Aaron Hernandez's injury highlighted what was a disappointing Sunday on many levels for the New England Patriots.
FOXBOROUGH -- In a split-second, the two-headed monster had been cut in half and the New England Patriots offense no longer soared so high above the skyline.
Aaron Hernandez fell to the turf while blocking for Julian Edelman during the first quarter of Sunday's 20-18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals and needed the training staff to limp off the field. He hobbled into the locker room with two trainers helping him every painful step of the way.
X-rays came next, which returned negative. But Hernandez is still expected to miss more than two more weeks. His injury foreshadowed an afternoon that provided a collage of Patriots disappointments.
Was Hernandez's absence the primary problem during New England's uneven offensive performance, which produced just one touchdown with 2:06 remaining? It was hard to tell on a day that Wes Welker wasn't targeted once in the first 28 minutes and Rob Gronkowski managed just one catch through the first three quarters. Every time the Patriots started resembling themselves offensively, charging down the field with efficiency, a penalty or loss of yardage stuck out its foot and tripped them.
As Tom Brady explained, "Offensively, when you don't play well, when you don't play consistently, if you're not going to get a big play, then you have to drive the ball. And you can't drive the ball if you're always two steps forward, one step back. That's the way it felt today--we'd get the drive going, but a negative play would force us to make a miraculous play to get back on track."
One third-and-6 midway through the third quarter stood as a perfect example of New England's offensive challenges, which seemed to begin with play calling and continue with execution: After traveling 50 yards in 11 plays, the Patriots pitched to Danny Woodhead, who looked like he might be tasked with throwing a halfback option pass. Not only did Woodhead lose nine yards when he was tackled well behind the line of scrimmage, but the play pushed New England out of field goal territory. Zoltan Mesko's ensuing punt went into the end zone for a touchback. The Patriots were called for illegal formation on the punt and Arizona's resulting field position was improved by five yards.
The Patriots relied on Stephen Gostkowski far more than they would have liked to Sunday. He drilled his first four field goal attempts, including two longer than 50 yards and another from 46. And when a Woodhead 30-yard touchdown run was called back inside the final minute because of a Rob Gronkowski holding penalty, the Patriots needed Gostkowski once more. They clearly trusted him, deciding to fall onto the football at the 24-yard line rather than take one more shot at the end zone during the final 40 seconds of play. The conservative line of play-calling set up Gostkowski's last-second attempt from 42 yards.
It was a minor miracle the Patriots even got another good chance. They were out of timeouts and the Cardinals had the ball with barely more than a minute remaining. They faced third-and-13 from their own 35, so a first down wasn't likely. But all they needed to do was run and hold onto the football on third down, and the Patriots would have received the ensuing punt pinned deep into their own territory with fewer than 30 seconds left and no timeouts with which to work.
Ryan Williams fumbled instead when Brandon Spikes hit him perfectly on the football, and Vince Wilfork recovered to seize control for the Patriots.
"He knows he almost cost us," Cardinals tight end Todd Heap said of Williams.
Almost, because Gostkowski's 42-yarder missed wide left with 0:01 remaining on the clock. The Gillette Stadium crowd, which had resorted to boos several times throughout the afternoon because of impatient frustration, fell into a stunned silence, as if a mute button controlled its volume. When Kevin Kolb took a knee on the ensuing play, the Patriots were finished.
Afterward, Gronkowski said the blame could be pinned on him rather than the missed kick. The tight end committed two crucial penalties on the final drive--the first wiped away Woodhead's touchdown, the second pushed Gostkowski's attempt five yards farther from the goal posts. Brady threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage, missed several open receivers breaking free past the secondary and was sacked four times. The Patriots allowed a blocked punt that set the Cardinals up at the 2-yard line for an easy touchdown, and committed eight penalties for 60 yards on the day.
Only the defense was safe from harsh criticism. Of the 20 points New England allowed, 10 were the direct result of the opening interception and the third-quarter blocked punt. Chandler Jones caused havoc in the backfield, forcing his second fumble in two weeks, and Spikes made a number of game-changing plays, including but not limited to the final forced fumble. Arizona's all-world receiver Larry Fitzgerald managed just four receiving yards and New England had a chance to win even with its offense sputtering for each of the first three quarters.
"The defense kept us in the game all day. They played really well," Logan Mankins said. "The offense and special teams let the team down."
Without Hernandez, the offense sputtered. Not until the final quarter, when the Patriots went to a shotgun spread in the no-huddle, did the team find any semblance of rhythm. The final stats were inflated by a couple of long fourth-quarter drives, but the Patriots offense was far from precise on Sunday. It's unclear exactly how much Hernandez's absence impacted the unit, but it clearly mattered. He's one of the tougher matchups in the entire league, a strong tight end with a running back's shiftiness in open space. Without him, the two tight end packages lost half their luster. But the Patriots still have enough weapons to thrive when one of their stars go down, and they just didn't execute on Sunday.
And so the Patriots dropped to 1-1, receiving a clear message that they aren't as powerful or dominant as they looked in Week 1, at least at this stage of the season. The Cardinals have some offensive talent and a stingy defense, but the Patriots squandered a sea of opportunities before missing on their last chance.
“That was a gift,” Mankins said of the final fumble. “It doesn’t happen very often, and we let it get away.”
Gostkowski's miss came last. But Sunday at Gillette Stadium, Patriots mistakes had plenty of company.