The New England Patriots (5-1) invoked images of the 2001-2002 team that pulled off a  Super Bowl upset against St. Louis by beating San Diego (2-5) 23-20.   San Diego snatched defeat from the jaws of kissing their sister, by having a field goal attempt hit the right upright that would have tied it with 0:28 left in the fourth quarter.

If the Patriots are reminiscent of that overachieving 2001-2002 team, then San Diego seems eerily reminiscent of the 1981 New England Patriots that obnoxious announcer personality Howard Cosell described as “the best 2-14 team in football.”  They flat out sucked.  We would sit in college half stewed on really cheap, really nasty beer trying to figure out how the Pats would blow it.  A sure footed kicker, John Smith, found in a sports radio promotion by Eddie Andleman called “the search for big foot” that plucked him from an obscure English soccer club, shanked a field against Miami on Monday Night Football the night John Lennon was shot outside the Dakota.

None of us, I mean none of us, saw that one coming.  Smith was pretty good.  But the curse of that ignominious Pats team was too much for him.

And San Diego kicker Kris Brown pulled a John Smith … sort of.  He was 0-2 in fourth quarter kicks last year.  John Smith was a pretty good kicker.

But Kris Brown had help getting there.  He was set up for a 45 yarder, and his left guard went offsides, pushing it back to a 50 yarder.

And then Brown hit the right upright.  Long enough.  But off by  6 inches.

Ouch.

 Scott Norwood weeps for thee, Kris.  Scott Norwood weeps for thee. 

And these Patriots?  They win inexplicably as they did with 2001-2002.  That was a team pulled together by Bill Belichcik plucking free agents from the bargain basement bin to retool the roster.  His economics major played into it he was one of the first guys to “get” the salary cap.  Pay top dollar for an A rated player and the lower end of the roster has to be C- players to meet the cap.  "A" rated guys make so many game changing plays, positive and negative and C- guys do.  So he does the cost benefit analysis and strove for overall mediocrity from which coaching could position players to hide their weaknesses.  So long Bernie Kosar, so long Drew Bledsoe, so long Lawyer Malloy, so long Ty Law, so long Richard Seymour, so long Mike Vrabel, so long Adam Vinatieri, so long Randy Moss.  

Welcome back Deion Branch, here's your pay cut. 

And Belichick has kicked NFL ass with that approach while most of the NFL wants to kick his ass as a result.

This team is younger as Belichick has retooled his defense for speed.  So it’s kids learning as opposed to wily vets jelling.  Belichick is adapting to shifts in the NFL wrought by CRY BABY Payton Manning as his enabling boss Bill Polian whining about close contact from the secondary that allows receivers with a severe case of Alligator Arms when going over the middle -- like Randy Moss HATES to do -- to last longer in the NFL.  You need speed, baby; the days of clutch and grab are over on defense.  Payton wanted it so.

So these kids  gain confidence.  I wrote last week of rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez having two drops in overtime and saying his confidence had to be restored, speculating Brady would go to him early.  Brady did.  A quick slant on the first offensive play of the game for a successful completion.  A play used on low level Pop Warner levels due to its simplicity.  Kid had a damn good game.

And the defense looked like it was going to cough this one up after San Diego pulled off an onside kick, but San Diego imploded.  They got lucky.  But they won.

That 2001 team pulled of some improbable ones, too, with the infamous “Tuck Rule” game against Oakland the capstone event.  I loved that game.  Karma’s payback for Sugar Bear Hamilton’s bogus roughing the passer call that went Oakland’s way in the 1976 season in the first round of the playoffs as the went on to beat Minnesota (naturally, who didn’t beat Minnesota in Super Bowls? ... beside the Buffalo Bills, that is) in Super Bowl XI.

No sympathy Oakland.  No. Sympathy.

Other ones?

• Troy Brown catching one literally on his back in the Meadowlands.
• Journeyman receiver David Patten being hit unconscious on the sidelines and somehow the ball being at his side being ruled it was not a fumble and out of bounds.  Still can’t explain the rule that went their way in the game.

So this team wins against Baltimore at home in overtime after losing Randy Moss and having their defense roll over for three quarters before sucking it up in the fourth quarter and a 13 minute overtime period.  This team wins retooling its offense after the temperamental distracting Diva gets sent to Minnesota and their frail, full-of-himself, fortysomething, phone flashing foul up quarterback Brett Favre and brings back Brady favorite Deion Branch.

Then these Patriots go on the road to a team in San Diego with statistical top rankings in offense and defense production but a lowly 2-4 record.  And the Pats play well enough to win and the team gains confidence as Brady returns to quick dink and dunk passes rather than waiting for the Diva to put down a mirror and run a deep route.

And the other team implodes at the right time.

Nice.

And as for San Diego?  That 1980 team had a head coach named Ron Erhadt.  He was widely acclaimed as a genius offensive coordinator who spit the bit as a head coach.

That wouldn’t sound at all like Norv Turner to anybody, would it?

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