As weeks with big wins go ... this one wasn't the greatest

[Fencer]

... this wasn't the greatest.

With bye rivals squeaking out wins, Gronk hurt, and perhaps Jones hurt as well, it wasn't a great week for seeding chances as winning weeks go.

Still, when the defense is only outscored by 10 points, or 7 points if you count them handing RZ field position to the offense as 3, there are a whole lot of positives as well.

 

[PatriotFan77]

Pats will be fine.

 

[DocHoliday]

No errors. Long as we have Edelgod we'll be fine

 

[VrabelJr]

Everyone this year looks incredibly beatable. It's going to be a crazy post season.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Injuries aside,Winning the division is the main concern right now

I would say the magic number of clinching this division is about 4 which is counted between each Dolphin loss and each Patriot win

 

[Joker]

the tackling was way better, the coverage tighter...it LOOKED like they practiced all week...I remain convinced the new contract has a lot to do with the sloppy play of almost every team coming off bye week....last week was atrocious

 

[DarrylS]

the tackling was way better, the coverage tighter...it LOOKED like they practiced all week...I remain convinced the new contract has a lot to do with the sloppy play of almost every team coming off bye week....last week was atrocious

From my view it was better, but expected more plays by the LB's.. they seem a tad lethargic or out of position.

Thought the secondary tackling was vastly improved..

 

[wizwor]

Wins are always big. This one pitted an improving secondary against a pretty good quarterback. For some reason, I think BB does not usually do his best playing a QB for the first time, but no complaints yesterday.

As for Gronk, better an arm yesterday than a leg going into the playoffs, right?

 

[1960Pats]

Everyone this year looks incredibly beatable. It's going to be a crazy post season.

Houston is real strong.

 

[mosi]

Man, my mind is going back to 1984, when the Pats laid 50 on the trash that is the Irsay Colts. They then played a Turkey day game against the Cowboys who were reeling. The Pats came in at 8-4 and were looking really good. They lost that game, which was not nearly as close as the score would suggest, ended up loosing the next 3 and finishing 9-7. Really disappointing year and Turkey day game. Funny how it seems like those games were just yesterday.

 

[fnordcircle]

The Pats are getting stronger and the other top teams look like they are getting more run down.

Seriously, if the Ravens could barely beat us without Hernandez and with a defense that didn't look like last night's - how are they going to beat us in the post season?

And Schaub will throw at least 2 picks against this defense.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

Most points since 2009 and all I see is crying from Pats fans and hate from other fans.

We will be 13-3, and HOU and BAL look weak, I don't see why we have to worry about them, we will be the top seed.

 

[PatsSox363804]

The Ravens have one mighty large horseshoe up their asses so far this year and will likely get a bye because the replacement refs screwed us in 2 games and we screwed ourselves against Seattle. Even decent QB play last night beats Baltimore and they probably miss Roethlisberger again in 2 weeks. They'll likely lose to Denver but that sill puts us in a position where we need to win out and hope Baltimore drops another one, harder to do without Gronk of course. Maybe the Giants will beat them week 16 when they seal their 9-7 NFC east division win.

 

[Kontradiction]

Houston is real strong.

Houston is a good team, but they can be beat. Jacksonville exploited them BIG TIME down the seam yesterday. That game is where the loss of Gronk is really going to hurt the offense. With Gronk, the Patriots are very capable of beating them. Without Gronk, the Patriots are still capable, but will have to struggle in order to win.