Written by Tyler Kepner at New York Times.com
It’s funny how different kinds of athletes celebrate success. In baseball, when a team advances to the league championship series, the players turn the locker room into a nightclub – music and dancing in a raucous blizzard of alcohol. It’s all a bit much, but no more peculiar, perhaps, than the scene at Gillette Stadium late Saturday night.
The New England Patriots had just done something no N.F.L. team had ever done: secure a berth in the conference championship game for the sixth year in a row. Stopping there is unfulfilling, as the Patriots know; they failed to reach the Super Bowl in three of those previous five seasons. But still, no team, until now, has had six straight shots to get there. It’s a big deal.
Of course, Coach Bill Belichick was not about to reflect on it after a 34-16 victory over the Houston Texans. He expected more, and lamented some chances the Patriots wasted.
“Like a lot of things tonight, if we don’t improve in those situations the next time we play, then it’ll probably be the last time we play,” he said. “We’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities. We’ve got to coach and execute better.”
You expect such gloom from Belichick; the sculptors in Canton, you’d imagine, will one day chisel a frown on his bust for the sake of accuracy. More surprising was the summary from running back Dion Lewis, who had just scored three touchdowns.
“I feel like this was my worst game ever, actually,” he said. “The fumbles, just putting my team in a bad position. I don’t think this was my best game.”
Yes, Lewis fumbled twice. The first, on a kickoff return with 11 minutes 29 seconds left in the second quarter, quickly turned into a touchdown for Houston. That cut the Patriots’ lead to 14-13, and silenced a crowd that had reason to expect a blowout.
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