Patriots Send a Message by Spoiling a Guarantee
FOXBOROUGH, Mass., Dec. 9 — A few hours before the New England Patriots became only the fifth team in N.F.L. history to win its first 13 games, a plane trailing a banner flew over Gillette Stadium bearing a none-too-subtle message: Bonds — 756*, Belichick — 3 Super Bowl wins*.
But as a chilly night fell over Foxborough on Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Anthony Smith might have offered a rejoinder to whoever paid for the plane: it is best not to show disrespect for the Patriots, at least not in range of a microphone. Smith, who last week guaranteed a Steelers victory, learned a lesson in the Steelers’ 34-13 loss to the Patriots, one that the rest of the league had figured out much earlier: the Patriots will embarrass whoever doubts them.
Early in the season, opponents received a taste of Patriots vengeance when the veracity of their championships was questioned in the wake of a videotaping scandal. Smith got it this week, when he was caught flat-footed on two touchdown passes by Tom Brady.
The Patriots did not bother to hide their disgust with Smith. After the game, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick could not resist a dig that the Patriots have played against better safeties than Smith. “The safety play at that position was pretty inviting,” Belichick said.
The Patriots caught Smith biting on a play fake on a 63-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss. The other play in which Brady victimized Smith, a 56-yard flea-flicker to Jabar Gaffney, began with Moss dropping a lateral from Brady and ended when Brady’s pass sailed over Smith’s head into Gaffney’s hands. Belichick joked that Moss did a good job selling the play.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said.
The Jets should probably remember that next week, when they step into the line of fire against the Patriots. It was the Jets who caught the Patriots videotaping on the sidelines during their Week 1 game at Giants Stadium. The motivation it provided the Patriots has seethed right below the surface all season. New England has seemed determined to prove to the league that it does not have to cheat to win. If a perfect season is the best possible revenge for the Patriots, they seem well on their way, having survived a stretch of three consecutive late games.
After the Jets (3-10) next week, the Patriots play the Miami Dolphins (0-13) at home and the Giants, who are likely to be locked into their playoff spot by then and will probably rest significant players. The Patriots will be playing only for history by then. With their victory against the Steelers, they secured a first-round bye. A victory against the Jets would wrap up the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
So much for the Patriots looking vulnerable. After consecutive 3-point victories against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Baltimore Ravens, in which their run defense was lacerated and Brady was under unusually stiff pressure, the Patriots returned to their dominating form against the Steelers, the best team remaining on their regular-season schedule and the likely third seed in the American Football Conference playoffs. The Patriots’ defense had looked shaky in recent weeks and it entered the game with three goals: defend the run, do better on third down and prevent scores in the red zone, a weakness all season. The Steelers rushed for 181 yards, but they were mostly inconsequential, and they were just 5 for 14 on third-down conversions.
On their first drive, the Steelers settled for a field goal after they were held on a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line. Early in the fourth quarter, the Patriots stuffed a sweep by Hines Ward on fourth-and-1 from the 1, a play that essentially ended the game.
“So big,” linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. “We’ve been harping on that pretty hard.”
But as usual this season, it was the Patriots’ offense that dominated the game. Brady shredded the Steelers, who entered the game ranked first in the league in scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense. So the Patriots passed. And passed. And passed. From late in the second quarter until garbage time at the end of the game, the Patriots did not call a single running play, a stretch of 34 pass plays, unusual for a team playing with a lead and an example of why the Patriots are so difficult to defend, even when the defense is renowned for blitzing.
Brady threw for 399 yards and 4 touchdowns, giving him 45 for the season, four short of Peyton Manning’s single-season record.
After the game, Smith did not back down from his guarantee, saying he would make it again and intimating that he expected the Steelers to face the Patriots in the playoffs. Perhaps so. But by then, the Patriots will probably not need extra motivation.
“Nobody around here is chasing the record,” Matt Light said. “We’re chasing higher goals than 16-0.”