Defence wins championships - AFC Title Game

They say that defence wins football games, but rarely was that as apparent as it was in Foxboro this Sunday.

Three times the Chargers had the ball inside New England’s 20 yard line – two of those times inside the 10. And yet, the Patriots defence held, not letting the Chargers score a single touchdown, forcing them to kick three field goals.

It turned out to be the margin of victory.

Since the Patriots would only manage three touchdowns on the day, if the Chargers had scored each time they were inside the 20, the score would have likely been 24-21.

Had they scored just the two times they made inside the 10, it’s still a 20-21 game, which would have given that extra incentive for the defence in the fourth quarter.

The Patriots offence sputtered and looked uncomfortable in the first half. An early interception seemed to set the tone for the Chargers defence, who allowed only 139 yards at the half. Tom Brady was only completing half of his passes and their running game was stuck in first gear.

The Chargers offence, on the other hand, looked great – until they would get close to the Patriots goal line. The controlled the clock, had nearly double the yards of New England and Rivers was throwing the ball well.

It looked like an upset in the making – if the Chargers could continue to keep the Patriots offence off the field, while they wore down their defence, they had a realistic shot at beating the unbeaten.

But the Patriots came out ready in the second half.

Tom Brady, who was 22/33, and 11/14 in the second half, wasn’t as sharp as he was the previous week. But he – and his stable of receivers – were great when it counted. When he wasn’t accurate, his receivers made great plays, diving and reaching behind them to make highlight reel catches.

Easily overlooked, however, is Lawrence Maloney. Rushing for 122 yards and a touchdown, his pounding runs helped the Patriots control the second half.

Twice the Patriots had drives of 60 or more yards, eating up the clock. One ended with a touchdown, the other with an interception. Combined, they ate up over 10 minutes.

Add New England’s final, nine-minute drive, that’s nineteen minutes of controlling the ball – more then one full quarter, nearly two-thirds of the second half.

The Chargers, meanwhile, only had three possessions in the second half, only scoring on one of them.

The best defence is a good offence, since it keeps their offence off the field. But to keep the Chargers from scoring a single TD? That was good defence.

And that’s what won the game for the Patriots.

Out for blood - NFL Week 12

Ok, so it’s official. Tom Brady, Bill Belicheck, et al are out for blood. And why shouldn’t they be – they’ve been slighted, been called cheaters, been called poor sports – mercy me, they ran up the score.

But you know, that’s what they do. Winners don’t go out and play to the level of their opponents; they go out and play as hard as they can, day in and day out.

That’s why the Montreal Canadiens won all those games in the late 1970s. That’s why nobody could handle Michael Jordan and the Bulls in 1997.

That’s why the Steelers lost last week and it’s also why nobody can stop the Patriots now.

For too long, Tom Brady has been told he’s a great quarterback – just as good as Payton Manning, perhaps. Receivers looked great when they played with him, not the other way around. And often enough, those same receivers would not look as good on another team.

Okay, so maybe it’s the system Brady plays under. Maybe it’s the coaching.

But maybe it’s because Brady is so good, he lifts those around him.

It would explain this season. Randy Moss came to New England looking like he was washed up, traded away for a draft pick.

While stranded in Oakland for two years, he had just 11 touchdowns and a little over 1,500 yards recieving.

This season alone, he has over 1,000 yards receiving and 16 Touchdowns.

This is what Brady can do with some talent around him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that players like Deion Branch are untalented – but Brady has never had a singular talent like Moss. Thanks to him, the Patriots have the league’s best offence.

Just this year alone, it’s averaging over 430 yards a game – 300 of them passing - and have over 400 points, leading the league. These are both improvements from last year.

But that’s only half of the game. The Patriots defence has also played exceptionally well. They’re third in points allowed (270), fourth in points allowed per game (15.7) an within the top ten for rushing and passing yards allowed.

They’re getting the job done. They shut down the other team, often early in games. But most importantly – they never give up.

And why should they? After all, they’re out for blood.