TP, I don't have any issue with what you said. On the whole the Patriots did beat Buffalo relatively easily. A win is a win. And I don't want to be the absurd fan that expects, for example on offense, every possession to be a scoring drive. A receiver will run the wrong route or drop the ball, the playcall will be wrong or poorly chosen, Brady will make a bad read or a bad throw, or the opposing D just plays a good series. **** happens to the best. But to see repeated series of this happening raises, to me, a red flag that there's some soft areas that opposing teams may be able to exploit too greatly to overcome. Previously the Patriots overall have been good enough to win when 4 quarters are up even with the red flag. And if that's the way 2017 gets 3 wins? Great! But it is concerning to me.
Our team had better step up its game in regards to some of the glaring issues that have plagued them over the past 4-6 weeks, especially since the competition will only get better, or they’ll likely lose in the AFCCG or SB. Anyone disputing that isn’t being honest with themselves.
The good news is that they’ve faced adversity and came out on the other side, so that could make the team much tougher in the long run. Also, they found a way to do things a bit differently which led to the emergence of a fairly potent rushing attack. One could point to that being a direct cause of the struggles in the passing game, so it’s possible that we may not have been giving Lewis quite that many reps under normal circumstances. It seems as though every year we hope for a good rushing game heading into January and now we’ve finally got one.
I think we’d all agree that a good portion of the struggles likely stemmed from some key injuries, so the prospect of getting some of those contributors back bodes well for signs of an improvement. I think that will make the passing game click again, while allowing Brady to get rid of the ball more quickly, which is always good news for Tom’s success.
The struggles in the run game are real, but again, the addition of someone like Van Noy or Branch could really improve that. I still think we’re weak in the front seven but my hope is that the addition of Harrison + the return from injuries will greatly improve that. If you’re an optimist, you can argue that the absence of some players has given fringe guys like Lee, M.Flowers some time to acclimate and get more comfortable—even despite some limitations in talent.
I still think that the secondary can play better, namely our two top corners who still look like they’re not entirely sure of themselves at times, but we know that the talent is there. The depth at the position is probably better than we’ve had in quite sometime when you factor Rowe, JJ, and even Bademosi into the equation. That said, they still can look susceptible at times, so let’s hope our big 2 come to play and that the stage doesn’t appear too big to Gilmore at a crucial moment where a major DPI call could ruin the season.
THE BOTTOM LINE (tl;dr version):
I think our chances are around 50/50, which isn’t too shabby, all things considered—especially the injuries. We benefited greatly from drawing TEN in my opinion, so that will likely set up a crucial rematch with PIT that I expect to be very difficult. If they can play to their max capabilities and win another game vs PIT, we can rest, reset, and begin 2 week preparations for the NFC opponent. While that opponent will obviously be very tough and possibly represent a historic unprecedented situation if MIN is the representative, both NO and even ATL would be difficult matchups for various reasons, too.
Beat TEN, hope for a good showing against what will likely be PIT again, and re-assess at the 2 week break. Personally, I think the AFCCG could be tougher than even going on the road in the SB (or up against the best 1-2 rushing tandem in the league + Brees) because we would have 2 weeks to prepare for the latter. Fingers crossed, but ultimately I do feel as though they have overachieved this year and were somewhat lucky to have the #1 seed. Let’s hope we can parlay that luck into another championship. Our season may depend on the return of Hogan/KVN, the potential of Harrison, and the hopeful continuation of Lewis. As always, the avoidance of injuries and a bit of luck will play a big part.
The Pats blew Buffalo off the field in the 4Q in Week 16. They were fortunate to win but they outscored the Steelers 11-0 in the 4Q the previous week.
