Red Sox Fans Looking for Good News? Try the Patriots Right Now.

What more can New England sports fans ask of Tom Brady? Three Super Bowl rings in four trips, two MVP awards and a decade of postseason appearances. After this past week, many New Englanders will be looking to Tom Brady to lead the Patriots to a win on Monday Night Football. Not just to start a season loaded with expectations on the right foot, but to rid them of the images of the Red Sox have provided this past week. 

A week ago panicking seemed very premature. It would have taken a totally lost week to create the doomsday scenario many Sox fans had dreamt up regarding not just losing the American League East, but missing the postseason all together. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you a lost week or rather, a week of losses. Phrase it any way you'd like but the Red Sox have managed to create some real unwanted drama in the Wild Card race.

The last week featured exactly one day of decent baseball. That would be Tuesday when Jon Lester shut out the Blue Jays and the Sox offense erupted for 14 runs. Other than that this week has featured poor performances by nearly every member of the Red Sox. Jacoby Ellsbury has been the only consistent bright spot, but one great player does not a team make.

The pitching has been especially awful. Everyone knew that losing Erik Bedard and Josh Beckett for an entire week would place added stress on the rest of the staff. What everyone didn't know is that no one, not one arm outside of Lester on Tuesday would step up. The starters have been bad and the bullpen has been worse.

The low point was Wednesday night when Daniel Bard performed one of the greatest Daisuke Matsuzaka imitations ever seen. Bard pitched one inning, gave up one hit, walked three, hit a batter and yielded five earned runs. Bard would get ahead 0-2 and then, as if the ghost of the injured Dice-K had possessed him, found a way to give away a walk. Bard's abysmal and uncharacteristic showing was exacerbated by the inexplicable decision on the part of Terry Francona to take Bard out with two outs and the bases loaded and insert the consistently ineffective Matt Albers. The result was a bases clearing double by Edwin Encarnacion which gave Toronto an 11-8 lead.

The Red Sox would scratch for two ultimately meaningless runs in the ninth before losing 11-10. Albers would of course one-up his own ineptitude on Sunday when once again he was brought in with the bases loaded. Rather than allowing a three run double Albers would instead give up a grand slam home run to BJ Upton. Even with rosters now expanded in September, one would have to wonder if Albers will be seen in a Sox uniform that much longer.

As this week finally comes to its conclusion the Red Sox find themselves with a slim and rapidly deteriorating three-and-a-half-game lead over division rival Tampa Bay for the Wild Card. Can they pull things together and still make the post season?

The answer of course is yes, but it's no longer even close to a foregone conclusion. The two teams chasing them in the Wild Card have the two best pitching staffs in the American League. The Angels and Rays are both well within striking distance.

The only positives for Sox fans to take away from this week is that the Yankees are also experiencing a bit of a slump as well, splitting a home series with the lowly Orioles and dropping games Friday and Saturday to the Los Angeles Angels. Other than that, this week would best be forgotten not only by the fans but by the team as well. "Are You Ready For Some Football?"

The answer in New England is a resounding "YES!"