Pats lose, still 0-0

Bill Belichick is not a happy man this morning. Or is he? The Patriots played their third preseason game last night and made more mistakes against the lowly Rams than they did in their previous two against the Saints and the Falcons. The coach will have plenty of things he can use to remind his team that they still have a lot of work to do. That's when he's at his best.

BELICHICK: The D stinks.

The next two weeks leading up to the home opener against Cincy will probably not be a lot of fun around Gillette. I think Belichick prefers it that way. It wasn't a disaster of a game as far as preseason goes (no injuries that I saw), but it was bad enough to get the team's attention. Lots of penalties. Lots of players out of position. The offense put up 35 points, but the defense gave up 36. Lots of work to do.

The game started off on a great note as second-year wide receiver Brandon Tate took the opening kick-off 97 yards for a touchdown. He looks like he'll have a spot on the roster at a very competitive position. Then the defense took the field and it seemed like they never left.

Rookie QB Sam Bradford led the Rams on a 10 play, 72-yard drive to tie the game. The Rams would add scoring drives of 8 plays, 7 plays, 9 plays, 15 plays!, 11 plays, and 9 plays. The last one led to the game winning field goal as time expired. I'm not sure how Brady and the offense were able to score any points considering how long the Rams held the ball. The spotlight will shine brightly on the Pats' defense over the next two weeks. The last preseason game next week against the Giants might turn out to be than just a scrimmage for the defense. They have something to prove.

It's a defense that is sorely lacking a leader. Mayo. Meriweather. Wilfork. They are all solid players but not the Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi kind of guys. Meriweather spends too much time howling after making a tackle when his team is losing. Make the tackle. Get up. Get back to the huddle. Make another tackle. When the game is over and you've won you can howl. Rodney knew that. Tedy knew that. The young players on the defense have to learn it. Asante Samuel might have been able to teach them. Mike Vrabel definitely could.

The defense's inability to make stops on third down was a problem last year and could be again. A lot of that has to do with a lack of pass rush. That was a problem last year and almost certainly will be again unless the coaches can figure out schemes that will let some players loose. Last night Banta-Cain was that guy but he kept committing penalties. Carson Palmer, Ochocinco, and T.O. are going to put the D to the test right out of the gate. They better be ready.

The offense will be ready. Brady hit some big passes. Moss looks committed to having a big year. The tight ends are making plays all over the field. Gronkowski dragging a defender across the goal line was Ben Coates-like. Welker looked like vintage Wes last night. The running game didn't do much but that's par for the course with the Pats. One week they'll run the ball 30 times. The next week the running backs might as well stay home and watch on TV. Overall the offense looks fired up. They're going to have to be because they may need to score 30 points a game to win consistently.

Lots of work to do.