Hey Patriots, stop sucking

If you are a blind, unwavering Patriots fan that can't take criticism, find a different article to read because this is going to get ugly. I'm sick of hearing the excuses for their poor performance. Commentators saying "But look at the NFL, teams are scoring so much!" That's good offense against mediocre to bad defenses. This is now two weeks in a row that a bottom 10 quarterback has thrown for more than 300 yards against us. And if I hear one more person mention the words "Superbowl Hangover" I'm committing seppuku plain and simple.

I'm going to start with the obvious. Our defense is terrible. We couldn't stop Hellen Keller from completing a 20 yard pass downfield against our defense (we lead the league in that stat!). The communication from cornerback to safety is nonexistent, our cover schemes almost ask quarterbacks to throw the underneath route which we have a history of not being able to stop, our pass rush is improved but still nothing to brag about. I hate it. You would think that after spending SEVEN draft picks to address the defensive side of the ball there would be some sort of improvement. Nope, they're actually getting worse.

The only bright spot on the defense is Rob Ninkovich. 4 forced fumbles already this season, one short of the Patriots' record, after converting from a linebacker to a force on the defensive line with no sense of real training. Just pure instinct. Our run defense is just bleh to me. Nothing good, nothing bad, just gets the job done.

I want you to think about this now. Bill Belichick is no longer a defensive genius. He is not the God amongst the common folk anymore. He just doesn't have it anymore. I mean people are talking about the fact that he changed his sweatshirt at halftime for a good luck charm. It almost seems like he is relying on good luck charms now to win games.

As of 5 years ago, Bill was a sure bet for the Hall of Fame and the top of his resume has his defensive play calling and planning. What he drew up to stop the Rams back in their "Greatest Show on Turf" days, stopping Peyton Manning game in and game out every year, shutting down offenses wherever he was coaching, that was his bread and butter. Since their last Superbowl win, this Patriots defense has gone down a very steep slope that is beginning to ruin Belichick's reputation and in my mind, take him out of that "sure bet" Hall of Fame contention. His focus on having multiple schemes for different offensive looks isn't necessary. It's more of a "hey look what I can do!" thing than anything and frankly, he can't even do it successfully anymore. Go back to the 3-4 scheme that brought you to glory. Coach your defense until you find out what it's good at. Stick to that good thing. Win games.

Now I'm going to move on to the offense. They aren't even reliable anymore. I'm going to throw out these stats for you that may make you vomit (as of loss to Seattle and since 2009). The Patriots have now lost 7 games since 2009 in which they had the lead going into the last 5 minutes of the game (tied for 3rd most). In one possession games with less than 5 minutes to play, Tom Brady has a Total QBR of 15.0 out of 100 (5th worst in the NFL) and can only manage to complete 46.2% of his passes in the same scenario (10 points below the league average). If you think that's clutch or praise worthy then you're nuts.

During the second half of games, the Patriots have been bringing out their stagnent offense, allowing teams to go on huge runs and take away all the momentum (yesterday I believe the Jets went on a 13-0 run between the third and fourth quarter?). That does not lead to victories. Greg Bedard wrote a piece today about how the Patriots cannot execute down the stretch (that 3 and out at the 5:30 mark in the fourth quarter ring any bells?) and it's frightening.

Some people have been putting this blame on the return of Josh McDaniels. A lot of spectators believed it would be a seamless transition and it would return to the things of old. Here are some names that were here during McDaniels' offensive coordinating days of old (2006-2008); Troy Brown, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, Corey Dillon, Ben Watson, Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Jabar Gaffney, Randy Moss. The only thing that remains the same between those days and today? Tom Brady and Wes Welker ('08). This isn't even remotely close to a similar offense that he was directing from 06-08. It is now centered around two tight ends with no deep threat and, until this season, had no running game. He still has to get adjusted and find out exactly how to make this offense run effectively.

I don't know how to fix it. I can make suggestions out the ass. I can point to schemes or stats that have proven effective. I can pray to baby Jesus himself like Tebow and maybe he will take our side. But at the end of the day, the Patriots need to start playing a full 60 minutes of football. All I can say is thank god the AFC East is as bad as it is, otherwise we would have a chance of missing the playoffs.