Eric Heise dot Com ~ The Monday Analysis 10 October 2005 ~ A Writer's March

The Sox exit and the Patriots re-enter. First, the farewell to those out of the Fenway.

The dream is over. The Red Sox are officially former World Champions as they are swept by the

Chicago White Sox in three games in the Divisional Playoffs.

The Sox lost their big lead to New York for the AL East in the final games of the season, and seemed to retire right then and there. Offensively, the Red Sox were not the offensive machine during the playoffs that they were during the season, but that didn't matter. The pitching stunk all season and continued its poor performance in the playoffs.

''Obviously, they were the better team," said pitcher Curt Schilling who spent a lot of the 2005 season with an injury to the ankle that gained him so much attention in the 2004 post season. "The argument's over. They came in and beat us. I certainly didn't expect to be on a postseason team and not get the ball, but it was my own fault. I struggled all year and then we went down to the last game of the season and I had to pitch."

For many in the clubhouse, the Red Sox ride is over. Contracts are up, and may not be renewed, such as for centerfielder Johnny Damon, a free agent, and first basemen Kevin Millar.

''These were the best three years of my life," said Millar. ''I loved it. No matter what, it's been a blast. No one can ever take away what we did last year. This year, we fought. We just weren't the better team."

''I think it's been awesome," said Damon. ''I'll remember how our players loved the city and how the city loved us and how they enjoyed us."

Others, like Bill Mueller, Mike Timlin, and possibly the trade-seeking Manny Ramirez could be out of Fenway for good this off season.

There's a t-shirt out there that says "Wait until last year." At least we've had a last year. Thanks for the ride, but now the ride is over.

There are still problems with these Patriots, who won 31-28 off another late fourth quarter Tom Brady drive to set up another Adam Vinatieri Add 'em and Leave game winning field goal. But they walked out of the Georgia Dome with a big win. Now for the problems.

Both Atlanta and New England were missing big players. The Patriots missed Richard Seymour on defense, and the Falcons were missing QB Michael Vick, who insisted all week he would play, but an evaluation Sunday morning turned the decision otherwise. Atlanta turned to Matt Shaub to mind the helm, and he played well and kept the Falcons competitive.

The Patriots secondary gave up too many long plays. Even more penalties were tossed around giving the Patriots poor starts on offense and the defense gave Atlanta first downs left and right. Head coach Bill Belichick was not happy about them in his post-game press conference.

"There were a lot of flags out there, today," he snarled. "There was a lot of flags. Let's leave it at that."

The Patriots committed 11 penalties for 83 yards, a couple of them were offensive pass interference penalties. Now, I've said it in the past few weeks that the officiating has stunk towards the Pats. How many offensive pass interference penalties have you ever see?

The Patriots got a lot of help with the running game. Corey Dillon had 23 carries for 107 yards, the first time he hit the century mark this season.

Earlier in the week, Brady spoke out against Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer for making statements against the Patriots saying they had suffered a lot of injuries as the great teams do. The statement didn't settle well with any of the Patriots, and apparently the head coach took reference.

The Patriots nearly blew it with a 28-13 lead, and the defense let up big plays. The Falcons marched down for a score from an interception, then another with a two-point conversion to tie it up. But they left far too much time on the clock for Tom Brady and march it down for a score on Adam Vinatieri's leg - again.

"This is a team that believes a lot in themselves," Belichick said, "even if a lot of people don't."

The Monday Analysis POWER Rankings

1. Indy (5-0). The wins count. And it is the Defense leading the charge instead of the Offense.

2. Cincinnati (4-1). The Bengals just let the undefeated mark slip through their fingers Sunday night.

3. Denver (4-1). What happened in Denver? The Broncos haven't been this good since -- the days of Elway?

4. Tampa Bay (4-1). Jon Gruden you must play Cadillac Williams, or suffer the fate of previous seasons you will.

5. San Diego (2-2). I want to see them against the Steelers on Monday night. I want to see if this team is for real.

6. New England (3-2). Up and down, but Brady and Vinatieri come up in the end again -- for the 19th time.

7. Pittsburgh (2-1). A Bye week and a hot Monday night game for a return.

8. Carolina (3-2). Staying pace in the NFC South.

9. Dallas (3-2). The Machine rolls on!

10. Atlanta (3-2). Tough loss at home, but they don't need to worry about what to do if Mike Vick goes down.

11. Washington (3-1). First loss this season for Joe Gibbs, but the Redskins are still better than they have been since the days of --- well, Joe Gibbs.