4th and Forever

The Nightmare Before Christmas.

It all ended as it had begun: with a whimper. On Sunday night, the San Francisco 49ers, displaying an admirable mental toughness and unity of purpose, beat the Patriots 41-34 on the road in soggy Foxborough. These are attributes we have long felt were synonymous with the Pats, but on the night, the Pats were beaten at their own game in their own backyard and now face some soul-searching. It would be a mistake to become too focused on the furious Patriot comeback from 28 points down to tie the game at 31 midway through the 4^th quarter. As stirring and extraordinary as that was, it serves only to distract attention from the larger issue which was the general ineptitude of everything that went before. For in truth, for 2 and 1/2 quarters these Patriots were pale imposters, lacking either the skill or resolve to counter the 49ers. Gone was the slick efficiency we have become accustomed to; instead they seemed more a ragtag collection of strangers looking vainly for answers amid a welter of pressure and confusion.

The game of football makes no concessions to the timid. And yet until about the mid-point of the 3^rd quarter that was precisely what the Patriots were. The offense looked as if it was struggling to decipher complex codes, while the defense and special teams seemed incapable of ridding themselves of doubt and uncertainty. On the game’s second play from scrimmage, Ridley was judged to have fumbled the ball. The call was correctly reversed, but it proved to a portent of things to come. New England seemed rattled, tentatively searching for familiar ground, only to find themselves undermined by their own poor play and San Francisco’s aggression. The Patriots’ first 4 series resulted in two 3 and outs, a wasteful Brady interception, and a fumble by Vereen. Hardly the stuff of legend! On the day, the Pats gave up the ball 4 times, having given the ball away a mere 9 times in all other games combined. Meanwhile, the 49ers quickly asserted themselves to take a 7-0 lead on a 24 yard TD pass from Kaepernick to old friend Randy Moss who showed he still had some wheels by outpacing the coverage. Kaepernick, San Francisco’s once and future QB, starting only his 5^th game, was playing with a poise and brio which defied his inexperience. He was positively Brady-like. But perhaps one play best epitomized San Francisco’s fearless approach, their determination not merely to survive against the league’s best offense but, in the immortal words of Herm Edwards, “play to win the game”.  Holding a 7-0 lead and facing 4^th and 10 on their own 41 yard line, the 49ers executed a fake punt which resulted in Dashon Goldson taking the direct snap and running 31 yards for a first down. That the subsequent drive did not produce points was unimportant in the bigger scheme. What the fake punt signaled was the 49ers did not fear New England. Apparently, the football Gods were pleased by such boldness since on the night, San Francisco fumbled the ball a total of 6 times, recovering 5 of them in addition to 2 by New England. They most certainly rode their luck, but often aggressive play-calling is rewarded with good fortune. Something about fortune favoring the brave.

The Pats showed some semblance of life on a 16 play 63 yard drive before settling for a FG. For the fandom it seemed as if it was just a matter of time before order was restored and the Pats asserted themselves on offense. After all, the 49ers for all their apparent dominance were still only leading 7-3. Three plays and 80 yards later it was 14-3 after Kaepernick threw 34 yards to a wide open Walker. In truth, he could have picked his poison since TE Davis was also open on the play. An Akers FG made it 17-3 at the half.

The second half started well enough for the Pats. They stopped the 49ers’ opening drive of the half, and successive passes of 29 yards and 11 yards to Lloyd and Hernandez respectively seemed to hold rich promise that the offense was at last untracked. Such idle thoughts were swiftly banished, however, when on the very next play Ridley rumbled 9 yards and promptly fumbled after being smacked by Whitner. Grateful for such continuing largesse by New England, San Francisco returned the ball to the 6 yard line. On the next play, Kaepernick fumbled the ball, only to have Gore pick it up and run it in for a TD. Clearly, it was going to be one of those nights when the Pats couldn’t get out of their own way, and, conversely, the 49ers could do no wrong. That impression was confirmed when on the next Patriot possession, Hernandez, one play after nearly being decapitated by the safety and with his own health very much in mind, short-armed a poor Brady throw which dropped invitingly into the arms of Aldon Smith. One play and 27 yards later, Kaepernick hit Crabtree and the score was 31-3.  It felt as if Lucy was continually yanking the ball away and Charlie Brown was ending up on his keister.

It felt . . . well, shocking. To lose is one thing; stuff happens, after all. But embarrassment is a tougher pill to swallow. And then, just as lights were being switched off all over New England, and thoughts of a moribund Tuesday at the office were rearing their ugly head, everything changed. Now I know this is the season of miracles, and one is accustomed to unlikely comebacks in basketball, when even 30 point leads can vanish in a fusillade of 3s. Even baseball allows for the unlikely 9 runs in the bottom of the 9^th. But football? The game for the most part does not allow for such fairy-tale comebacks, since scoring in bunches is rare indeed. And yet, from the 10:21 mark of the 3^rd quarter to the 6:43 mark of the 4^th, that is precisely what happened. Incredibly, in almost surreal and quite unbelievable fashion, the Pats scored 28 points on 4 successive TD drives to tie the game at 31. In those 4 possessions the Pats ran 13 plays for 73 yards, 9 plays for 86 yards, 6 plays for 70 yards and 7 plays for 91 yards. They ran an unworldly 35 plays for 320 yards in a span of 12:20 against the best defense in the NFL. Meanwhile, the 49ers discombobulated, going a total of 10 plays combined in 3 series for 20 yards. Now one might argue the 49ers relaxed and allowed the Pats to get in rhythm, but the sheer ferocity of the onslaught puts that theory to the sword. This was offensive football played at a very elevated level. Let the weight of those numbers sink in. The sheer magnitude of those statistics does not lie.

Of course, just when we all thought the 49ers were confused, exhausted and ripe for the picking, the whole thing came crashing down around our ears. Lucy re-emerged, and in 2 plays victory was snatched away. The Gods indeed make sport of mortal men. First, James returned the kickoff 62 yards, and then Crabtree swiveled past Arrington for 38 more. 18 seconds! 18 seconds? Barely enough time to grab a beer. Quite suddenly, the stadium took on the deflated look of a party balloon pricked with a pin. Spent and wrinkled among the discarded party favors after a night on the razzle-dazzle. “The party’s over; it’s time to call it a day”. It ended as it began: with a whimper.

We console ourselves with thoughts of the ”comeback” What might have been. Wait until next time. Gronk will be back and the bounces will go our way. Jacksonville and Miami next. 12-4. Perfectly respectable. But perhaps more than a game was lost on Monday night, for the path to the Super Bowl became infinitely harder for the Pats. Now, all they can reasonably hope for is one play-off afternoon in Gillette, and the prospect of 2 tough road games against Manning’s Broncos and the Texans thirsting for revenge. Still, dreams die hard, so pass the Kool-Aid. Somehow, champions wouldn’t have it any other way.