Tom Brady scrambled and heaved up a wobbly pass off his back foot http://www.broncoscheapauthenticstore.com/dre_mont-jones-jersey-cheap , the sort of thing a less-experienced, less-accomplished and, well, less-cool QB might do.The ball was picked off, and the New England Patriots were on their way to a second consecutive defeat.More importantly — and more interestingly — they were on their way to a five-loss season for the first time in nearly a decade.And, finally, they were on their way to putting this thought in the minds of other teams around the NFL: Maybe, just maybe, the Patriots are not who they’ve been for oh-so-long. Maybe, just maybe, they’re not heading to another Super Bowl.“Not playing well enough to win,” is the way Brady put it.The 17-10 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday dropped Bill Belichick’s club to 9-5 overall, 3-5 on the road.New England probably will wind up winning a 10th consecutive AFC East title; it only needs one more victory to do that.“We’re still in a decent position,” the 41-year-old Brady said.That’s true, of course. And no one would be foolish enough to write off the Pats just yet. But two consecutive close late-season setbacks — last week’s “Miracle in Miami,” then this week’s penalty-fest in Pittsburgh, with 14 flags against the Patriots — certainly make them look vulnerable.Then there’s this: New England is currently slotted into the No. 3 seed in the conference standings, behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, which would translate to a wild-card slot and no bye in the playoffs. Why is that significant? Belichick’s Patriots never have reached the Super Bowl without a bye.As for that pivotal interception thrown by Brady, a week after he blew a scoring chance at the end of the first half in the loss at the Dolphins? Down 14-10 with about 8 minutes left, but inside Pittsburgh’s 20, Brady was flushed out of the pocket and basically threw the football up for grabs — into the hands of Steelers defensive back Joe Haden.“I was just trying to flick it out of bounds,” Brady said. “Didn’t want to take a sack.”Sure http://www.eaglescheapauthenticstore.com/shareef-miller-jersey-cheap , Tom.But what you did was worse than a sack.“I’m not used to seeing Tom Brady just throw the ball up and just panic like he’s a rookie,” former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said on NBC’s “Football Night in America.”The rest of the league isn’t used to seeing Belichick, Brady and Co. seem this vulnerable.In case you missed it, here are other top topics after the NFL season’s 15th Sunday:NICK OF TIMEWell, well, well, here we go again with Nick Foles and the Philadelphia Eagles, right? A back injury kept Carson Wentz out of Philadelphia’s night game at the Los Angeles Rams, a must-win for the reigning champions. So in came Foles, who replaced a hurt Wentz late last season and ended up as the Super Bowl MVP; he went 24 of 31 for 270 yards in the Eagles’ 30-23 victory over LA, helping them improve to 7-7 and hold onto their slim chance at a postseason berth.WORST TO FIRSTRookie coach Matt Nagy and new pass-rusher Khalil Mack (another 2½ sacks Sunday) have the Chicago Bears back in the playoffs for the first time since 2010 after beating the rival Green Bay Packers 24-17 to improve to 10-4 and clinch the NFC North. The Bears were fourth in the division last season, meaning that in 15 of the past 16 years, at least one NFL club has gone from worst to first.ON BENDED KNEEThere was more good news for the Bears: After their game, offensive lineman Charles Leno Jr. dropped to a knee right there on the turf in the middle of the stadium, pulled out a box with a ring in it and proposed to his girlfriend. She said “Yes” — and some of Leno’s teammates helped him celebrate the occasion. Chicago quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s take: “I’m very happy for Charles. He planned it out pretty well.”JANIKOWSKI JOGS OFFKicker Sebastian Janikowski was involved in quite a sequence during Seattle’s 26-23 overtime loss to the San Francisco 49ers, which prevented the Seahawks from locking up a playoff spot. After the Seahawks scored the game’s first touchdown, Janikowski missed an extra point. Then his kickoff was returned 97 yards for a score by San Francisco’s Richie James Jr. — and the Twitterverse made note of Janikowski’s complete lack of interest in making a TD-saving tackle on the runback. Instead, he just got out of James’ way and sashayed to the sideline. GREEN BAY, Wis. — New Packers coach Matt LaFleur had a long to-do list even before his players arrived for the start of offseason workouts this week.Packers CoveragePhotos of the Week: 7/21/19 – 7/27/19Packers rookie Gary’s biggest critic is himselfTop Tweets: Former Badger TJ Watt has impressive