Time warp

WEEKS 8 & 9
I went to Morocco, a land that often felt as if it has not changed much at all since being constructed centuries ago. I real journey back in time. It was a great adventure.

I came home just in time to watch the Patriots host the Giants and found myself back in time again. Back to February of '08. The Giants D was crushing Brady play after play. Each possession was a struggle. Eli Manning was doing just enough against a solid defensive effort to have his team ahead. Then the Pats drove down to take the lead with just more than a minute left. A great comeback win! Only to see little Manning lead his team on an impressive scoring drive to steal the game with just seconds left.

But this wasn't the Super Bowl in Arizona. It was Week 9 at Gillette .. and it was today.

Since I've been gone the Pats have had their all-important bye week and then surprisingly followed that up with tough back-to-back losses. Belichick's teams have been pretty strong coming out of their byes. But not this year. The once 5-1 Pats are now 5-3 and tied with both Buffalo and New York for first in the East. This is the proverbial bump in the road. A big one. But after watching the Giants game -- and the Steelers game on tape -- I still think this team goes into the new Meadowlands and takes home a huge road win.

The Pats haven't lost because they've been flat or sloppy or out-coached or out-worked. They've lost because they've made more mistakes than the other team. The Pats are averaging about three turnovers in their three losses while only average one in their five wins. Turnovers is the one stat that does not lie. It doesn't matter if some of the picks are fluky deflections as several of Brady's have been this year. Too many turnovers equals too many losses.

Cut out the mistakes and the Pats will be fine. Watching the effort and intensity in the two losses, I see a team that is still focused and motivated. That usually results in a great effort for a Belichick-Brady team. I expect that Sunday night in what should be a great game.

As was today's classic against the Giants. The defense came unglued in the end (it looked a little too much like '09 for comfort) but had played a very strong game to that point. The young defensive backfield is going to make mistakes. They got torched by Big Ben and the Steelers a week ago. But in two of the last three games the D has shown improvement. They were one play away from winning both those games. They've made more of those plays than not the last two years.

The offense has seen Dallas, Pittsburgh, and the Giants take away the 10-yard passing lanes and it has caused problems. But in all three games the offense has put together clutch late-game drives. That too is a good sign. The key for the Pats will be to get off to a strong start as they did in the first month of the season. Slow starts have hurt them lately.

That first drive for Brady and the offense Sunday night against Mt. Ryan and the Jets D will be huge. I can't wait.