No Reason to Extend Patriot Act

It was 10-and-oh against oh-for-six, Tom Brady against Jake Plummer, the team of the ‘00s against the team that hadn’t won a thing since John Elway retired.

Ten-and-oh fumbles at its 40, then gets called for a 39-yard pass interference penalty.

Oh-for-six scores from the one-yard line on the next play.

Tom Brady forces a pass into the end zone, has it intercepted and returned 100 yards.

Jake Plummer hands off and Mike Anderson scores from the one-yard line on the next play.

Team of the ‘00s fumbles a punt at its 15.

Team that hadn’t won a thing without Elway scores from the four-yard line three plays later.

This wasn’t the way the New England Patriot dynasty was supposed to end, not with Plummer, the notorious shaky Jake the Snake, taking a few knees Saturday night to close out a 27-13 Denver victory.

But in a way, it made sense.

Who else besides the Patriots were capable of taking out the Patriots in a playoff game?

New England entered this one with a 10-0 postseason streak that included three Super Bowls and a 28-3 wild-card round rout of Jacksonville last week. Brady had taken on Joe Montana-in-the-clutch status, Bill Belichick never gets outcoached in a postseason game and Denver had not won a playoff game in six years, not since Elway’s last stand in the 1998 season.

In addition to that, New England outgained Denver, 420 yards to 286, in the Broncos’ backyard.

So how do the Patriots wind up losing by two touchdowns?

Amazingly, there was a way, although who would have wagered that Brady, Troy Brown and Adam Vinatieri -- so reliable in three successful Super Bowl runs -- would have been major contributors?

Plummer, not Brady, is the one who’s supposed to throw a bad pass into the end zone and have it picked off and run back 100 yards, setting up a one-yard touchdown for the opposition.

Brown, versatile and valuable on offense, defense and special teams, isn’t supposed to fumble away a fourth-quarter punt at his 15, leading to another Denver touchdown three plays later.

Vinatieri doesn’t miss important field goals, hadn’t missed a fourth-quarter field goal in 21 tries. But there he was sailing wide right with 12:48 to play with a chance to cut Denver’s lead to eight points.

Instead, the Broncos’ lead stayed at 11 and grew to 14 in a game where five New England turnovers led directly to 24 Bronco points.

During the Patriots’ 10-game postseason winning streak, New England’s turnover total was six.

Keeping that streak alive was never going to be easy, let alone likely. For most of 2005, the Patriots’ largest headlines involved what they had lost: key assistant coaches lost to Notre Dame and the Cleveland Browns, essential veteran starters lost to injuries, six out of 16 regular-season games lost, leaving New England fourth-seeded in the AFC and on the road in the divisional round.

Still the Patriots had momentum and their experience and their aura. Just as important, they had Denver -- outscored by 56 points in its last two playoff games -- in the divisional round.

None of that meant anything Saturday at Invesco Field, when the losses continued to mount -- the Patriots lost the football, Brady lost his sense of invincibility, Belichick lost his playful sense of humor -- and New England produced its most unlikely headline of the season: Brady Loses Playoff Game by 14 Points to Plummer.

If they were celebrating in Indianapolis, it was understandable.

The 2004 Colts in the postseason: Defeated Denver, 49-24; lost to New England, 20-3.

The 2003 Colts in the postseason: Defeated Denver, 41-10; lost to New England, 24-14.

With the 2005 Broncos now subbing for the Patriots in the AFC championship game, what’s to stop Indianapolis from breaking through to the Super Bowl? Oh, only the Pittsburgh Steelers, AFC runners-up in 2004, who play the Colts today.

In the NFC, Seattle took a big step toward its first Super Bowl by winning its first postseason game since 1984. That sorry streak ended Saturday with a 20-10 triumph over the Washington Redskins, meaning everybody inside the Qwest Field press box can finally stop writing about Chuck Knox, Dave Krieg and Steve Largent.

It did seem iffy for a long while, however, when you consider these significant developments: 1) Shaun Alexander, the league’s most valuable player, sustained a concussion with 4:29 left in the first quarter and did not play another down.

2) The Seahawks committed three turnovers, all fumbles.

Conveniently, they were playing the Redskins, who managed only 120 offensive yards in last week’s wild-card victory over Tampa Bay. That was no fluke -- Washington netted 140 yards through three quarters against Seattle -- so the Seahawks could get by with 49 rushing yards from Alexander’s replacement, Maurice Morris, and 40 more from fullback Mack Strong.

Seattle, unlike New England, could sustain serious losses and advance. The difference? Location.

The Seahawks were playing at home. The Patriots were not.

The Seahawks were playing the Redskins. The Patriots were not.

The Seahawks were playing in the NFC. The Patriots were not.