Bedard: Season-crushing defeat lies squarely at the feet of the vaunted Patriots defense

FOXBOROUGH — 4th and 2, meet The 2-Minute Surrender.

Two different halves. Bill Belichick believing in one side of the ball more than the other. Both failing, and it could end up costing the Patriots a decade apart.

One happened in a 2009 Week 10 game against the Colts with 2:08 remaining from their own 28-yard line. Bill Belichick didn't trust his defense to hold a 34-28 lead against Peyton Manning, so he decided Tom Brady and Kevin Faulk would have better odds converting, even deep in their own end.

Faulk was ruled 1-yard short, Manning scored the game-winning touchdown four plays later and the Patriots finished the season as the AFC's third seed and lost at home to the Ravens in the wild-card round.

Belichick probably wasn't wrong to think that way ... but it didn't help a limping defense to feel better about itself the rest of the season.

Ten years later, in a 10-10 game with the 4-11 Dolphins, Belichick could have taken one of his three timeouts with 1:45 left before halftime and tried to take a lead. He didn't use a single timeout — before the punt, or following two punchless runs.

I finally got Belichick to give the semblance of an answer on the topic after the game, and he did explain his rationale: with the Dolphins having all three of their timeouts, he was worried about them gaining a foothold before halftime.

"Yeah, we'd see what kind of field position we got, and then if we could advance the ball, then we'd take them," Belichick said. "But, we didn't want to give the ball back with their timeouts at the end of the half, either."

Essentially, Belichick, this time, didn't trust his offense, which at that point was the gang that couldn't shoot straight with the Dolphins following Julian Edelman with two players as soon as he entered One Patriot Place.

Like his offense 10 years earlier, Belichick thought his high-priced and uber-experienced gang of "Boogeymen" would, eventually, win the game. After all, that's basically been the 2019 season plan since the Patriots showed up to training camp with Larry, Curly, and a Broken-down Moe for offensive weapons around Brady.

Why not go down with the ship?

Patriots went on to lose 27-24 and were relegated to the AFC's No. 3 seed for the first time since that '09 outfit and will host Mike "Patriot Place" Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans who, if you squint enough, look an awful lot like those old Ravens.

The ship be sinking.

Again, Belichick probably wasn't wrong with his rationale. But it's probably not going to instill much confidence into Brady & The Misfit Toys for a long postseason run. Although, let's be honest, Brady basically knew this was coming for a while anyway.

Here's the thing, though, about what happened on Sunday: Belichick made his choice and it didn't work out — but it didn't cost the Patriots the game. Brady, his pick-six and Overmatched Mohamed Sanu didn't either.

It was the defense.

Those Boogeymen and their t-shirts.

That cornerback and his Defensive Player of the Year campaign.

Those mostly green assistants who had never been in this spot before.

The unit that Belichick put all his hopes and dreams into when he kept absolutely everyone from last season (much to the chagrin of the offense) to the point they had starting-caliber players who barely had defined roles ... completely let the team down.

• The biggest flaw in the game was the Patriots' decision to rarely put anyone in the middle of the field to support coverage. Basically, the Patriots would rush four (sometimes five if the back stayed in), cover the five targets with man, and then have two safeties over the top. That's playing scared and inviting the opponent to run crossers on you all day, which is what happened. How about a few more three-man rushes and someone ready to take away the crossers? How about a single-high safety, and the other in the middle of the field. How about, since the Dolphins barely ran the ball, playing with seven defensive backs? The Patriots missed Terrence Brooks today, especially with Patrick Chung's continued play on fumes.


• 11:00, 3Q: Fitzpatrick converts a 3rd-and-2 when the Patriots throw a curveball at Fitzpatrick with some sort of zone. A couple of problems. One, the breaking pitch tossed by Steven Belichick hung like it was thrown by John Wasdin, and Fitzpatrick hit it to the Mass Pike. Two, JC Jackson was not doing much except staring with Kyle Van Noy at some receiver named Isaiah Ford who I had never heard of and was, apparently, a seventh-round pick two years ago. That would go for 24 yards against Jonathan Jones playing safety for some reason.


• 10:20, 3Q: The receiver throwback to the running back, who apparently no one had in coverage and ... can anyone tell me what Jackson is doing on this play as well?

albert wilson to patrick laird pic.twitter.com/ZQooouwUGo

— josh houtz (@houtz) December 29, 2019

• 9:25, 3Q: Both Van Noy and Hightower allowed Fitzpatrick to scramble for 10 crucial yards on 2nd and 15.


• 8:37, 3Q: On 3rd and 5, McCourty is actually in the middle of the field but the combination of Chung's coverage and McCourty getting moved by Fitzpatrick's eyes allows a 14-yard conversion.


• 7:48, 3Q: Both Guy and Wise rush past the quarterback and then Bentley has Fitzpatrick one on one and the linebacker doesn't even get a hand on the vet QB. That was ... not good.

• 11:10, 4Q: Tied at 17-17, Jones misses a tackle for about 10 yards.


• 10:28: Time for our now-weekly game of Guess the Zero Blitz in a situation that didn't call for it and the Patriots get burned. Dolphins have 2nd and 10 at the NE 46 when they send everyone and Gilmore is easily burned for 23 yards of pitch and catch between Fitzpatrick and Parker. Maybe I should drop this here now:

DeVante Parker got the best of Stephon Gilmore, who lined up across from Parker on 40 of 45 routes (89%).

Parker caught 7 of 9 targets with Gilmore in coverage for 119 yards, the most receptions & yards given up by Gilmore since joining the Patriots in 2017.#MIAvsNE | #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/hEkYFwSZ0c

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 29, 2019

• 9:30: Drink for Jackson's every-game penalty. Sets the stage for an easy 32-yard field goal. Add Deatrich Wise getting his usual dumb penalty, (horse-collar tackle this time) if you'd really like to get hammered.


• 3:47: Now the Patriots lead 24-20, and all the Boogeymen have to do is hold and the Patriots have a first-round bye. But on second down, Jones is a step late, there's no one in the middle of the field, so Wilson can bobble and attempt to catch the ball five different times without being bothered. 10 yards.

• 2:00: Parker just beats Gilmore for 24 yards. Tough look for DPOY.


• 1:10: 3rd and 5 and, again, no one is in the middle of the field helping on the crosser by Wilson that goes for 7 yards. Anyone? Bueller?


• 0:40: Gilmore is playing off, so Parker has his easiest 8 yards of the season.


• 0:35: What do you know, another easy low crosser for first and goal at the 5.


• 0:29: Apparently Wilson needed to be doubled in the left flat, which allows Gesicki to score the game-winner against Chung.

FOR. THE. LEAD!!!#MIAvsNE #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/ADIv5gqMMO

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) December 29, 2019