Closing the book on Patriots season

Even three days after the Patriots fell to the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game much of the talk in the Boston sports media remains the Patriots and their loss on Sunday. Every play and situation has been discussed, as well as finding common links in the Patriots recent playoff losses. Clearly, both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady deserve some of the blame for the loss, but some members of the media have a hard time in calling out the two for their poor performances on Sunday.

In getting to the AFC Championship game it’s hard to call a season a disappointment, but the way it ended was definitely disappointing. The Patriots did not play their best game and certainly were not 100 percent in health. The team did make some strides over the course of the season, especially on defense, and one would expect the Patriots to be right back in the AFC Championship Game next year with the hope of winning another Super Bowl before Brady’s historic career comes to an end.

Here are a look at some of the better reads from the past few days:

In their biggest game,  the Patriots failed to measure up– Greg A. Bedard is his final game review of the year, a must-read all year, has the team playing their worst game at the absolute worst time.

A five-point improvement plan for the Patriots– Tony Massarotti looks at what the team needs to do this off-season to get to the big game next year.

Patriots lost, but they didn’t fail– Ron Borges puts things in perspective saying things could be a lot worse like being Mark Sanchez in New York, or Scott Pioli in Kansas City.

Patriots roster breakdown– Jeff Howe breaks down the roster and what holes they may have going into next season.

Piecing together Patriots losses– Mike Reiss finds the common threads in each of the recent Patriots playoff losses.

Tom Brady in unfamilar place– Jackie MacMullan looks at Brady’s performance Sunday which was extremely disappointing.

Why Spygate doesn’t matter– Kirk Minihane puts an end to some people claiming Belichick and the Patriots haven’t accomplished anything since Spygate.

Hard to see a scenario where Aqib Talib sticks around– Christopher Price doesn’t think the Patriots cornerback will return next season.

Patriots led their opportunity slip away– Tom E. Curran says the Patriots failed to capitalize on their opportunities, especially early in the game, which ultimately was the reason for their season ending loss.