New England's QB Tom Brady
Nothing like a third game of the season loss to get the Boston sporting media frothing at the mouth. Visiting any New England publication today is something akin to a quick trip to a particularly sadistic dentist. You would be forgiven for locking all the doors, pulling down all the blinds, crawling into bed and pulling the covers over your head after reading some of the negative muck being trawled out today about the Patriots tough 30-31 loss to the Ravens last night. Look, a loss is a loss, and nobody felt it more than me. Any life time Patriot fan was bound to feel as if a big fat guy had just landed a hard right to the stomach after that ‘did it go over, didn’t it?’ field goal ending. For the record, most logical types are saying, yes, it went over.

We could sit here all day, knocking back Sammy Adams and bashing it all out, piece by piece, as to what went wrong. However, ‘From The Bleachers’ is a glass-half-full’ kind of place. So, take a break from the monotonous deluge of negative vibes in the usual Boston sporting online media entities, and come enjoy five reasons last night wasn’t that big a deal, really.

Five reasons not to go jumping off any bridges as a Patriots fan
  1. Two minute perfection
  2. Brady
  3. Julian Edelman
  4. Patriots were right in it to win it
  5. Wicked Wes

Two minute perfection
The two minute drill the Patriots ran at the end of the first half was a thing of beauty. Given the time by the foolish Ravens, Brady marched the troops down the field and grabbed what at the time seemed like a crucial touchdown with a beautiful, sharp pass that harkened back to Brady bullets of yesteryear.

Brady
The Patriot’s trigger man looked great. Simple as that. Rumours of his demise have been greatly exaggerated, on the evidence on show here. Brady hocked up 335 yards passing completing a healthy 28 of 41. He spread the ball around well and looked sharp and in command. Look, the Patriots just went into Baltimore, the self-appointed greatest defence ever, or whatever, and Brady and his buddies just slapped them in the face with 30 points. Not a lot of NFL football teams have or will do that.

Julian Edelman
Edelman was action man on the night, doing some good things (the touchdown before half time) and some bad (a completely rubbish offensive pass interference call). He was an energizer bunny on the night and this augers well for his impact down the road. Edelman is just a baller, and a positive impact type of player. The kid is absolutely fearless.

Patriots were right in it to win it
Once again, a little context here people. Baltimore are no Miami. They are a good, tough, talented football team. They were at home, they had the officials in their back pockets largely, and they had a crowd baying for Patriot blood. They were hungry for revenge for various Patriot wins down the years, and they had momentum too, coming into the game as one of the bookies favourites to win it all this season. In context, the Patriots losing on a last second field goal, is actually a fine result. Whilst there is no reason to celebrate, there is also no reason to go getting all depressed and down about it, either. Plenty of teams will go into Baltimore and come out sternly whipped, with their tails between their legs. The Patriots, firmly, didn’t, and have their pride, their roster and their Superbowl chances intact today.

Wicked Wes
Yes, after two games of the season, plenty of Muppets were ready to toss Welker to the wolves. Maybe it is time for everyone to calm down and perhaps Welker isn’t washed up just yet. For your approval, last night’s key Welker related statistics, the little dynamo caught eight passes for a whopping 142 yards. I think he will fit in just fine.

In summary, to quote a Boston Globe favourite Chad Finn;

‘This team is going to be fine’


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