Patriots try to pick up pieces

[BAMAPHIN 22]

There were no crutches in sight, only ex-champs in a somber locker room.The Patriots were just about the healthiest they'd been the whole season. They didn't blame their mistake-filled flop on questionable calls by officials.

There was befuddlement, though, at how a disciplined group that thrived under the pressure of three Super Bowls victories could come unglued with a chance for a fourth. Five turnovers plus an opportunistic opponent equaled a 27-13 divisional playoff win for the Denver Broncos on Saturday night.
Now comes a long offseason of soul-searching about how a budding dynasty ended with a dud.

"When you lose, you want to go down fighting, you want to go down playing your best," New England quarterback Tom Brady said, "and we didn't do that."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/specials/playoffs/2005/01/15/bc.fbn.patriotswrapup.ap/index.html

 

[0000001]

yup, too many mistakes

 

[PressCoverage]

they were about to take control of the football game, on the road against a top 4 opponent... i still say Bailey fumbled through the end zone, and Samuel got a horrible P.I. call go against him... Faulk has always been a fumbler.... He's versatile, but how he's lasted 7 years with that team is a mystery to me...

Dillon just doesn't look the same... further eivdence that, usually, RBs drop off the table at age 30... Pats will bounce back.... Too much young talent in the trenches not to.... They'd be smart to snatch a talented RB in the first round...

 

[nephinsfan]

they were about to take control of the football game, on the road against a top 4 opponent... i still say Bailey fumbled through the end zone, and Samuel got a horrible P.I. call go against him... Faulk has always been a fumbler.... He's versatile, but how he's lasted 7 years with that team is a mystery to me...

Dillon just doesn't look the same... further eivdence that, usually, RBs drop off the table at age 30... Pats will bounce back.... Too much young talent in the trenches not to.... They'd be smart to snatch a talented RB in the first round...

sounding more and more like a pats homer by the second. We all saw the same replay and there was no way that anyone could see evidence to overturn that call on Baileys run back and if it would have been called a fumble to begin with on the field then the same applies. And I am tired of hearing them complain about the PI call. Maybe if Faulk could hang onto the ball, there would have been no chance for a bad call.