Low blows

WEEK 5
I can't help after a sports day like Sunday but to think of how it would have felt 10 years ago. I'd be pretty much hiding in the dark in my basement listening to the Doors. But after three Super Bowls and two World Series it's really hard to get too down. Really. And once you get into your 40s and shit happens, you get perspective whether you want it or not.

Did I expect the Red Sox to blow a four-run lead at home in Game 3 with Papelbon completely imploding? Nope. Did I expect the Pats to blow a 10-point lead on the road against the Broncos with Brady missing too many wide open receivers? No way. But both of those things happened -- in a span of four hours. Losses like Sunday's were much more of a bummer in the "Why do my teams always lose big games like that?" days. Now I think most Boston fans have the ability to realize your team won't win the title every year. It's not possible. (Only Yankees fans still think they should win every year). The Sox had another great season but lost to a better team. They'll be a playoff contender again next year. The Pats played a very good road game against a good team and lost in OT. They're 3-2 and come home to play the winless (but dangerous) Titans. Then go to London to play the not-so-dangerous Bucs. Take care of business and they should be 5-2 heading into their bye week. But that's getting a little ahead of things.

Watching the Pats-Broncos game I felt like I have so many times. The Pats won't lose. They'll make a play when they need to. As Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said of beating his old team "You know how hard it is to beat them. They never beat themselves." And they didn't beat themselves Sunday. The Broncos, now a legitimate 5-0, did the beating.

The Broncos came out in what was dubbed the "Wild Horses" offense. A version of the Dolphins wildcat offense that the Fins rode to the playoffs last year. The wildcat gave the Pats all kinds of trouble last season but they did a better job against the wild horses. The only thing wild about the Broncos at the start of the game were those throwback uniforms they were wearing. What were those things? Brown and yellow with striped socks? They looked like the Vancouver Canucks of the late '70s. U-G-L-Y.

Brady and the Pats controlled the first half but held only a 10-7 lead when Kyle Orton led the Broncos on an impressive 10 play, 90-yard drive in the last few minutes of the second quarter. It felt like the first half of the Jets game in Week 2 when the Pats did everything right but score TDs and held only a 9-3 lead at the half. After the Broncos scored, Brady and the Pats responded the way great teams do. They marched 74-yards on 10 plays of their own, Brady hooking up with Ben Watson with just five seconds left in the half. Pats 17, Broncos 7. That score felt about right. But it wasn't. Brady missed a wide-open Moss (that's happened too many times so far this season as the 1-4 record of my fantasy team Moss Racing can attest) for what would have been an easy 50-yard TD.

The second half, much like the Jets game, saw the Broncos making big plays and the Pats misfiring. Brady missed Welker on a third and short slant pass that, if he had led him, would have gone for a touchdown. The focus will be on Brady's misses again this week. And that comes with the territory when you are a quarterback in the NFL. I have no doubt that almost every Patriot messed up on at least one play yesterday. Blocks not made. Tackles missed. Holes not hit. Interceptions not made (like that key tipped ball in the second half that should have been a pick but ended up being a big completion for Denver). Passes dropped. But when you are Tom Brady every mistake, or perceived mistake, you make is there for everyone to see and criticize. Did Brady lose the game? No. But he had chances to win it and, for one of the few times in his career, he didn't cash in.

The Pats got the ball back with just more than 2:30 left in the game after the defense pulled itself together and made a stop. Brady moved them to midfield at the two minute warning with two timeouts still in his pocket. There was no way the Pats weren't moving into field goal position to give Gotskowski a chance to win it. One play later Brady was hit, the ball was fumbled, and the game was headed to OT. Brady was a perfect 7-0 in overtime in his career but this time he never got the ball. Orton moved the Broncos on an 11-play drive to set up the winning field goal.

It was a tough defeat for the Pats and an impressive win for the Broncos. Especially considering they not only had to overcome the Patriots, but also the shame of wearing those uniforms.