New England Patriots left with a lot of questions

Times wires
Monday, January 17, 2011

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill Belichick was his usual surly self in his year-end assessment of his team, clipped and terse as ever. In the New England locker room, the only sounds came from rustling garbage bags. Even for the say-less, do-more Patriots, it was a quiet afternoon.

Monday, not 24 hours after the Jets had eliminated them from the playoffs, the Patriots found themselves on unfamiliar ground.

In one night, the axis of power in the AFC East shifted south, at least for one postseason. As the Patriots cleaned out their lockers after Sunday's 28-21 loss, the focus had moved from New England to New York. The Jets play the Steelers on Sunday with a Super Bowl trip on the line.

"Disappointing today," Belichick said Monday. "We had our chances (Sunday). In the end, we couldn't make as many plays as they did. That's playoff football."

At Gillette Stadium, Belichick wore an emotionless expression with his trademark sweatshirt.

He cracked a wry smile twice — barely. Later, the Patriots played down the significance of losing to division rivals to end the season.

"I don't think it's ever been a rivalry up to this point," receiver Deion Branch said. "They just beat us in a game that means something. I don't think it's a rivalry until you beat us and it means something, and they did that (Sunday). Since I've been here, since I've been playing with this team, they've never beat us when it means something."

The teams weren't done chirping at each other either, a day after Branch labeled some of the Jets "classless" because of their postgame celebrations.

Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis wasn't at all pleased with Branch's comments.

"Take the loss like a man," Revis said Monday. "Just take it like a man and move on. They do stuff, as well. … If they would've won, I'm sure they would've probably did the taunting like they do."

Yes, the Patriots, who compiled the best regular-season record (14-2) in the NFL and defeated all four teams remaining in the playoffs, could still talk.

But in the end, they were left with only questions.

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/new-england-patriots-left-with-a-lot-of-questions/1146045

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