Hey, you. Yes, you. Don’t you dare jump off that bandwagon.
No, the result of Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field wasn’t what some of us wanted. I’m not a fan of moral victories, bright sides or silver linings. There are no such animals in professional sports.
All that aside, the New England Patriots’ 26-21 loss to the Green Bay Packers convinced me that the Flying Elvises are right where I want them to be as we flip the calendar to December on Monday morning.
There is a divine right theory in these parts that postulates Patriots victories, or bust, from Thanksgiving forward. There’s also a tendency to overblow every loss in a world where even fans of the best teams expect five or six throughout the course of a year.
Or do I need to bring up the mass hiding of sharp objects some of our loved ones had to undertake two months ago when the Kansas City Chiefs chased the Pats out of Arrowhead Stadium? Such is life in the Land of Entitlement (Motto: “In Bill We Trust, Because We’re Not His Significant Other, Or a 30-something Pro Bowler Who Counts Big-Time Against the Cap.”)
As Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers infamously said to his own disbelieving media and restless fan base around that same time, R-E-L-A-X. Not only is New England A-OK, the Patriots are precisely where they need to be with four games remaining in the regular season.
They lost by five points, on the road, in the bitter cold, in a hostile stadium where wailing wackos adorn their bodies with foam blocks of “cheese,” against the only team that was arguably, equally, red-hot.
By any objective assessment, plus-5 should have been the morning line, anyway, right on the nose. Green Bay has been shellacking decent competition at home with first-quarter flurries that make the Monday Night Mauling in K.C. look like a friendly, backyard Turkey Bowl.
When the Packers are playing this well, they should win at home. When the Patriots are playing this well, they should make them earn it.
And they did. Green Bay spent the day converting third downs and kicking field goals. If you told me this past Wednesday that I could make a deal with the devil and limit Rodgers to only two touchdowns but lose my power for the holiday, you would have found me holding TV dinners over a Coleman stove with a pitchfork.
The Patriots’ defense bent too much and got off the field too slowly. If those were their greatest transgressions against the Packers, however, it was a heck of a day.
Time of possession was a problem. New England didn’t get its backfield-by-committee out of the starting blocks until much too late in the game, and even then, it was too much a steady diet of LeGarrette “Stop Using My Last Name in Vain for Stupid Social Media One-Liners” Blount.
Credit the Packers for getting off to a better start, jumping out to a 13-0 lead and forcing the Patriots to alter their game plan. Again, exactly what you’re supposed to do at home.
Was it a Super Bowl preview? Who knows? That gets badly overused when an AFC power collides with an NFC power this late in the season. More often than not, in the past decade, it’s been a team that took on some water in December that finds its sea legs in January and February.
Maybe that’s even more reason to be grateful for this minor wake-up call. But in reality, the result changed nothing.
Nine up, three down, two games ahead in the division, owners of the tie-breaker against every other current AFC division leader, the Patriots are well on their way to ensuring that the road to Glendale passes through Foxborough.
If the Pats see the Pack again, it’ll be in a different location with vastly greater stakes.
Overreact to that one, if you wish, win or lose. But make sure you see Sunday’s loss for what it was: A valuable learning experience on the ride to a much more important destination.
One the Patriots probably will make regardless of whether you buy in, or bail.
Kalle Oakes is a staff writer. His email is koakes@sunjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Oaksie72.
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