Krause: Pats, and their fans, may have to come to grips with grim realities

The best thing that ever happened to the Boston Red Sox, after almost a decade of either contending for the postseason or at least being part of the conversation, was to have the bottom fall out.Maybe it wasn?t that much fun to watch. But for an organization, and a fan base, that began feeling very entitled, the September 2011 collapse and a year of Bobby Valentine dysfunction was the perfect medicine.It was such a wakeup call that the Sox, in the winter before the 2013 season, worked almost exclusively on getting their brand credibility back. Gone were the picayune complaints about not being “sexy” enough. All they wanted for 2013 was for their fans not to think they were a team full of malcontents, frauds and jerks.And how about us? If you call yourself a Red Sox fan, weren?t you prepared to settle for simply a decent season … a nice, stress-free 83-79 season after the fiasco of 2012? I can?t speak for the rest of you, but I?d have been quite pleased with that.We got so much more. And why? Because from the top down, the organization no longer felt entitled … no longer felt that being in contention was a given, even if it had badly lost its way.It may be time for the Patriots to swallow some of that bitter medicine. And it sounds kind of cruel saying this now, because if yesterday?s loss illustrated nothing else, it gave us a real good glimpse of how the team?s been doing it with mirrors and Rob Gronkowski for over a month now. They lost yesterday, but they played their derrieres off. They came up a play short … on the road … against a team that had every reason in the world to go out there and pulverize them.Folks, here?s a news flash. You have to earn the bye, and you have to earn home field. Nobody gives it to you. And nobody feels sorry for you if just about every key player you have is either injured or incarcerated (just saying it that way still seems surreal).If you really want to know the truth, the Dolphins should have killed the Patriots Sunday … just annihilated them. If the shoe were on the other foot, and a healthy Patriots team caught a team practically unrecognizable due to injuries on its home field, what do you suppose would have happened?Instead, the Dolphins had to hang on for dear life, and — depending on whether you?re hopelessly biased — either make a great defensive stand with the Patriots knocking on the door in the last minute; or get away with two non-calls that could have gone either way.I choose the former. But that?s not the issue. Nor is it the issue that Phil Simms felt it necessary to tell us that it?s pass interference unless the game?s on the line, in which case it?s not. But I?m sure him saying that just amped up the frustration level.The issue is that the Patriots have won 10 games, lost one and had three stolen from them by the refs. At least, that?s the way their fans seem to feel.What they don?t seem to feel is that the Patriots have now gone five straight weeks (every game coming out of the bye) having to put the pedal to the floor in the fourth quarter … and are 3-2. They could just as easily be 0-5 during that span, 7-7 instead of 10-4 overall, and needing to learn funky NFL math to figure out their playoff chances.Injuries have left them deeply flawed on both sides of the ball, and have guaranteed that every game is an adventure. Nothing is a given … and it?s been that way since Week 1. Only wins against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh (which simply quit) were what you?d call easy.But it just seems the fans are behind on this. They still seem to think all the team really needs to do is show up, play well, and a win is automatic. They?ve forgotten the other team gets paid to play too, and that even on bad teams there are good players who can beat you under the right circumstances.The Patriots lost Sunday because Miami was one play better. They lost because there?s no Vince Wilfork to stuff the run; there?s no Jerod Mayo to call the signals and make sure everyone?s where they?