1000 days later...

As today's Patriots broadcast came to an end, Gil Santos informed us that it's been 1000 days since The Pats have lost a game at The Razor, Gillete Stadium. It was all the way back in Dec 2002. Hard to believe it isn't it?

It's too bad the streak had to end but it could not last forever and it will always be there to look back on.

Today's game reminded me of a 400 meter sprint between a runner who was in top condition and a runner with a bum leg, but lots of heart. The runner with the injury kept pace with his competitor for about half the race, but once they hit the 200 meter mark, the runner in top shape just kicked it into another gear and pulled away, leaving the injured runner gasping away in the dust.

The bottom line in todays game is that The Pats were simply unable to contain San Diego's run game. Tomlinson pretty much did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He ran all over The Pats D and that's why they lost. It did not help that some killer penalties against The Pats gave The Chargers great field possession on their scoring drives.

On the other side of the ball, The Pats played a good game offensively but in the 2nd half were stymied and just could not keep up.

It was not an enjoyable sight to watch, but I have to admit, I remained calm throughout the game. I had one outburst during the 2nd half when Michael Turner busted through about 10 tacklers. After that I was like, "These guys are running all over us. We are done." I resigned myself to fate at that point. For some reason, I just had a feeling going in, 'This is going to be one of those games'. I hate being right.

On a side note, there is something that bothered me almost as much as The Pats losing the game, and that was The Pats 12th Man, or lack thereof. I was really disappointed at the noise level from the crowd when S.D. had the ball, and the number of empty seats as the game wound down really made me feel disgusted in my fellow Pats fans who were lucky enough to have tickets to a game. I felt embarrassed. Maybe we have become spoiled by success.

As somebody who won't be seeing a game in person this year, it annoyed me to see all those empty seats. And that is not meant as some kind of 'poor me, I don't have tickets' statement, it is meant to say, if you're lucky to be at a game, stay and support the team through the whole thing. Don't bail out when things start going bad. The Pats don't quit, neither should their fans.

Despite today's disappointing loss, I have a good feeling about next week's game in Atlanta. It's still early and the AFC East is still wide open.

GO PATS!