I didn’t even have to watch Sunday’s game to know how it went. I could not only tell from the reaction of my friends on Facebook and Twitter, but from the voices of Tom Brady and Vince Wilfork on WEEI 850 Boston Sports Talk Radio. The updates were negative, the tweets were atrocious, and the tones of voice of the two New England stars were disheartening.
Thankfully, I didn’t get to watch the game on Sunday, because I had family plans. But I do know others that took the 3 hours out of their day of rest to watch the AFC East leading Patriots fall to second place again.
Although Cleveland is only 3-5, you wouldn’t have guessed it from the way they played and celebrated. You could even go far as to say that the Patriots never even showed up in Cleveland. From the highlights alone, you can tell the game was a struggle to watch.
Meanwhile, Cleveland was playing to their fullest potential. Wide receivers were catching everything and their running back Peyton Hillis was more like Walter Payton. He was unstoppable. The man is listed as 240 pounds, but we all know that’s not completely true. The man is like a jauggernaut on the field, and averaged just over 6 yards a carry which is insane to think about considering the Patriots run defense is statistically the best in the league.
Cleveland’s celebration was the craziest thing to watch the entire game. You’d think they were planning the parade route for Monday. The coaching staff was doing back flips, literally, and the players even pored Gatorade on Mangini.
Sadly for the Patriots, they won’t be able to return the favor until probably next year, and even that isn’t a guarantee. If the Patriots lose to a team in their division, then they’ll have the chance to beat them in game two. Now, Mangini and company can hold this over their friends on the Patriots for possibly years to come. 5-3 or 6-2 doesn’t matter at this point when you play ex-players and ex-coaches.
As far as the Patriots are concerned, this one is going to sting for a while. But every realistic Pats fan figured we’d be at least 6-2 at this point, we just weren’t sure where the losses would be coming from. Possibly Baltimore and Minnesota at the beginning of the year, but they’ve overcome that. I’m more than happy to be 6-2 at this point and in prime playoff contention.
As for Mangini, he just has to worry about keeping his job when his team continues to not make the playoffs for the 8th straight year.
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