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Time to admit it.

There’s something wrong with the Patriots. In the 3 years since The Hoodie and Tommy Terrific went 16 and 0 in the regular season the New England Patriots are 2-5 in the playoffs and have dropped the last 3 straight playoff games.

What the heck has gone wrong? And something definitely is amiss. How can a team that is just a juggernaut in the regular season surrender so meekly in the post season, especially at home where the Pats are now 0 for their last 2 home playoff games? Forgetting about winning a fourth title, New England now has to work on getting back its home turf edge when it comes to the post season.

I think some of the reason is the Patriots’ regular season success. There’s a focus and an intensity that is notably missing in the last two Patriots playoff losses. It’s like the competitive fires that makes Brady and Belichick nearly unbeatable in the regular season peters out after the New Year. Maybe you can only stoke that fire for so long before it burns you out. But there’s also something in their regular season success that hints at a lack of confidence. Is blowing out the Jets 45 to 3 a statement or just an act of overcompensation?

Taking nothing away from the Jets or the Ravens, both those teams are definitely beatable. But maybe that’s what makes them better in the playoffs. They know they can lose if they don’t play their best football. They have a nervous optimism. It’s also clear they have something that the Patriots no longer have; that clutch gene that separates championship teams from just good ones.

It was obvious at the end of the second quarter which team was more clutch. Instead of the pressure bringing out the best in Brady and the Patriots, it instead brought out their worst. It even brought out the bad in the Hoodie. The Hoodie is no longer the smartest, most prepared, and greatest coach that ever lived. As much as anyone, Belichick cost his team a chance to win with inexplicable decisions. With a minute to go and down by only 4, Belichick for some reason called a fake punt. It was clear his players knew this was a mistake as evidenced by the way they botched the play. With the pressure of the game riding on their shoulders, the fake punt team bobbled the ball. The Jets capitalized on their gift and scored their second touchdown. It was a play that never should have been called. But the Hoodie just couldn’t picture going into halftime trailing, even by 4 points. So instead he went trailed by 11. Considering the Pats went on to lose by 7, that one brain fart was clearly the turning point in the contest.

Going into this off season Belichick and Brady don’t have to look at their roster which is one of the most talented in the league. They need to look in the mirror. It’s clear that their Super Bowl loss took something from their psyches. And they are never getting back to the promised land until they fix it.

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