The Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, 37-31, continuing a streak of home wins against the Bills that dates back to 2000. As I said after the game, 6-3 sounds a hell of a lot better than 5-4 – no doubt there was a feeling of relief when the Patriots luckily eeked this one out. But despite the victory I couldn’t help but be frustrated after watching this game. The Patriots seemed to do everything in their power to give the opponent a chance to score and beat them by a single point at the end of the game; yet again. Which begs me to ask the question – are the Patriots really that good?

Hear me out. Last year the Patriots went 13-3, made the Super Bowl, and easily could have won it. They managed to do all of that with one of the worst defenses in terms of yards allowed in NFL history. This year the running game has improved significantly, the defense was bolstered via the draft, and the Patriots primary areas of concern were seemingly addressed. Yet they’ve already lost as much as they did last year, and they’re finding themselves almost losing to the Bills at home despite  putting up 37 points – that ladies and gentlemen, is a problem.

So who is the culprit? I’ll tell you who is not to blame – the offense. Tom Brady is once again quietly putting together a remarkable season that few will truly appreciate. Brady’s prodding along with a 100+ QB rating, 18 touchdowns, and only 3 interceptions. Better yet, New England’s running game has finally blossomed into the multi-pronged attacked Bill Belichick has wanted for so long.

Which brings us, naturally, to the defense. The Patriots pass defense continues to be horrendous – they are currently 29th in the NFL, and they turn the Ryan Fitzpatrick’s of the league into the second-coming of Peyton Manning. The acquisition of Aqib Talib could certainly help – it’s going to have to if the Patriots are to be considered a true contender. If we can’t stop the Bills’ passing attack, what’s going to happen when we play the Peyton Manning led Broncos? Any team with a top-tier passing attack will literally rip the Patriots secondary to shreds – at the moment.

The bigger issue to me may actually be the Patriots’ defensive line. While the Pats are in the top 10 in the league in run defense, the Bills showed that against a formidable running attack they aren’t that good. CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson tore up the Patriots for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns - simply unacceptable when you can’t stop the pass, either. But I think the real issue may be the defensive line’s ability to pressure the passer. Without a formidable blitzing scheme any good QB will continue to pick them apart, and the lack of pressure on the QB makes turnovers even more difficult to come by for an already struggling secondary.

Make no mistake about it – Devin McCourty’s interception that sealed this victory for the Patriots was not an example of “playmaking” – it was Ryan Fitzpatrick pressing and making a goofy mistake that cost his team the game. For a team that has lost two Super Bowls as of late to a team with probably the best pass rush in the NFL, the Patriots need to open their eyes. Without making the opposing quarterback uncomfortable, their will be no chance of the Patriots capturing another Lombardi trophy.

By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, NY

Tom Coughlin is one of the best coaches in the NFL. He is one of three active coaches to have multiple Super Bowl victories – one of them being Mike Shanahan who won his in the 90’s and has not had a winning record since 2006 –  the other being Bill Belichick, who Coughlin has beaten in both of his Super Bowl wins. However, Sunday night’s loss to the Eagles was a result of two poor coaching decisions in the last 2:30 of the game.

The first decision was how Coughlin handled his last two timeouts around the 2 minute warning. The Eagles had the ball trailing by 1, with a 1^st and goal from the Giants 8 yard line and 2:30 to play. LeSean McCoy ran for four yards and the Giants let the clock run to the two minute warning. The Giants then stopped the Eagles next two plays (calling their timeouts after both plays), forced a field goal, and had the ball kicked off to them with 1:49 left to play. What Coughlin should have done is use his timeouts on the other side of the two minute warning. Assuming the Giants stop the Eagles in the same way they get the ball kicked back to them with 2 minutes left. That is 11 seconds that Coughlin let tick away – an error that was magnified by what took place on the subsequent drive.

The Giants got the ball on the 35 after a good return from rookie David Wilson, who returned the ball well all game. Thanks to two pass interference calls on the Eagles’ corners the Giants had the ball on the Eagles’ 27 with 47 seconds to play. A 42-yard field goal is well within Lawrence Tynes range and the Giants looked like they had pulled off another last minute comeback. The Giants play calling was questionable from there on out, but Giants Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride can’t shave his face without screwing up so I can’t say I was surprised. After a dive play up the middle for a yard the Giants took a shot at the end zone and after some back and forth by both players offensive pass interference was called on Ramses Barden. The Giants get pushed back to the 36, putting them outside of Tynes’ range (Tynes’ career long is 53 yards). With 21 seconds left Eli threw an incomplete pass to Domenik Hixon leaving them with 3rd and 20 from the 36 with 15 seconds left. Time for one more play along the sideline, or even a dump over the middle and a spike, right?

