New England
Patriots

Patriots Team Report

Updated: February 07, 2012 10:27 EST

The Patriots don't have much time to reflect on Sunday's loss in the Super Bowl. The NFL draft is in two months and they've got plenty of picks, which means plenty of decisions must be made between now and April. Still, this is the week to sum it all up, and, despite the disappointment in losing to the Giants for the second time in four years, there's a feeling of satisfaction in knowing they came within one drive of winning the Super Bowl considering all their problems throughout the season.

"I'm real proud of them," head coach Bill Belichick said. "They worked hard all year. They competed well all season and we won a lot of games. The ones we didn't win we fought right until the end and played very competitively. We did that (Sunday) night and just came up a little bit short.

"I have all the respect in the world for the team, and all the players, what they've done for over six months. It's not about one game or one play or anything, it's a whole body of work. I really, really enjoyed coaching this team. I have a lot of respect for them."

Some have suggested this was Belichick's best coaching job, though it's hard to top the 2008 season in which he and his staff led the team to an 11-5 finish without Tom Brady. This team lacked the depth other teams had in the past, particularly on defense, yet it won 10 consecutive games after losing to the Giants in Week 9 and earned the top seed in the AFC.

The proudest came in Week 10 following that aforementioned loss to the Giants in which New England traveled to the Meadowlands and crushed the Jets in a pivotal division game. That, Belichick said, came at a time in which "things could've gone the other way." The Patriots had lost back-to-back games at that point, but never lost again until Sunday.

Now the focus is on the offseason, particularly the draft, which might offer the best chance for the Patriots to fill the holes on their roster.

"We'll try to take a little time here and regroup, and figure out some of the things we need to do and move forward," Belichick said. "The combine is in two-and-a-half weeks and I'm sure there will be a lot of other things on the agenda between now and then. So we'll just take them as they come. For right now, we're just kind of collecting our thoughts and we'll figure it out here in due course."

--Wide receiver Wes Welker took the blame for Sunday's loss, pointing out his inability to make the catch on what would've been a first down prior to the Patriots' next to last drive.

"It's one of those plays I've made a thousand times," Welker said. "I mean, the ball is right there. I've just got to make the play. It's a play I've made a thousand times in practice and everything else.

"It comes to the biggest moment of my life and I don't come up with it. It's discouraging."

--Head coach Bill Belichick announced during his season wrap-up Monday that Josh McDaniels will be the team's offensive coordinator next season now that Bill O'Brien has officially moved on to become the head coach at Penn State.

The Patriots re-hired McDaniels prior to the postseason as an offensive assistant once O'Brien took the Penn State job. The anticipated promotion of McDaniels, who held the role of offensive coordinator from 2006 through 2008, was widely reported, but not confirmed until Belichick made it official Monday.

--Most of the players in New England's locker room were disappointed they couldn't win this Super Bowl for Robert Kraft, who's role in helping end the lockout during the time in which his late wife's health was deteriorating was a key storyline in saving the 2012 season, but there were also condolences shed for running back Kevin Faulk, who may retire at the end of the year.

Faulk returned against the Steelers after undergoing knee surgery during the offseason, but was never the same after playing 39 snaps in that game. He was active only five times down the stretch and didn't play in the Super Bowl.

"I just feel real bad for guys like Kevin, trying to go (off) into the sunset," defensive back Kyle Arrington said.

REPORT CARD VS. GIANTS

PASSING OFFENSE: C-plus - Tom Brady got off to an uncharacteristically poor start, firing a pass over the middle from his own end zone while under pressure from Justin Tuck and, subsequently, costing the team two points via a safety. When the Patriots went to no-huddle, Brady was brilliant, completing a Super Bowl-record 14 consecutive passes on back-to-back drives at the end of the second quarter and start of the third to give the Patriots a 17-9 lead. After getting by Tuck midway through the second half, Brady was never the same; sure, Wes Welker dropped a pass he probably catches 99 times out of a hundred, but Brady also threw two poor passes to Deion Branch down the stretch. Rob Gronkowski was a non-factor, and a drop by Aaron Hernandez on the final drive, despite how well he played throughout, ended up being costly, too.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C -- The Patriots never tried to establish the run, though BenJarvus Green-Ellis still finished with a decent total, picking up 44 yards on 10 carries. Green-Ellis, however, did most of his running early, and the team's inability to pick up key yards on first and second down late in the game helped the Giants get the Patriots off the field down the stretch. Kevin Faulk was inactive and Stevan Ridley never saw the field. For all intents and purposes, it was Green-Ellis and Woodhead carrying the load with Welker getting a pair of carries. The bottom line is with a couple of five- or six-yard pickups late in the game, the Patriots might've been in some manageable third-down situations down the stretch.

PASS DEFENSE: C -- Early on, it appeared the Patriots were content with giving the Giants the underneath routes while not allowing Mario Manningham, Victor Cruz or Hakeem Nicks to beat them. Still, Manningham and Nicks made big plays, particularly down the stretch. Forget the brilliant play by Manningham on the Giants' game-winning drive, because the coverage was perfect; Eli Manning simply made a tremendous throw. The problem was allowing Manning to complete 30-of-40 passes and not make a key stop following Manningham's big catch on that final drive. The coverage was too soft down the stretch, much like it was throughout the entire season. To make matters worse, Jerod Mayo should've been able to make a play on Cruz's first-half touchdown, but he had his back to Manning the entire play. This came down to poor execution, which should be no surprise.

RUSH DEFENSE: D -- For everything Vince Wilfork did in the AFC Championship to snuff out the Ravens, he didn't carry that into the Super Bowl. The Giants double-teamed him constantly, freeing up holes for Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. The two combined for 109 yards and a touchdown. While the Giants certainly peaked in the postseason in terms of the effectiveness of their running game, the Patriots looked soft up the middle. Yes, the game plan was to let Bradshaw score on that final drive to leave Brady with enough time to win the game, but the inability to stop the run the entire game allowed the Giants to dominate the time of possession. Brady standing on the sideline watching his defense give up first downs does nothing to help New England's chances.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C -- This isn't a case in which the Patriots made a ton of mistakes, but more so a nod to how well the Giants played in this phase of the game. Steve Weatherford pinned three punts inside the 10-yard line for the Giants and would've had a fourth were it not for one of his teammates whiffing at the ball near the goal line. The Patriots lost the battle of field position throughout the night and were simply out-played on special teams.

COACHING: B - Even though Eli Manning completed 30 of 40 passes, the game plan was to force him to go underneath because of a lot of the Cover-2 defensive alignments. It worked, but Manning was patient and didn't have a turnover. Belichick made the decision to allow the final Giants' touchdown so the offense would have time to get in position.