The New England Patriots fell eleven points shy of making it to the Super Bowl this year, and the team in in reflection mode at the moment. From Tom Brady’s high passes to the defense not being able to contain Peyton Manning, the Patriots did not have a good day on Sunday.
One of the reasons for the defensive failure on Sunday afternoon was the absence of cornerback Aqib Talib. New England lost their star cornerback when he took a shot from Wes Welker and never returned to the game. Not only was the hit one that changed the game in favor of the Broncos, but it was something that Bill Belichick called one of the worst plays he’s ever seen.
Belichick on Welker's hit on Talib: "It's one of the worst plays I've seen."
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 20, 2014
Belichick is in a position to be surly, as his team fell short in it’s second consecutive AFC Championship game. The hit on Talib didn’t appear to be that bad in real time or in replay, and the fact that the Patriots are the team complaining means that lots of people are already siding against them.
Either way, the play changed the game, and we’re not hearing Belichick say anything about Julian Edelman’s similar hit on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, so there may be a bit of favoritism going on here.