Wrong.

Instead Coughlin sends out Tynes to try a career long to win or lose the game. Giants snap the ball, the kick is up, and it’s nowhere close – game over. But wait! Andy Reid, who somehow saved a timeout until the end of the game, iced the kicker. The play doesn’t count. One would think that after watching the kicker come nowhere close that Coughlin would take advantage of the other coach’s mistake – do the right thing and attempt to get closer for the game winner. Nope. Out came Tynes again, who this time was on target but was a yard or two short. There is a reason Tynes’ career long is 53 and not 56.

But what would have happened if Coughlin used his timeouts properly before the two minute warning? Instead of 3^nd and 20 with 15 seconds left there are 26 seconds left. I do not believe Coughlin would have made the same decision with 26 seconds left. They would have had time for a play almost anywhere on the field and time to spike the ball. If they got 5 yards they are in Tynes’ range. But Coughlin let precious seconds waste away and was left with a decision that he got wrong.

The Giants are now 2-2, and worse, 0-2 in the division. The Giants never make things easy for themselves, and I am not panicking nor calling for Coughlin’s head, yet. But I would feel a lot better today at 3-1 with a win in Philly. The frustrating part is the Giants players put themselves in position to win on the field, but the guy pulling the strings from the sidelines did not.

In a game far from devoid of storylines, the Patriots lost yet again on a play involving a last second field goal. The kick that won Baltimore the game, 31-30, was controversial in and of itself – I for one absolutely thought it was a miss as it happened in real-time. Because the kick flew above the uprights as opposed to through them, whether it was a make or a miss was not reviewable despite the fact that the game’s outcome was on the line. Regardless, it was damn close and dumped the Patriots to 1-2 – a losing record! This is uncharted territory for Mr. Brady and company.

In all honesty, I don’t have too many qualms about this loss – it was an exciting game with two teams absolutely going at it. It was certainly the chippiest game I’ve watched yet this season. Both Tom Brady and Joe Flacco had quarterback ratings over 100, with Torrey Smith, Wes Welker, and Brandon Llyod all having monster games. Despite the Ravens defensive prowess, I don’t really have any issues with the play of the Patriots offensive line in this game either – Brady was protected reasonably well, and neither team really excelled on the defensive end. Ray Rice is one tough little bastard to defend, and I certainly feel uneasy knowing that the Ravens pass rush isn’t half as good with Terrell Suggs on the sideline. This is a team I continue to want to avoid come playoff time.

Two storylines really stuck out in this contest – the death of Baltimore receiver Torrey Smith’s brother earlier in the day, and the officiating. I’ll start with Smith. To some extent, I stumbled across Smith during my fantasy football draft last season and watched with pleasant surprise as he tore it up for me last year. I then drafted him again this year. I knew he’d play in the game despite his brother’s death, and if I was the Ravens coach I would have done exactly what Jon Harbaugh did – target Smith relentlessly. You knew he was going to come up big, and despite the loss there’s a feel-good sentiment to knowing that Torrey Smith needed all those yards and that victory yesterday. You’ve got to feel happy that Smith got a small victory amidst the worst day of his life.

Secondarily, there was the issue of the officiating. Hold your horses; you’re not about to hear a bunch of whining out of a fan whose team lost. In fact, I haven’t written a single word about the replacement refs all season – I fall very strongly in the “that’s something you can’t control” camp – just go out there and play. And in this game, the reffing was atrocious – both ways. It was easily the most poorly officiated game I’ve ever watched. The TV announcers were literally laughing at the head official, a long-time stalwart in Division II college football. I’d imagine that the speed at the pro level is a bit different. When the announcers blatantly prove more than a handful of calls to be flat-out incorrect, there’s a big problem. When an entire stadium in standing and chanting BS so loudly that I have to turn the volume on my TV down, that’s just not good for business. And when the majority of first downs in the game were the result of penalties, well that’s just not fun.

