👀 The Pats Aren't Alone In Losing

Loss doesn’t come often to New England or to New Zealand. Both were visited by disappointment over the last 10 days. [View in browser]( [FOX SPORTS INSIDER WITH MARTIN ROGERS] In today’s FOX Sports Insider: The Patriots and the All Blacks had something rather unfortunate in common over the past week ... Deshaun Watson turns to the healing power of Popeyes ... and the Cowboys and Giants will tussle once again on Monday Night Football. One mightily impressive run of sporting success came to an end in the final weekend of October and another went tumbling on the opening Sunday of November. Given that the losses took place nearly 7,000 miles apart, in different sports and entirely different contexts, there might not seem to be a lot in common with the New England Patriots’ first defeat of the 2019 campaign and the New Zealand rugby team’s loss of its World Cup title. The Patriots don’t perform the awe-inspiring Haka before NFL games, but in terms of aura there is something very similar between the teams. The standard an elite group has reached can be measured by the level of surprise when they’re eventually defeated, even if, in theory, it shouldn’t have been that much of shock. When the All Blacks lost a World Cup for the first time in 4,403 days, going down to England, Planet Rugby went into a spin. And while New England going down to a surging Baltimore Ravens team in a regular season game at M&T Bank Stadium was hardly the greatest stunner, these days any time the Patriots are brought down to size is noteworthy. Tom Brady and company hadn’t lost over their last 12 games, and he didn’t much like this one. “Losses always find a way to recalibrate how you see yourself,” Brady told reporters afterwards. “We obviously have a lot of work to do. When you get beat by 17 points, that's not what we're all about.” New Zealand’s World Cup streak was 19 games without a loss — covering the past 12 years. The knockout nature of rugby’s biggest tournament meant that the All Blacks were done after their 19-7 loss, whereas the Patriots’ only immediate punishment is seeing their perfect record disappear. After a bye week, they get to do it all again against the Eagles in Philadelphia on Nov. 17. [STORY IMAGE 1] As a result, there was no great fire sale on the Patriots’ chances following the result; more a simple appreciation that Baltimore had a fine day, is a buoyant team and has an outstanding young quarterback in Lamar Jackson. [With FOX Bet]( the Patriots remain strong favorites to win the Super Bowl at odds of +275, ahead of the New Orleans Saints at +475 and now the only remaining undefeated team, the San Francisco 49ers, at +700. Baltimore, meanwhile, is now the fifth-favored team to take home the Lombardi Trophy this season, but they have long odds at +1000. [FiveThirtyEight]( predictor model]( still has New England at 94 percent probability to win its division, 82 percent to get a first-round bye, and a league-leading 21 percent likelihood to win it all. Over the course of their dynastic run, the Patriots have become a blueprint even more for teams outside of football than within it. It can be hard for an NFL franchise to commit fully to following the Patriots mold, especially if they’re looking directly at the personnel. How do you just “find” a Tom Brady? Or a Bill Belichick? “When you’re looking at great teams to compare the All Blacks to, the Patriots is a very obvious one,” USA Rugby CEO Ross Young told me in a telephone conversation. “You look at the parts of it. With the All Blacks, there is an expectation of success and a sustained commitment to excellence. If things go wrong you don’t see a lot panic, but you commit fully to building it back up again. “New Zealand has an entire country behind them, but there are a lot of similarities in the way that Belichick gets everyone to buy into what they are trying to achieve as a group. Finding the right parts and the right players to fill a role — and seeing their value in a way other teams haven’t.” There is even an actual link between New England and the sport of rugby. Safety Nate Ebner took some time away from the Patriots in order to pursue his dream of playing for the United States sevens team in the Rio Olympics in 2016. Ebner and Brady sent a good-luck video to the USA squad before this year’s tournament, and Brady is known to be a fan. [STORY IMAGE 2] Rugby’s World Cup closed on Saturday. The All Blacks, having lost to England in the semifinal, beat France to claim third place. In the final, South Africa was too strong, outplaying England 35-12 to clinch its third-ever title, spearheaded by its first black captain — the inspirational Siya Kolisi. There’s a four-year break before the World Cup. In New Zealand there isn’t any real sense of panic, though an impending shakeup is likely to ensure they’re back, stronger than ever, in 2023. “For the All Blacks, only one result is considered good enough at a World Cup,” Young added. “Great teams have the ability to find the small things that are missing, put them right and come back even stronger.” The Patriots don’t have four years to wait, and they don’t need it. Say what you like about their schedule, but even with the struggle at Baltimore, everything points towards another domineering regular season, and a tilt at yet another crack at the Vince Lombardi Trophy. FS1’s Jason Whitlock was a rare commentator to predict the Patriots going down, doing so on Speak For Yourself last