Patriots death knells?

I've refrained from writing about the Patriots this season, mostly because of lack of time but also because of some raising and dashing of hopes. The most recent loss, however, seems to have pushed some sportswriters over the edge, and I link to their comments here.

The Boston Globe's Christopher L. Gasper thinks Friar Bill has lost control of his locker room. (Surprisingly no references to Mr. Eric Mangini, though.)

Boston.com's Tony Massarotti says Adalius Thomas's time in New England is short, plus other good insights on the Boston sports scene (and Tiger Woods). Check out the Adrian Beltre comment, too.

An injury unreported by Mangini? Big surprise.

Lost in the news that the Jets failed to disclose that Brett Favre's arm was about to fall off for the second half of last season is the fact that the New York coach at the time is one of the top graduates of the school of injury non-disclosure.

Former Jets coach Eric Mangini learned from the best in keeping injuries close to the vest (Bill Belichick), and it wouldn't be a surprise if he had a big part in this flap. He's being routinely investigated, as is everyone involved in the situation, but with the classic Belichickian-Mangianian-McDanielsian way of approaching hurt players, don't be surprised if this was just part of his plan to keep the end of the season from going down the toilet (which it ended up doing anyway).