The NFL is an absolute beast of a league – it makes unbelievable amounts of money, is incredibly well run, and it has undeniably surpassed baseball as America’s sport of choice. That said, this whole official-gate scenario has proven that the NFL thinks it’s untouchable – they think they can do no wrong. Frankly, I’ve tended to echo that sentiment. But yesterday’s game caused me to rethink my stance. Why? Simply because I have no faith in the outcome of the game. I’m not saying that Patriots should have won whatsoever. I’m saying if the game is officiated at a normal 2011 level, it might not even have been a close game. The Ravens might have won, the Patriots might have won – I don’t know. But officiating dramatically altered yesterday’s game, no doubt, and for me it’s eroding the credibility of what happens on the field. Football fans aren’t going anywhere soon, but with most fans’ faith in the fairness of the game waning, the NFL certainly has reason to be concerned.

All in all, the Patriots put up 31 points despite struggling in the red zone – they simply needed to do a better job containing Ray Rice and Joe Flacco. While no one saw a 1-2 record coming, I’m certainly not concerned – this team will run off a bunch of wins sooner rather than later and will be where they need to be come playoff time. But I do wish that I was more comfortable with the game’s outcome being the correct one.

Stephen Gostkowski shanked a 42-yard field goal that would have beaten the Arizona Cardinals – frankly it wasn’t even close – and just like that the Patriots were handed their first loss of the season. Gostkowski, who had already made field goals of 34, 46, 51, and 53 yards in the game, will undoubtedly go down as the scapegoat for this loss – but he shouldn’t. While it’s undeniable that Gostkowski missed at a pivotal moment, it was a plethora of uncharacteristic mistakes and solid play by the Cardinals that led to the loss.

 First off, the late fumble that gave the Patriots life (and Gostkowski a chance at winning it) was an absolute gift. Second of all, the Patriots produced 142 yards more offense than the Cardinals did, yet lost. The last time they out-gained an opponent by such a margin in a loss was 1989. Third of all, Rob Gronkowski was called for a holding penalty that offset what would have been the game winning touchdown. Finally, the Cardinals got the breaks they needed – an interception and a blocked punt. Collectively, these mishaps should result in a loss, as they did.

This game also gave Pats fans a reason to be weary – the Cardinals are just the most recent team to verify the blueprint for beating the Pats – attacking the quarterback relentlessly. Tom Brady was sacked 4 times and hit 6 times, generally keeping him off-balance and out of the end zone. But if anyone had any doubts about his ability to lead a down-field charge late in the game, Brady was able to surgically pick the Arizona defense apart to force the issue and make a game of it. Brady needs to continue to improve his ability to make something happen when under duress, and the front office should be looking at all options for offensive line reinforcements.

While the loss was certainly tough to swallow, the injury to tight end Aaron Hernandez adds to the sting. Hernandez is on the field on a vast majority of offensive plays, and his versatility will certainly be missed. On a brighter note, kudos to Wes Welker for breaking Troy Brown’s all-time Patriots receptions record – the man, like Brown, has been nothing but a pleasure to watch year in and year out. And despite the loss there’s no need to panic – this might just be the spark the Patriots need to really get rolling.

In shocking news, an ESPN.com poll today showed that the New York Giants are at least getting some degree of respect this season. With over 40,000 votes, I can’t make this stuff up. So does it feel Giants fans? Make some whiny comment about being under-appreciated here…

For every time a twenty-something girl dives on the Facebook to share a photo of the most recent fried meal they had or their most recent engagement, there’s a twenty-something guy out there posting the latest cliche Facebook update about how pumped they are that football is back! IS IT REALLY? I didn’t notice. Most people like ice cream!

My apologies – I’m a bit feisty at the moment. Please just proceed to insert your favorite cliche “Football is back!” quote here. Moving on…

The Patriots. I got to watch them last night in their first pre-season game. They actually drafted players that seemed like logical choices this year, and goddamnnnnn does that make me happy. I maintain, unabashedly, that the Patriots should be considered the favorite to win the Super Bowl this year. If Tom Brady doesn’t go down, I for one expect them to win it all. Put that on record.

Last night, I think every Patriots fan saw exactly what they wanted to see. First round pick Chandler Jones in particular was a beast putting pressure on the opposing quarterback. At 6’5 and 266 pounds, this guy has literally no upper body – he’s all arms and legs, which he used last night to get to the quarterback with what looked like relative ease. Comparisons to Jason Pierre Paul have already started flooding in, but A) That’s a heck of a comparison and B) Let’s wait till the guy has some real success first, shall we? Regardless it appears as though Jones will make the entire Patriots defense, and mainly the secondary, significantly better by actually putting some pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Better yet, Dont’a Hightower (6’4, 270 pounds) is probably the scariest man I’ve ever seen and Jake Bequette (6’5, 274 pounds) looked like an absolute stud as well. I’d look for all three of these guys to be immediate contributors, and the Patriots just got a hell of a lot bigger and scarier on the defensive end.

