It appeared as though the hangover from the week's events was real, as the Patriots got caught sleepwalking through the first half of their 20-10 victory against the listless Carolina Panthers. Seemingly, a fast start could have erased the fallout from the loss in Miami — Tom Brady and Wes Welker calling out the team, four players getting sent home from a meeting and the benching of Adalius Thomas — but the Patriots (8-5) didn't punch their time cards until late in the second quarter. Not even Bill Belichick could send them home for showing up late on this day.
"Early, I don't think our focus was there," said running back Kevin Faulk, whose second-quarter touchdown tied the game 7-7 and gave the Patriots a shot of adrenaline. "I just think we came in at halftime, like, 'Hey, look, this is what we have to do. We've got 30 minutes left. Let's just play [all] out and see what happens."
The Patriots' first six possessions were messy and drew far more boos than cheers from the Gillette Stadium crowd. On those possessions, New England had an interception, a fumble, a turnover on downs, two three-and-outs and one punt. The Pats ran 26 plays, gained 120 offensive yards and picked up a half-dozen first downs. New England's defense played well enough to keep the team within seven points of Carolina.
"The funny thing is we have a second half," said Faulk, who put up 75 yards from scrimmage against the Panthers. "The thing on our mind was, 'OK, just keep playing, just keep playing. Keep doing what you're doing.' The ball wasn't bouncing our way. We had too many turnovers in the first half. We know that, but at the same time, we know we have a second half that we have to play. That was one of our goals that we had coming in — finishing the game. We might have had a horrible start, but finishing the game was what's going to win it for you."
Therein lies the Patriots' Sunday fortunes. During their five losses in 2009, they've gotten progressively worse throughout the course of the game. But after Sunday's disturbing start, they improved.
The Patriots' last six possessions were much more productive. They picked up two touchdowns, two field goals, fumbled once and then ran out the clock in the fourth quarter. Over those possessions, the Patriots ran 48 plays, gained 257 offensive yards, picked up 20 first downs and scored 20 points.
Certainly, the overall body of work was ugly. Brady told the team afterward that they had played better games earlier in the season and come away with losses, but those are the breaks.
"You have those days when it's not all great, but you keep lining up and keep going out," said Brady, who completed 19 of 32 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and one interception. "You've just got to keep fighting. That's the message I always try to convey to everybody.
"If you're a quarterback," Brady continued, "you throw picks. You throw bad balls. If you're a receiver, you drop balls. If you're a running back, you fumble balls. It's just part of the process. It's about making the next one a good one and not making the next one a bad one because you're a little bit down in the dumps."