New England Patriots Links 12/08/09 - Put Up or Shut Up Time For '09 Patriots

Laurence Maroney says the Pats are trying to hold onto their one-game AFC East division lead by zeroing in on what they can control.

"We need to stop living in the past," Maroney said. "We ain’t the ’07 team, we ain’t the ’03 team, we ain’t the ’01 team. We’re the ’09 team. We got to play with what we have here and make a name for ourselves and stop living like, ‘Oh, we’re the championship-caliber team.’ Just focus on what we can do now."

"A lot of the players who were on those (championship) teams are not here," Maroney said. "We have to really make a name for ourselves as being the ’09 team."

Bill Belichick elaborates on the missed opportunities in Sunday's loss.

It's such a varied set of plays and situations; I don't know how you could bring it down to one thing. We had opportunities offensively to put the game away and score more. We had opportunities defensively to close it out. We had opportunities to help ourselves in the kicking game and field position, and we didn't take advantage of them. And you can look at other games and find similar opportunities. In the Denver game, we had opportunities at the end of the game offensively. We had opportunities in the overtime defensively to get off the field and get the ball back. We had opportunities to close out the game at Indianapolis. We had opportunities to stop them. And we've won games when we've done that, too.

I don't see it as one particular thing. Ultimately, it comes down to playing your best football at critical times in the game and yesterday was an example where we weren't able to do that.

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino says the Patriots are at a loss to explain the losses; Monday news and notes from Gillette.
• Monday Presser: Bill Belichick (15 min. video) Plus Transcript.
• WEEI Patriots Monday: Tom Brady (24:10), Sammy Morris (16:30), Chris Baker (9:10), Bill "name, rank & serial number" Belichick (36:45).
• Patriots Today: Patriots fall short in Miami. (10:50 min. video)
  

LOCAL LINKS

• Robert Lee notes the Patriots are haunted by missed opportunities in Miami.
• Christopher Price reports New England is tied for 28th in the league with 20 sacks.  Belichick says it's not solely the pass rush at fault. Pressure on the QB and good coverage go hand in hand, and when you fall short in one department, chances are good that the other areas will suffer.
• Karen Guregian speculates on what or who Brady meant when he said, "Sometimes I don’t think we fight very hard."
• Mike Reiss feels this once-proud team lacks the killer instinct.
• Robert Lee writes the Patriots dynasty is falling, one loss at a time.
• Karen Guregian wonders if the injury to Brady's ring finger might be to blame for some of his inconsistent throws.
• Mike Reiss analyzes the Patriots' struggles in the red zone.
• Mike Reiss looks at snaps played by Patriots defenders in the team’s 22-21 loss to the Dolphins, and analyzes the trends.
  
• Ian Rapoport notes Belichick will likely still continue to go for it on 4th down.
• Mike Reiss describes the quiet Patriots locker room Monday morning after the loss.
• Michael Hurley says the Patriots just aren't playing smart football.
• Joe Zarbano says Laurence Maroney has the right attitude.
• Boston Herald Patriots Notebook: Darius Butler knows the Dolphins picked on him, received support from veteran CB Shawn Springs and vows to get better; Patriots have fallen in the kick return department in the last few weeks; Brady sidesteps question about the offense's inconsistency under first year play-caller Bill O'Brien.
• Ron Borges grades the Patriots in his week 13 Report Card.
• Steve DeOssie grades the Patriots in his weekly Report Card.
  

NATIONAL NEWS

• Tedy Bruschi (ESPNBoston) Five observations on the Patriots loss to the Dolphins.  How will this Patriots team respond to adversity?
• Judy Battista (NY Times) Patriots' decline begins on defense.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Jets atop NFL's defensive mountain.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Rob Parker and Skip Bayless debate, "Are the Patriots done?"  (3:30 min. video)  Parker says emphatically yes (they'll lose to Buffalo and Houston); Bayless says no (they still have enough talent, brains and pride.)
• Don Banks (SI) Snap Judgments: Pittsburgh Steelers in trouble; AFC East race tightens up.
• Michael Lombardi (Nat'l Football Post) Monday Tavern: Brees accuracy and will to win keep Saints perfect; Patriots must fix red zone woes on both sides of the ball.
• Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) Week 13 Checkdown: Pats, Steelers stumbling down similar paths.
• Richard Deitsch (SI) Media Power Rankings - November.