So how does the rest of the team look?

Short of a full season preview, the Patriots strengths will again be on the offensive side of the ball. They have the best quarterback in the league, the best tight ends in the league, and an incredibly deep receiving core. While I’ve always been a cheerleader for Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallet, actually watching them play last night was somewhat maddening. Everybody in New England has been spoiled for over a decade now, and trying to come to terms with having to watch a quarterback aside from Tom Brady someday is going to be even worse than I expected. Aside from Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, and maybe Drew Brees, watching other quarterbacks is simply something of a reminder that playing the position isn’t nearly as easy as those guys make it look.

As for the weaknesses of the Patriots, the secondary immediately jumps out again. I’d say with some more experienced players in the secondary, I’m generally less concerned about the secondary than I was last year – but it will still be maddening watching the better quarterbacks in the league convert on third and long. I look at it like with the newfound ability to apply pressure to opposing QBs, the secondary will instantly be that much better – they’ll at least be able to cause more turnovers than they did last season. Definitely a plus.

The bigger question mark for me this year is the Patriots offensive line. They were missing some key pieces last night but one of the supposedly more reliable players, Nate Solder, looked flat-out terrible. If injuries hit the O-line, the Pats don’t have a ton of depth. Tom could find himself in big trouble, especially on his blind side, and obviously this only adds to the possibility of him going down with a serious injury. This is what makes me wake up with a start, hyperventilating at night.

Perhaps one of the most interesting question marks for the Patriots is at the running back position. At this point Stevan Ridley is option 1A, Shane Vereen is 1B, and Danny Woodhead continues to play the same role he has all along. I think it’ll be a running back by committee situation throughout the year, and while I don’t think the running game will be a strength, I do think it will be sufficient. All the Patriots running backs need to do is not fumble the ball and find someone who can punch the ball across the goal line in the red zone.

I’d look for the Pats to go 13-3, and I want a rematch with the Giants in the Super Bowl. Let’s see what Eli can manage if we actually manage to put some pressure on him.

Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, NY

Tom Brady came out yesterday and said he wants to “play for a long time”… the obvious question then is how much of that time will be spent with the Patriots? Brady’s contract runs through 2014, and working off of Brady’s quote I would assume that would mean he wants a new contract after that. What will the Patriots do though? The Pats have shown that they will choose what is best for the team over loyalty. Richard Seymour, Mike Vrable, Deon Branch, and Randy Moss are a few big names that were shown the door or not asked back by the Patriots, in their seemingly never-ending quest to get younger. Will the Patriots go against their own pattern for the best player in their history? Or will the Pats fans feel like the Colts fans this year watching their hero in a 49er’s jersey after two years?

When I did my write-up on the Patriots draft last week, I had this to say about the Patriots fifth draft pick:

Nate Ebner, SS, Ohio State, Pick #197, 6’1 205 pounds
Another of Belichick’s bizarre picks, who’s very similar in size to Tavon Wilson. Again, not sure of Belchick’s angle on this one.

Well, the angle has become pretty damn clear. This kid basically didn’t play football at Ohio State – true he was their best special teams player, but he was first and foremost the best player on the rugby team.

The video above is pretty astounding – at this point it’s made its way around the web, but I figured I’d post it for those of you who haven’t caught it yet. I first saw this video last week, and I keep coming back to it. Not only is Ebner’s speed and ability to cut pretty astounding, but the ferocity of his tackles for a guy that’s only 6’1 205 is incredible. I have no doubt that this man orders his In-N-Out burgers with an extra side of animal sauce.

Better yet, I imagine that this kid wasn’t even on the radar of most teams, and for those that he was I’m sure more than a couple of scouts had the “he’s a rugby player, not a football player” conversation. All I know if I like what I see in this video, and I have no doubt that this kid is tough as nails.

A diamond in the rough? We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m sure excited to see what he can do.

Here we have Tom Brady and the best receiver in the NFL over the past 5 seasons, Wes Welker. Yes, you are envious of their awesomeness.

When I think about the Patriots and the NFL draft, a line from Alanis Morisette’s song “Ironic”  immediately comes to mind, “It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.” I then typically cringe, begin to sweat a bit, then whimper myself to sleep. Sure, the Patriots are among the best teams when it comes to drafting, but Bill Belichick’s history of trading down picks and selecting players at our best positions is absolutely maddening. Maybe Belichick is softening in his old age, I’m not sure, but it sure as hell seems as though he threw me a life-preserver this year.

