One Game Does Not a Season Make

Sure, Brady threw for 500-plus yards.

Sure, offensively, the Patriots looked, in a word, awesome.

Sure, despite giving up a quick score to the Dolphins, the Pats answered right back on their way to a convincing 38-24 win.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, as it seems some local yahoos have. Our collective memories can't be that short, right? If you remember correctly the Patriots marched through the regular season last year to the tune of a 14-2 record, only to see it all crash down against the Jets.

Remember that game? Remember the frustration of the performance as Brady looked like he had happy feet all game long in the pocket?

I do -- obviously -- and I can't shake it.

Don't get me wrong, Brady is quite obviously one of the best there is -- and every team is entitled to getting out-coached and out-played on any given day -- especially the playoffs. But I am not quite ready to start the printing press on Super Bowl Champs t-shirts just yet.

The Pats look good. No, strike that. They looked great offensively.

Defensively, they looked OK and made some big plays when they had to...but they also gave up a ton of yards (Chad Henne - 30 of 49 for 400-plus yards).

Next week the Pats come home to take on the (sing it with me) S-A-N ... D-I-E-G-O...SUPERCHARGERS, who many are predicting to take the AFC West. Let's get a few more games under the belt before we start popping the champagne.

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While one Boston team is starting things out, another is struggling to finish it out. So far in September, the Sox look more like the team that started the season 2-10, while the Rays have looked like world beaters. But for those of you measuring the tallest points on the Tobin Bridge in preparation for the collapse, take heed to this piece from Jonah Keri, who writes for my new favorite site, Bill Simmons' Grantland.com.

Just a solid piece breaking down the likelihood of the Rays continued surge and the Sox continued swoon. One of the better parts of the column:

No team has ever squandered a lead of 7.5 games or more in September. Yes, the Sox have seen their 9.5-game cushion on Tampa Bay shrink to three games in just 12 days. But this isn't horseshoes or nuclear war. No points are awarded for coming close. If the Sox merely play .500 ball the rest of the way, the Rays need to go 11-5 (.688) just to set up a tiebreaker.

The schedule says that won't happen. Seven of Boston's final 16 games come against the Orioles; the Rays have just two games left against them (and seven against the loaded Yankees). Baltimore owns the worst record in the American League, second-worst in the majors. Last night's O's lineup included Matt Angle, Kyle Hudson, and Robert Andino. The Red Sox could send a 51-year-old Oil Can Boyd out against the Orioles and they'd still win. Steamroll the O's as expected, then win a handful of other games, and you force the Rays to play ostensibly perfect baseball for the next 2½ weeks.

Regression is coming. Everything that could have gone wrong for Boston has gone wrong. Dustin Pedroia, one of the best all-around players in the league, has gone ice-cold. He's 3-for-34 in his past eight games, with nine strikeouts and one extra-base hit. He's hitless in his past 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The recent RISP woes run deeper than that: The Sox are hitting just .228 in that situation over their past eight games, including a 1-for-15 stretch against the Rays.

These things don't last. Over the long haul, there's no such thing as a team that's clutch or unclutch. Balls will start dropping in for hits, and runs will start scoring. Even without the ailing Kevin Youkilis, the Red Sox feature a loaded lineup, second only to the Yankees in runs scored. MVP candidate Jacoby Ellsbury fronts one of the best foursomes in baseball alongside Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, and David Ortiz. Even the team's role players, guys like Josh Reddick (.355wOBA), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.337), and Marco Scutaro (.331), have been positive contributors. Slumps happen, but so do bounce-backs. The smart money says this team will mash down the stretch.

Meanwhile, the Rays are giving playing time to green rookies Brandon Guyer and Jose Lobaton, sending Casey Kotchman out to reenact the Dead Ball Era against lefties and sending Sean Rodriguez out to hit like a pitcher against righties. B.J. Upton just had a stretch in which he reached base a team-record nine times in a row, despite using a plate approach that consists of swinging at the first pitch every time and trusting the pitcher to have no brains whatsoever. This is a team with half a lineup, playing over its head. Plus Kyle Farnsworth's hurt, leaving behind a thin bullpen.

Things never look worse than when you're slumping and never better than when you're streaking. It won't last. You've got this, Red Sox.

That's it for tonight -- I'll be back as September heats up.