Dome daze

The last time the New England Patriots played in the New Orleans Superdome, Adam Vinatieri was booting a game-winning 48-yard field goal and a dynasty was born. Needless to say, Monday night's debacle in the Big Easy was a far cry from the 2001 team that shocked the world.

So what went wrong? The way I see it, those Patriots aren't these Patriots. Yes, they're led by the same coach, and the quarterback is the same, but that's about it. In fact, I'm willing to say that neither the coach, nor the quarterback, are the same people they were eight years ago.

Eight years ago, Bill Belichick was known as a defensive genius, a guy who could take spare parts, put them in the right position and get good results. In 2001, he did it with the likes of Roman Phifer, Bobby Hamilton, Otis Smith, Anthony Pleasant and Brandon Mitchell, and New England went on to stifle the "Greatest Show on Turf" in the Super Bowl.

Today's greatest offensive show went through the Patriots defense like a hot knife through butter on Monday. Give them credit. But what bothered me more than the fact that Drew Brees and company moved the ball at will was the fact that too many assignments were missed and too many guys were out of position. To me, that falls on Belichick.

During the days when New England was winning championships, the coach found ways to neutralize stout offenses no matter who he threw out there. That is not the case with this team. Then again, it would take a miracle worker to stop that offense with a Detroit Lions/Cleveland Browns castoff, a fourth-round, second-year corner and a backup safety. Yes, Leigh Bodden, Jonathan Wilhite and Brandon McGowan looked good last week against the Jets, but they're not ready for the big time.

Now let's turn our attention to Terrific Tom, who was anything but against the Saints. Even though he's putting up pretty good numbers, I've been saying all year long that something is wrong. He's just a little off. It seems like he's missing throws that he would make 10 out of 10 times two years ago. It could still be the knee, and as Josh Krueger told me this morning, Year 2 after that kind of injury is when a quarterback gets fully comfortable.

But Brady just doesn't look the same as he once was. As someone commented to me last night, "He doesn't have that hunger anymore." And that might be true.

Yes, it's one game, and it's one loss, but the Patriots still don't have a signature win this season. They're 7-4 and haven't won a true road game. The road ahead seems fairly easy, and 12-4 isn't too far a stretch. Still, in the last three weeks, New England was served a heavy dose of reality.