With the draft approaching, I had several meaningful conversations with Pats fans as of late – it’s been long enough, we’ve had our time to cope, and speaking about the Patriots is slowly moving away from being a taboo subject. The new sentiment I’m hearing, and one I subscribe to very much so, is that Tom Brady just needs to win one more Super Bowl. It’s not about the best ever argument or anything like that anymore – it’s simply the fact that Brady has become a much better quarterback than he was in his younger years and he deserves to win a championship in this part of his career. A fourth Super Bowl for Brady, and we can all die happy.

It’s been maddening that the Patriots have seemingly forgotten that they were a defense first team when Brady & Co were ringing off championships. Brady never had a single offensive Pro Bowl player in any championship season, but he had a roster filled with defensive stalwarts. Heck, the Patriots didn’t even know what they had in Brady in those years. Since they’ve come to realize Brady’s greatness, it’s as though they’ve thrown any importance attached to the defense out the window – and in doing so they’ve put up several of the best offensive season’s in the history of football, while winning a total of 0 championships. Earth to Bill, draft some defensive players for heaven’s sake.

Simply put, I’m ecstatic with this year’s draft class. The Patriots selected defensive players with their first six picks – frankly I don’t care if these guys were the linebackers on the Little Giants or defensive ends in the XFL, I’m just happy as could be that their needs were addressed. It seems as though the Patriots got a few definite studs, and they took their usual Belichick sleep picks as well that left everyone utterly confused. I love it – our defense in a couple of days changed from old, small, and slow to big, fast, and young. Here’s what we landed.

Chandler Jones, DE, Syracuse, Pick #21, 6’5 266 pounds
The Patriots obviously love this guy – he should contribute immediately at the position where we need to most help.

Dont’a Hightower, LB, Alabama, Pick #25, 6’2 265 pounds
Hightower has been touted as the Patriot that will have the most immediate impact. At their respective press conferences, Chandler Jones seemed giddy and talked about how excited he was to be a Patriot. Hightower instead talked about how he was ready to crush people, basically saying, “Every player on the other team is going to want to know where I am on the field… and I’ll get to them regardless, and when I do, it’s going to hurt.” We’ve got a savage in the making here – and Belichick is already comparing his football IQ to that of Jerrod Mayo.

Tavon Wilson, CB/FS, Illinois, Pick #48, 6’0 205 pounds
One of Belichick’s WTF picks, nobody expected this guy to get picked this high – or at all. It seems like a good “system” pick – who knows. He’ll either be great, or he’ll be working at Kohl’s by the end of camp.

Jake Bequette, DE, Arkansas, Pick #90, 6’5 274 pounds
Almost everybody in New England’s favorite pick – we got this guy late, and his production in college was absurd. He’s crazy fast for his size, and he beat out the majority of wide receivers and running backs in both the 3-cone and short shuttle drills at the combine. He’s also a team leader, an absolutely no problems off the field type of guy. Awesome.

Nate Ebner, SS, Ohio State, Pick #197, 6’1 205 pounds
Another of Belichick’s bizarre picks, who’s very similar in size to Tavon Wilson. Again, not sure of Belchick’s angle on this one.

Alfanzo Dennard, CB, Nebraska, Pick #224, 5’10 204 pounds
The other surprisingly awesome pick taken in the later rounds, this guy was projected as a late first or second round pick but fell dramatically because he was arrested last week. Almost everybody cites this guy’s talent, as he shut down many of the best receivers in college football this year – most of whom were selected much higher than he was. This is a personality flaw pick, but if anyone can control him it’s Belichick.

Jeremy Ebert, WR, Northwestern, Pick #235, 5’11 200 pounds
Wide receiver is not a position in need by any stretch of the imagination for the Pats, but this was a great pick as well. With his size and a 4.4 forty under his belt, he’s both bigger and faster than Wes Welker. He’ll compete primarily with Julian Edelman and Anthony Gonzalez, which is a nice problem to have at the back-up slot receiver position.

I have big expectations for these guys, and I think that Jones, Hightower, and Bequette in particular have a chance to transform this team defensively. So here it is, my prediction that you can trace back to May 1, 2012 at next year’s Super Bowl; if Tom Brady is healthy throughout the playoffs next season, the Patriots will be hoisting the Lombardi trophy.