New England Patriots Links 9/24/12 - Officially, Defensively, a Disappointing Loss in Baltimore

Vince Wilfork responds to a question about the end of the game.

"We didn’t do what we needed to do to help our offense tonight, and it sucks because coming into the game, we had a pretty good idea how we wanted to play it. The first quarter showed, but it seems after that, we couldn’t get off the field. The offense played their tails off, and we just left them out to dry, and we can’t do that. So we have to take it and move on. We have to get better from this. We definitely have to get better. We will get better. It’s tough, because we thought, coming in, we had a pretty good idea of how we wanted to play them, and it didn’t work out for us."

Kirk Minihane blames the billionaire owners for last night's officiating disaster.

Let’s be very clear about this: The refs made some terrible calls against the Patriots on Sunday — a holding call against Brandon Spikes, a pass interference against Jerod Mayo, a Julian Edelman catch wiped out by a bogus offensive PI call — but they also applied their brand of suckage against the Ravens. And the refs had nothing to do with Kyle Arrington and McCourty struggling to catch easy interceptions, or Rob Gronkowski catching two passes (just three targets, or one more than Kellen Winslow and as many as Deion Branch) or Danny Woodhead getting 15 carries or Ray Rice rushing for 101 yards or Flacco doing whatever he wanted in the final three quarters.

The referees didn’t cost the Patriots the game. I’ll buy that. But that isn’t the point. How are we supposed to take the games seriously if the commissioner doesn’t even care, if he allows that disgrace to occur under his watch?

The biggest sport in America — by a lot — is, right now, a joke. The best players and coaches in the world are being officiated by folks in way over their heads. Clueless and powerless. And it shows and it shows often and we saw the worst to date on Sunday night.

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Patriots vs. Ravens. Records set, milestones reached, trends continued.
• Erik Scalavino says this game will be remembered for the wrong reasons. The officials had far too much impact on the final result.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick (5.08 min. video) and Tom Brady (1.43 min. video).
• Postgame Quotes: Patriots.

LOCAL LINKS

• Shalise Manza Young called the game an "official nightmare", but says the Patriots' defense didn't hold up its end.
• Jeff Howe recaps Sunday night's loss to the Ravens, blowing their 9-point, fourth-quarter lead and a conference win.
• Paul Kenyon recaps the game, noting the Patriots players blamed themselves for the loss.
• Greg A. Bedard believes Josh McDaniels needs to let his players play: He doesn't need a lot of trick plays in New England.
• Tom E. Curran puts this loss on Devin McCourty.
• Art Martone notes the defense -- after two encouraging weeks -- melted back into the can't-stop-nuthin' Swiss Cheese role.
• Karen Guregian reports with the game on the line last night, the Patriots' bend-but-don't-break defense flat-out broke.
• Jim Donaldson mocks Bill Belichick saying the officiating was nowhere near as inconsistent, nor as bad, as his defense.
• Jeff Howe notes this is the Pats' first losing record since 2003.
• Christopher Price tells us ten things we learned Sunday. The Patriots couldn't close out the Ravens.
• Zuri Berry gives us five takeaways from Patriots-Ravens.
• Greg A. Bedard noticed a lot of good from the offense in the game, with Brady completing 28 of 41 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown.
• Mark Farinalla notes the Edelman-Welker controversy remained unresolved, but thinks the Patriots are attempting to revert to their spread-it-around philosophy.
• ESPN Stats & Information reports Pats-Ravens produced a record 13 first downs via penalties.
• Mike Reiss details the failures of the Patriots -- and the replacement refs -- in Sunday's loss to the Ravens. (1.27 min. video)
• Mike Reiss analyzes the snaps played by the skill position players on offense, noting Welker led all WRs.
• Michael Whitmer Patriots Notebook: Tom Brady and Brandon Lloyd really started to get into a rhythm Sunday night; Julian Edelman scored his first TD of the season, but suffered a hand injury; Wes Welker went 8 for 142 yards, his 24th 100-yd game with the Pats; Kellen Winslow had his first catch with the team; There were 24 accepted penalties in the game for a combined 218 yards; Steve Gregory had his first INT of the season; Brandon Bolden ran for his first TD as a rookie; and more.
• Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Replacement ref Bruce Hermansen and his crew lost control of the game early and often; Stevan Ridley had his lowest number of carries so far this season; Brandon Bolden & Danny Woodhead did the goal-line work; Ridley couldn't punch it in when he had the chance; Tom Brady passed Joe Montana for 12th place on the NFL's career passing list.
• Christopher Price tells us what went right and what went wrong in Baltimore.
• Rich Scherr picks out the Best & Worst from Pats-Ravens.
• Mark Farinella lists his Hots & Nots from Sunday.
• Mike Rodak grades the Patriots, with Ds to the Defense.
• Mike Reiss picks his 3 up and 3 down for the Patriots.

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Game Center - New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens. Recap, stats, analysis and highlights.
• Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) NFL Sunday notes: Flacco's drive beats the Pats.
• Peter King (SI) MMQB: Replacements again a story in Week 3; Remembering Steve Sabol.
• Mike Pereira (Fox Sports) Week 3 proves replacement referees are completely lost.
• Don Banks (SI) Smith rallies in difficult conditions, helps lift Ravens to stirring victory.
• Chris Burke (SI) Drama rules in Week 3's early games.
• Chris Burke (SI) Matt Schaub outduels Peyton Manning: First Down, Fourth down from Week 3.