick. Just like that, the Patriots appeared shell-shocked. On a team full of rookies and second year players (16 Patriots were making their playoff debut), Brady, the unquestioned leader, proved his mortality and all of a sudden the momentum shifted.

From there on out it was like watching the same train wreck over and over again. Taking a play from the New York Giants game plan during Super Bowl XLII, the Jets put extreme pressure on Brady during every play, sacking him five times and forcing several errant throws. Evidently, Rex's defensive scheme revolved around the idea that Brady couldn't pick apart the Jets secondary if he didn't have any time to find an open receiver. Suddenly the team who led the league in scoring with an average of nearly 31 points per game couldn't even gain a first down.

Then came fumbles, penalties, dropped passes and mental miscues. Patrick Chung botched a fake punt attempt near the end of the second half, giving the Jets excellent field position to which they scored and entered halftime carrying the momentum and the lead 14-3.

The entire game Patriots fans were pining for just one player to step up and ignite the team. Mayo. Wilfork. McCourty. Meriweather. Gronkowski. Welker. Branch. But it never happened.

So here Patriots fans rest, caught in the unforgiving crossroads of devastation and regret. The once certain playoff magic we've all come to expect around these parts has eluded New England for the second straight season.

"We picked a wrong time to play our worst game," admitted Deion Branch.

Of course, at times like these, one must look for a silver lining beneath the overbearing weight of such a tragic loss. So here it is: believe it or not, the 2010 Patriots exceeded our expectations. A team full of rookies and second years players, they performed exquisitely during the regular season, winning 14 of 16 games and playing well beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Unfortunately, their young players seemed to fold under the monumental pressure of the postseason, Tom Brady wasn't the Tom Brady we all know and love and the genius Bill Belichick got outcoached by the loud-mouth Rex Ryan.

And when it's all said and done, everyone will remember this year not for all the games the Patriots won, but for the one big game they lost when it mattered most.