09:16 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 27, 2005

BOSTON -- Sitting at Fenway, watching the rain pour down, and worrying about the Patriots . . .

Yes, the Patriots.

I've got the rest of the week to worry about the Red Sox and whether they can hold off the hated Yankees, who, as everyone knows, come into town Friday for a three-game series that almost certainly will determine the American League East title, and quite likely will leave the runner-up out of the playoffs.

Before that eagerly-anticipated, epic confrontation, however, the Yankees have four games in Baltimore, which had lost eight in a row through Sunday, while the Red Sox play four against Toronto.

The Yanks, even though they're on the road, appear to have the better of the deal. The Orioles, after a hot start that had them in first place for the first three months of the season, imploded in the heat of summer, and now, in the wake of the Rafael Palmeiro steroid fiasco, are a team in chaos, a club that seems to have packed it in.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, have been a problem all year for the Red Sox, beating Boston in 9 of 14 games, including 3 of 5 in Fenway.

But we've got the rest of the week to worry about all of that, starting

with today's day-night doubleheader, and what that could do to Boston's beleaguered bullpen.

Last night, with falling rain drops bringing to mind the number of fallen Patriots players, it was time to worry, not about the defending World Series champions, but about the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Patriots have had many marvelous victories over the last four-plus seasons, going back to 2001 and the beginning of the Tom Brady era. Sunday's win in Pittsburgh ranks among the very best.

To lose Rodney Harrison and Matt Light in the first half and still beat the Steelers at Heinz Field was a tremendous achievement -- especially since the Steelers had won 16 in a row in the regular season, and so were determined not only to avenge their home loss to New England in last year's AFC championship game, but also to go on to break the Patriots' NFL record of 18 consecutive regular-season victories.

That streak came to an end last October in Pittsburgh, when the Pats lost all-pro cornerback Ty Law early in the game and wound up losing to a determined Steelers defense and rookie quarterback sensation Ben Roethlisberger, whose only career loss, prior to Sunday, was in the playoffs against the Patriots last January.

Roethlisberger almost saved the Steelers from defeat Sunday, throwing a touchdown pass that tied the game with just over a minute left to play. But that was plenty of time for Tom Brady (who, if he keeps playing the way he has, is going to convince me to move him ahead of Joe Montana as the best quarterback of all time) to move the Pats into position for Adam Vinatieri (who is, without question, the best clutch kicker of all time) to boot a game-winning field goal.

But it may have been a Pyrrhic victory for the Pats.

For those whose only familiarity with the classics comes from ESPN, the reference is to King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who, in defeating the Romans in two crucial battles, lost many of his best leaders and soldiers and, because he could not replace them, lost the war.

The Patriots have done a remarkable job, while winning three of the last four Super Bowls, of replacing injured starters, going back to when the untested Brady took over after franchise QB Drew Bledsoe was hurt in the second game of the 2001 season.

They lost two starting offensive linemen early in the 2003 season but went on to win the Super Bowl. Last year, their secondary was in shambles but the Pats repeated as NFL champs.

So there is no reason to doubt that they can't do it again. That, despite the loss of Harrison -- the hard-hitting, emotionally inspiring veteran who held the injury-riddled secondary together last year by the combined force of his talent, his intelligence, and, most of all, his determination to win -- and Light, the Patriots can keep on winning.

Yet the feeling persists that no matter how well-prepared by their brilliant coaching staff, no matter how deep their bench, the Patriots may have reached the breaking point with the loss of Harrison and Light.

Already dealing with the absence of emotionally supercharged linebacker Tedy Bruschi, the Pats now have to proceed without Harrison. That's a daunting prospect, especially with injuries also having struck at the all-important cornerback position.

The implications of Light's loss, however, are potentially more severe. The left tackle protects Brady's blind side. In place of Light, the Patriots likely will use rookie Nick Kaczur, a third-round draft choice out of Toledo.

That leaves Brady more vulnerable, even if the Pats decide to deploy a tight end on the left side to "chip" a hard-rushing defensive lineman, or pick up a blitzing linebacker.

And if Brady goes down for any length of time, there goes any hope of the Patriots becoming the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls.

He already is defying the odds, having never missed a start since stepping in for Bledsoe. With Light out of the lineup, the odds have increased that Brady, too, may wind up spending some time on the sidelines.

But he'll be starting Sunday against San Diego in Foxboro. Starting this afternoon, it's time to start worrying again about the Red Sox, and whether their season will be over by the time the Patriots kick off against the Chargers.