Insult and injury

WEEK 17

I'm not a big believer in karma. But there are times when what goes around truly does seem to come around. So when Tom Brady went down in the first quarter of last season there was a part of me that thought "Spygate. Payback is a bitch." I know it had nothing to do with it but if there is such a thing as karma I figured the Pats were paid in full.

I guess not. Watching Wes Welker grab his knee in the first quarter in today's season finale in Houston -- just a week before the playoffs -- the only thought was "Did that just happen?'' Sadly, it did. Welker looks done for the year. The X-ray will say for sure but it looked like torn ligaments. You don't have to have Superman's vision to see that. Let the second-guessing fest begin! Should Belichick have played the starters? Should he have taken the safe road like the Colts last week? Is this just more of Belichick's arrogance? Well, no. It's a serious -- and disastrous -- injury. They happen all the time in the NFL. In preseason. Regular season. Playoffs. First quarter. And last quarter. Games with a lot on the line and games with little on the line. The same thing could have happened in the first quarter of the playoffs next week. You really can't hide from injuries in football. They will find you.

However, feel free to second-guess the coach when it comes to the QB. I'm still not sure what the heck he was doing with Brady today. He's in the game. Wait. He's out and Hoyer is in. Oh, wait. Brady's back in. One last drive to try to win the game? Brady's out again. I doubt Belichick will go into much detail on his thinking there but that's OK. It doesn't matter what he was thinking. It made no sense. None at all. Either leave him in or take him out. Lots of room for criticism there. But any talk comparing what happened to Welker to what the Colts did last week in tanking against the Jets is -- as usual -- way off base. Why? Because Manning, Clark, Wayne, et al played in the first half. Any one of them could have blown a knee. Once a guy lines up to play a down in a game there's a risk of injury. The Colts were doing the same thing as the Pats in the first half. Playing to win. It wasn't until the second half that the Colts quit.

The Pats, as usual, did not quit at all yesterday. And with 14 minutes to go they were up 27-13 and playing well. Welker or not, the Pats seemed to be building some momentum on both sides of the ball. And that is not meaningless. But then something very familiar happened. They proceeded to blow the lead by giving up three touchdowns. It looked a lot like the blown games against the Broncos, the Colts, and the Wildcats. When the Texans cut the lead to 27-20 I texted my nephew Pete "The D has to win this game." They didn't. Once again the Pats had a chance to show they could hold a lead in a crucial game against a tough opponent and once again they didn't get it done. Each time they have blown a lead this season I figured it was the last time I would see it. If it happens one more time then it will indeed be the last time I see it -- this season.

The regular season is finally over. As is any margin for error. With another blown lead -- and more importantly a Welker blown knee -- the Pats are heading into the playoffs in much the same condition they have been all season. Limping. We'll find out soon enough just how dangerous they can be when wounded.