Close calls

WEEK 3
"We need to start winning close games."

That was Tom Brady's spot-on analysis after the Pats lost an entertaining and excruciating 31-30 brawl to the Ravens to drop to 1-2 on the young season.

Rich, my co-worker and most loyal reader (OK, my only loyal reader) asked last week "Are the Patriots still clutch?" It was a good question then and an even better question today. The answer at the moment has to be... no. Sure, Brady and the offense staged a great two-minute drive to retake the lead at the end of the first half last night. Last year there was a great comeback against Dallas and before the Ravens missed that kick in the AFC title game Brady lead the Pats on a great march capped by his gutsy lunge into the end zone. But when it really counts. When they really need a stop. Or a first down. They just can't get it done.

The Blabosphere will be buzzing with talk of replacement refs and bad calls. There were lots of those, for sure. But the officiating didn't decide the outcome of the game. It may have caused a lot of cases of heartburn for players and fans alike, but it was equally bad for both teams. The game -- as it always is -- was decided by the coaches and players. And once again, those wearing the Pats' logo came up short when it counted.

It's the second week in a row that the Patriots lost a close one. It's been a problem for a few years now. Finishing. It's what all great teams do. The Patriots knew how to finish when they were winning Super Bowls.  Almost all of those players are gone now. Belichick's new model has yet to master that skill.

The Patriots may not know how to finish, but they are often very good at starting. The Pats came out of the gate looking to make a statement after their sloppy play last week and only the most negative of Pats' fans didn't think they would. They always do. And they did it again last night. The defense -- which had been rock solid for two weeks -- looked stout again. The Ravens' first three possessions in front of a fired up home crowd went punt, interception, punt. Stud running back Ray Rice could do nothing. Brady and the offense used that momentum to build a 13-0 lead. As the Ravens faced a 3rd-and-6 at their own 22 to start the second quarter things were looking very good. And then the fake refs began what would be a long, long night of questionable, puzzling, and laughable calls.

Flacco came under pressure and dumped the ball off to Rice who had Jerod Mayo on his heels. The ball fell harmlessly incomplete and it looked like the Pats' D had stopped the Ravens on four straight drives. Then the yellow flag hit the turf and the Ravens had a first down and some much needed momentum. Two things would continue to happen from that moment on... the Ravens offense would shred the Pats' D almost at will and the fake refs would throw enough flags to make everyone watching feel pretty ill.

Vince Wilfork said after the game that the erratic officiating made it hard for the defense to play their game. It made then tentative. I love Big Vince but that's pretty lame. It didn't stop Ed Reed or Ray Lewis. And it really shouldn't have anything to do with stopping the run. The Pats' D hadn't given up 300 yards in either of their first two games. Last night the Ravens piled up more than 500 yards of offense. It's a close call as to which was worse... the fake refs or the Pats' defense.

And yet each time Baltimore would take the lead, Brady and the offense would have a response and drive for a huge score. It was as good a game that the offense has played in a while, especially considering the loss of Aaron Hernandez and most "experts" predicting the offense would struggle to find a way to replace him. They found a way and with just more than 14 minutes to play held a 30-21 lead. Time for another chance to close out a game. The Pats' D forced a Ravens punt and the offense picked up a couple of key first downs. Mesko dropped a beautiful punt down to the Baltimore 8 with seven and a half minutes to play. The Pats were all set up to finish out a huge road win.

The Ravens, sometimes with the help of the fake refs and sometimes with the help of the Pats' D, drove the ball 92 yards for a touchdown with four minutes to play. 30-28. Time for Brady and the offense to get a few first downs and close out the game. Which they couldn't quite do despite some serious help from the fake refs. Mesko had to punt at the two minute warning, giving the Ravens the ball at their 21 with 1:55 to play.

Everyone in my den agreed it was time for the defense to finally ... finally ... make a stand and close out a big win. But as we have seen many times before the defense couldn't finish. It wasn't even close. Flacco drove the Ravens down the field with ease to set up the winning field goal.

Unlike last year's AFC title game, this time the Raven kicker put the ball through the uprights (barely) and Baltimore won a hard fought and hard earned victory.

It was another close call for the Pats. As Brady said, it's time the Pats to make some of those calls go their way.