There are several ways to measure the Patriots’ fading relevance, but the biggest indication might have come at the start of CBS’ telecast for their JV matchup against the Texans.
Andrew Catalon and James Lofton were standing in the booth instead of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo — or even Kevin Harlan and Trent Green. The Patriots received the “D-list announcer” treatment Sunday, and played down to that level. Though they escaped Houston with a 25-22 win, they made a litany of near-fatal mistakes. Their only saving grace was that Texans coach David Culley tried just a little bit harder to lose, and succeeded.
Of course, you wouldn’t have known that if you were listening to Lofton’s analysis. In case you hadn’t heard, he’s a former coach himself, and thus, apparently incapable of criticizing somebody else in that rare brotherhood. The coverup was so bad, Catalon eventually stepped in to air some of the obvious grievances against Culley’s performance.
The first-year head coach’s first whopping error came early in the third quarter. Faced with a ho-hum fourth down and holding a 22-9 lead, Culley called for a trick play on special teams. Instead of lining up for a regular punt, the Texans performed a mid-sequence dalliance, running back and then returning to the line of scrimmage. Their self-inflicted confusion unsurprisingly resulted in chaos, allowing Lawrence Gay to block the kick.
Yet, Lofton kept focusing on the execution, rather than the call itself. He probably thinks Pedro Martinez should’ve just gotten those outs in Game 7, too.
Towards the end of the game, Catalon took the opportunity to question Culley, and throw some subtle shade at his babbling partner as well. “Here are the questions that I have for David Culley after the game,” Catalon said. “Why did you try and get cute on that punt play? And the use of his timeouts have been very questionable today.”
While Catalon’s effort was valiant, he left out Culley’s worst decision of the afternoon: needlessly attempting a 56-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter with a 7-point lead. The Patriots took advantage of Kai Fairbairn’s predictable miss (he also missed two extra points), and capitalized on the good field possession with a game-tying touchdown.
[Insert Lofton cliché here.]
When Lofton wasn’t covering up for Culley, he was stating the obvious. Late in the second quarter, he told us the Texans were “outplaying the Patriots” when they were up by two scores. Then at the start of the second half, Lofton explained how the Patriots could turn things around.
“You always want your team to be able to play with that sense of urgency, and you want to find your leaders offensively who are able to do that,” he said.
Excellent stuff.
Mercifully, Nantz and Romo will be in Foxborough next week when the Patriots host the Cowboys. Their announcing draw is dependent on their opponent. Sadly, one lucky win against the hapless Texans doesn’t change that.