While the Patriots managed to earn a 20-10 victory over the Panthers in Week 14, they hardly have reason to celebrate.
They gained 377 total yards, but turned the ball over three times. They held the Panthers to just 179 passing yards, but gave up 305 net yards. Tom Brady led the Pats on a nice 13-play scoring drive to give them the lead late in the third quarter, but his interception set up Carolina’s first touchdown. Wes Welker caught another 10 passes for 105 yards, but Randy Moss hauled in just one pass for 16 yards…and fumbled it.
Speaking of Moss, he flat out dogged it on the field today. He ran lackluster routes, was seen pouting on the sidelines and appeared to give up on a pass that was intercepted by Carolina in the first half. In other words, he was the exact opposite of Welker, who continues to give his all on every play.
Bill Belichick also decided to go for it again on fourth down and once again the Patriots failed. It wasn’t a bad decision because his offense was in no man’s land, but maybe it’s time for Belichick to scale back the aggressiveness if his offense can’t be counted on to convert.
In the NFL, a win is the only thing that matters and at 8-5, the Pats are still in good position to win their division. But this is hardly an elite team anymore and if they do wind up making the postseason, things are setting up for an early exit for New England.
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