Lazlo's Closet

 

Courtesy of Pats Pulpit

The bleeding started when Aqib Talib left the game with a thigh injury and the Patriots simply couldn’t stop the nose bleed.

Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens came into Gillette Stadium and thrashed the New England Patriots with an impressive 28-13 victory as they’ll now advance to Super Bowl XLVII to face the San Francisco 49ers.

What this game all comes down to is that Tom Brady isn’t what he used to be—he can no longer come through in the clutch in the postseason.

The fault of this loss does not fall on the defense, which seems to be the common scapegoat, but it falls on Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the offense.

New England’s high-powered offense isn’t built to win in the playoffs—take last year’s Super Bowl for an example, and ever playoff appearance since their last Super Bowl title in the 2004 season.

Brady barely completed half of his passes, as he went 29-54 for 320 yards while throwing one touchdown but was picked off twice and finishing with a pitiful 62.3 quarterback rating.

Joe Flacco out-played Tom Brady.

Has Flacco now emerged into the elite class of the NFL? That question still remains to be unanswered, but his performance in the AFC Championship Game certainly gives him a good case. Flacco finished with three passing touchdowns and no turnovers while posting a 106.3 quarterback rating.

The fault of this loss should not fall on the defense—New England’s defense did their job, the NFL’s highest-scoring offense only scored 13 points.

13 points—that is not good enough to win playoff games.

New England’s struggle on third-downs ultimately was the death of them. The Patriots converted on just six of their 14 third-downs.

That is not going to win you playoff games.

Brady and the offense’s performance pretty much sums up the career that Peyton Manning had with the Indianapolis Colts—not good enough to win playoff games.

Have the Patriots turned into the Colts of the 2000s? New England dominants each and every regular season but have yet to win the big one in nearly 10 years.

Ever since 2007, the Patriots have morphed into the Colts of the 2000s. Tom Brady is now on the level of Peyton Manning—a great regular season quarterback but can’t get it done in the playoffs.

Am I being too harsh? Maybe, but maybe not—the facts are there.

New England failed to score a single point in the second half while the Ravens stormed with 21 points led by Flacco.

The Patriots will now enter this offseason after yet another disappointing playoff exit.

All of Patriots Nation will look forward to next year, hoping that it’s the year that their cherished dynasty can regain the throne of the NFL—but let me the barrier of bad news: Tom Brady will be 36-years-old by the start of next season and he will continue his slow decline as the end of his career approaches.

 

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