Patriots Mistakes Lead To Carolina Win

The key stat in the Patriots 27-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday was not Tom Brady's passing (an inefficient 18-for-34 and 222 yards) or Corey Dillon's running (a miserable 14 carries for 36 yards). It was the 12 penalties the team committed for a total of 86 yards. They made the difference by keeping the offense from gaining any rhythm and giving extra chances to the Carolina offense. The biggest offendor was the offensive line. I counted five times that they committed a pre-snap false start penalty. That is inexcusable and it is a mistake that I am quite sure that offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia will fix this week. The offensive line also did a poor job of giving Brady -- who was off the mark a half dozen times today -- any time to throw; the Panthers defense was consistently in Brady's mug as he tried to throw. The Pats now travel to 2-0 Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. It is an important week as the Patriots must begin to assert themselves in the tough AFC. The Steelers will be waiting to exact revenge from last year's AFC Title Game loss and I'm sure the Pats will be ready to respond as they haven't lost back-to-back games since the 2002 season.