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Every Wednesday during the NFL season, Kru’s Control will offer readers a pre-port. A pre-port is a first cousin to a pre-diction, but it’s not just a guess about the score of Sunday’s Patriots game, it is a full-length report about the game—before it ever happens—as if it had already happened. Think of having a time traveler come back each week to let you know the story of the game several days before the game is ever played.
Pre-ports are more fun to write than regular game stories. Regular stories limit the writer to the facts. The only limits of a pre-port are the writer’s imagination and wit. Right or wrong, near or far from the actual result, pre-ports allow us to imagine any outcome we prefer. So enjoy. This is what happened in next Sunday’s game…
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The Patriots are officially the champions of Texas, having followed their rain-soaked defeat of the Cowboys of Dallas by squeaking out the narrowest of victories over the Texans of Houston, 23-20.
Playing under perfect conditions for a change, the Patriots managed to parlay two good quarters, the first and the fourth, into a W, sandwiching them around a second and third quarter in which Bill Belichick’s troops were very un-Patriot-like. The difference between these two teams, much like the difference between the Pats and every other NFL team, is that when push comes to shove, in those critical moments that distinguish winners from losers, the guys from Foxborough are precise and mistake-free. Combine a few heroic Pats plays in crunch time with several Texans boo-boos in the final minutes of the contest, and voila, you have a tasty recipe for turning almost certain defeat into delicious victory.
The game started as well as one could have hoped. The Patriots received the kickoff and began their drive at their 45 on a terrific run-back by Branden Bolden. Then after three consecutive Sony Michel runs to the Texans 25, Tom Brady and back-shoulder-specialist N’Keal Harry did their magic once again. Less than four minutes into the game, it was 7-0 for the good guys.
Three minutes later, Deshaun Watson tried to scramble, got hit from behind by the tenacious Lawrence Guy, and the Patriots recovered at midfield. After a couple of Julian Edelman and Jakobi Meyers receptions followed by two stuffed runs, the Pats decided not to go for it on fourth and one, and converted a field goal from 32 yards out. It’s ten-zip, we’re still in the first quarter, and life is good.
But then Dr. Jekyll turned into Mr. Hyde (no relation to Carlos Hyde, I believe). Although it was too ugly to recount in great detail, let it be said that during the second and third quarters we were forced to watch a pair of Brady interceptions, one a bad overthrow and the other a deflection at the line, which turned into two far-too-easy Texans touchdown drives.
In combination with this, the Pats on-again-off-again run defense became all too porous. Carlos, The Texans’ Mr. Hyde, rambled for gains of 23 and 42 yards and accounted for 92 yards in those two middle quarters alone. Although giving up oodles of yardage, the Patriots defense did stiffen inside the red zone, but with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter TB12 and Company were on the wrong side of a 20-13 score.
Ah, but then the worm turned once again. On the Houston side, a 22 yard pass on third and 17 was negated by a Laremy Tunsil holding penalty. Carlos Hyde bulled his way for four yards on fourth and two, but an offensive hands-to-the-face penalty stymied that drive, resulting in a wide-right Texans attempt from their 42.
Making good use of terrific field position after the missed field goal, Mr. Clutch, that guy with #12 on his back, did what he’s done so many times before. Screen left, Brady to Sanu, was good for 15 yards. Screen right, Brady to White, brought the Pats another 12 yards closer. But on fourth and four with 3:47 on the clock, Bill trotted out the surprisingly reliable Nick Folk, hoping that by some miraculous form of osmosis, Folk had picked up the Patriots knack for clutch plays. Snap, kick, down the middle. Pats now down 20-16, betting on the defense to give Brady the ball back with enough time on the clock to perform a miracle–once again.
Things were looking dire after the Patriots allowed a first down on the ground and had used up two of their time-outs. Two more Deshaun Watson handoffs to Carlos Hyde resulted in a third and three at the key moment of the game. A first down and the Pats were going home on the losing side, a stuff and… hope remained.
Enter Danny Shelton, totally forgotten a season ago, but somehow revitalized in 2019. Hyde took the handoff over left tackle, and Shelton not only stuffed him, he swatted the ball out. Patrick Chung, always in the middle of a scrum, pounced on the loose ball.
Down by four. 1:53 left on the clock. Forty-nine yards between the line of scrimmage and pay dirt. One time-out left. Touchdown needed–a field goal won’t be enough.
The drive commences. Brady to Edelman over the middle, 11 yards for a first down. Incompletion to Harry. Brady sacked for a potentially disastrous 5 yard loss. Time out. Brady to Sanu for 9 yards. Fourth and six. Brady to White for 6 yards and one inch, exactly enough to keep the drive alive. Brady to Edelman again.
Twenty-seven seconds to go. First and 10. Ball on the 14. Draw play to White down to the 5. Brady spikes it with four ticks on the clock. One play left. The mobile Mr. Brady rolls right, throws it, of all people, to Matt LaCosse who hasn’t sniffed the ball all afternoon. Completely alone at the one, LaCosse backs in for the winning score.
Some teams panic when the game is on the line. Most often their coaches aren’t really prepared, so neither are their teams. Some teams win Super Bowls because they have great leadership and are totally composed from the coach down to the 53rd man on the roster. This was as close as it gets, but, face it, it’s neither luck nor chance that these things tend to end happily for the Patriots.
