Eric Heise dot Com ~ The Monday Analysis 3 October 2005 ~ A Writer's March

First game for October, and the Red Sox keep their mojo going long enough for a third straight Wild Card slot. And the Patriots end another long win streak...

As a win streak ended last year with straight 21 wins, the 21 home game win streak ends this week against San Diego 41-17.

The missing links in the Patriots are starting to show. The offense isn't making plays, the defense misses tackles, Special Teams isn't getting the field position they should be getting. No one wants to hear about who is missing and why things don't go well, but the secondary is young and not as aggressive as they should be. The defense isn't tackling like they need to be tackling. And the offense isn't moving the ball down the field, especially on third down like they need to be doing. And I'm not sure what the offense's excuse is. Outside of Matt Light, they're pretty healthy.

"Rodney's (Harrison, start strong safety who is out for the season with a knee injury) always been a big defender for us, helping us out there but we don't have Rodney now," safety Eugene Wilson said after the game. "I don't know what Rodney could have done out there today to change it."

''San Diego is the better team,'' Bill Belichick said. "They did a good job in every area better than we did and I think the score reflected that.''

Ouch. When asked if the injuries had much to do with the loss, Belichick was his Cleveland Days-style aloof-self, and muttered an "I don't know" all the while looking to want to slap the reporter who asked it. Dumb question, but it had to be asked.

The Quarterback break down: Tom Brady: 19-32 for 224 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Drew Brees: 19-24 for 248 yards, 2 TDs. And the running game? Oh do you really want those numbers? Ok, Corey Dillon: 63 yards, 1 TD. LaDainian Tomlinson: 134 yards, 2 TDs. The Patriots had zero sacks, zero turnovers on defense, even the Chargers threw to more receivers. And Adam Vinatieri - he missed a 27 yard field goal.

"You go back to work," Quarterback Tom Brady said. "There are 12 games left and no game is more important than the one we have coming up this week. We are going to go out to practice this week, get back to work tomorrow, like I said, go out and correct our mistakes. It is not going to get any easier."

No it doesn't. Atlanta doesn't about their injuries. And most of Patriots Nation doesn't care either.

The Monday Analysis POWER Rankings

1. Indy (4-0). The Defense is playing, the Offense has showed their heads. Nothing is going wrong yet.

1. Indy (4-0). The Defense is playing, the Offense has showed their heads. Nothing is going wrong yet.

2. Cincinnati (4-0). Marvin Lewis was the answer the Bengals needed to be a Team again.

3. Tampa Bay (4-0). Jon Gruden is a happy guy again.

4. Washington (3-0). The Joe Gibbs of Old brings respect back to the Redskins of New.

5. Atlanta (3-1). The big challenge is next week against the Patriots. Or is it?

6. Philadelphia (3-1). The wins are suspect, but the train is rolling right a long, even with McNabb being injured.

7. Pittsburgh (2-1). A Bye and they stay.

8. New England (2-2). My new prediction is that the Patriots will be off this list soon. I just don't think they wan to play these days.

9. Denver (3-1). This is the quietest 3-1 team out there.

10. NJ Giants (3-1). Maybe it was dropping Kurt Warner that got the Giants winning.

11. San Diego (2-2). The Martyball Machine is back, and the offense is showing signs of terror.

12. New Orleans (2-2). No home. No problem.