four-year transformationPHOTOS: 2019 Green Bay Packers training campPackers’ Rodgers, LaFleur ironing out offense, building chemistryPlayers to watch at Green Bay Packers 2019 training campLaFleur: Offense still a work in progress as Packers open campPackers release defensive tackle Mike DanielsGreen Bay Packers 2019 training camp primerPackers’ Rodgers not ranked as a top-5 quarterback in Madden 20The drama that started in Green Bay with the December firing of coach Mike McCarthy has bubbled into the spring, with McCarthy ripping the front office for how it handled his dismissal, and star quarterback Aaron Rodgers defending himself after coming under fire over his performance and leadership.Enveloped by controversies that predated his arrival in January Zach Brown Jersey , LaFleur faces the challenge of turning around a franchise that reached the playoffs eight consecutive seasons — including one Super Bowl victory and two more appearances in conference championship games — before having back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since the early 1990s.It’s going to take more than a fresh coat of paint down the hallway that leads from the locker room to the field and reassigned seats in the team meeting room to get the Packers back into championship contention.“We had a standard here of going to the playoffs every single year,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “We did that eight years in a row and we were competitive and in the mix, and then the last couple of years, obviously, have been frustrating to finish.“I think we’re in a good spot. I think there isn’t a grace period. This isn’t like other transitions where you maybe give a pass for the first year or two as you get acclimated to the system. We have a veteran quarterback, veteran offensive linemen, we signed some big free agents. There’s an expectation living and playing here that you’re going to compete for championships, and I think we all expect to do that.”Rodgers and LaFleur will be at the center of reaching those expectations. Rodgers, 35, played through a serious knee injury to start all 16 games last season, but endured one of his worst years of his career. LaFleur, 39, will be tasked with getting Rodgers back to his two-time MVP form and changing the culture of a team that had hit hard times during the final two seasons of McCarthy’s 13-year tenure.After running McCarthy’s offense throughout his first 11 seasons as starting quarterback, Rodgers is getting his first taste of what LaFleur wants to do. At the scouting combine in February, LaFleur said offensive success required a “partnership” between himself and Rodgers.“Matt’s whole idea,” said Rodgers’ No. 1 target, receiver Davante Adams, “he’s really open and receptive to how Aaron and I want to attack this season and how we feel moving forward, bringing certain things from the past that we liked, and just having an open mind, which is a great thing when you’re coming in trying to get a team to buy in.”A new coach and new playbook aren’t the only big changes. Two longtime stalwarts, receiver Randall Cobb and linebacker Clay Matthews, departed in free agency. Meanwhile Devin Bush Jersey , they added outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, safety Adrian Amos and offensive lineman Billy Turner in free agency. A pair of first-round picks will infuse more talent.“Change, it can be really good if you embrace it,” Rodgers said.Echoing what LaFleur has said, Rodgers added the play caller/quarterback relationship will be critical to reversing the team’s fortunes. Rodgers talked to one of LaFleur’s former pupils, a Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, to get a gauge on his new boss.Impressed by what he heard, and with his injured knee healed, Rodgers was eager to get to Green Bay to start fostering that relationship and to shake off the sting of last season’s 6-9-1 debacle.“Having that much time off was different,” said Rodgers, who had grown accustomed to playing into January.“I know many of us were itching to get back here and get started. Anytime you’ve gone through a stretch like we went through where everything was very similar — similar faces, there might be some changes, similar plays, similar environment you’re working in — you get used to that and accustomed that.“When things change, it kind of jogs the system a little bit. It’s exciting, though, to see the energy and the excitement. It’s usually like this the first week, but I feel good about the potential to sustain this type of energy as we move into it later this month and get into the minicamp. And then obviously we have a number of high picks, so there should be a lot of excitement with our fan base. There is definitely in the locker room. It’s been a good start to the change.”