week. “This running game, the plus-one offense with Lamar Jackson, I think they are going to run roughshod over the New England Patriots,” Whitlock said. “I feel very good about this. I expect Lavar Jackson to outplay the G.O.A.T. this weekend. I really do believe they are going to get the Patriots.” It’s not often anyone “gets” the Patriots, or the All Blacks. It’s not often that great teams must face adversity. But when they do, it is the strength of the response — whether it takes place over years or days — that shows their true mettle. [STORY IMAGE 3] Here’s what others have said ... Peter King, NBC Sports: “I wouldn’t worry too much about a 17-point loss to an ascending team in early November. This will allow Bill Belichick to acerbically refocus his team, as he does every year. History should be your judge if you’re either a Patriots fan and totally bummed out this morning, or a Patriots hater, dancing on their grave. And history says in each of their six Super Bowl years, they had bad days.” Danny Heifetz, The Ringer: “The knock on the Patriots’ historic defense halfway through the season was their soft schedule. Yes, they had won their eight games by the biggest margin of victory in NFL history through seven games and second only to themselves in 2007 through eight games, but that run came against a cartoonish lineup of players. The Patriots defense got its first real test on Sunday night against the Ravens, and they didn’t fail as much as the Baltimore Ravens passed with flying colors.” Duncan Johnstone, Stuff: “It's amazing what a bit of success does and the 2011 and 2015 wins allowed the country to handle the current disappointment with a bit of a shrug of the shoulders, saying 'we've had our time, let someone else have a go.' It won't take long for the insatiable beast that is the All Blacks followers to demand a World Cup win again. There will be little tolerance in New Zealand for being second or third best again. The crown hasn't just slipped, it's gone, and nothing but its retrieval will suffice.” [IN OTHER WORDS] - Jorge Masvidal, an overnight sensation decades in the making after stopping Nate Diaz at UFC 244, considers the future in the wee hours with pizza, rum and [Dan Wetzel at]( [Yahoo Sports](. - [Thomas Boswell of]( [The Washington Post]( the Nationals’ joyous victory parade: “They’re all the same, but yours, the one you’ve waited so long for, is by far the best.” - The winningest senior class in Army football history is focused on showdowns with Air Force and Navy and a trip to Hawaii ahead. After that, of course, are plans with far more serious consequences, [writes Matt Foley at Bleacher Report](. [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED] [THE INTERNET IS UNDEFEATED]( This past summer, the entire nation was gripped by chicken sandwich fever. For a brief week or two, the chicken sandwich wars raged across social media and people took restaurants en masse to try to gobble up the crispy treats before they vanished. Now Popeyes has finally brought its sandwich back, re-launching the item this past weekend. If you doubt the power of the noble chicken sandwich, look no further than the testimony of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose nagging eye injury was apparently healed by noshing on the snack prior to the Texans obliterating the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on Sunday. It seems like the ocular recuperative boost checks out — after all, “eyes” is right in the name! [VIEWER'S GUIDE] Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) An old rivalry hits Monday Night Football to round out Week 9 of the NFL. The changing of the guard for the Giants hasn’t gone quite as planned, and they’re hoping they can snap a four-game losing skid. WWE Raw (USA Network, 8 p.m. ET) Some major shake-ups occurred on last week’s Friday Night SmackDown. How will Raw and Rey Mysterio react to Brock Lesnar switching brands? And will the NXT army choose to set its sights on Raw now? [BET OF THE DAY] [BET OF THE DAY] Odds provided by [FOX Bet]( Dak Prescott to throw 2+ TDs, Daniel Jones to throw 1+ INTs, Cowboys to win: +200 The Cowboys should be in prime position for a big primetime win over the Giants on Monday night, with Dallas a touchdown favorite over Daniel Jones & Co. And given that New York is among the NFL’s worst overall and passing defenses, it’s fair to count on Dak Prescott to have a big game. Where this wager potentially gets dicey is the interception by Jones; while the Cowboys are fierce offensively, they’re middle-of-the-pack defensively, having forced interceptions on only 1.7% of opponents’ pass attempts this season, tied for sixth lowest in the league. [WHAT THEY SAID] “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” — Billie Jean King [FOLLOW FOX SPORTS] [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( Download the FOX Sports app for live scores and streaming [App Store]( [Google Play]( Available on: [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] [tvOS] [Roku] [fireTV] [androidtv] [XBOX] [Google chromecast] Forwarded this message? [Sign up](. Trademark & Copyright Notice: ™ and © 2019 FOX Media LLC and FOX Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Please do not reply to this message. If you do not wish to receive emails like this in the future, please [unsubscribe](. FOX Sports respects your privacy. Click [here]( to view our Privacy Policy. 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