The picture has been kind of fuzzy in Foxboro, without any real focus. Maybe a little bit hazy with too much interference. Remember those days in years gone by when you had to get up and adjust the rabbit ears on your television set to get the picture to clear up?
Bill Belichick has adjusted the rabbit ears on these New England Patriots, rest assured. And the picture continues to come in, more loud and more clear by the game.
These Patriots are better-than-originally advertised. They may even be pretty good.
Uh oh, NFL America. Can you handle another go-round of “We’re All Patriots?”
The idea here is not to re-anoint New England as a bonafide Super Bowl contender. There may be some time and space to travel before that happens – if it happens at all – this season. But what Belichick has done for these Patriots is like what a rudder does for a boat. He has steadied the course, kept the good ship Patriot upright and afloat.
And ready for the next big wave ahead.
Suddenly, neophyte assistant coaches are making the right moves, and the veteran coaches (Josh McDaniels, hello!) are making the right calls. Players not named Tom Brady are proving they also have talent and ability. Youth, while not perfect, is being served.
And veteran leadership, long a staple of Super Bowl champion teams in New England, is quietly flourishing as it always has. Especially the newer veterans that have arrived on the scene of so much winning before them. The Patriot Way, whatever magic it might possess, is making itself known.
It’s why the newcomers chose to play at Gillette. For Bill Belichick and the money, natch. But these Patriots are following the blueprint of several contending teams previous to this one.
“He knows so much football,” Patriots’ LB Matt Judon told the media last week, BEFORE he helped wreak havoc on a pretty good Cleveland Browns team Sunday. “He knows what positions to put you in to have success.”
Yes, he does. It just took a while before showing itself this season.
And that probably bugs the **** out of most of America’s NFL fandom, outside of Patriot Place. These Patriots might be for real, again. They were certainly spectacular on Sunday, that much was clear.
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If at first you don’t succeed
Try to get better? Sounds crazy to nitpick on a 45-7 win over a playoff-contending team like the Browns. It really doesn’t get much better than this in today’s NFL. But as long as you asked…the offensive line while welcoming Trent Brown‘s extra-large presence back into the fold, still needs to provide some assistance on the left side.
Isaiah Wynn whiffed badly on a Myles Garrett sack of Mac Jones, and while overall did a pretty reasonable job on an outstanding talent, the team should realize these occasions (going against All-Pro talent) require a little help. Unless you want your QB’s head on a platter.
Other than that?
How many missed tackles were there in this game? Two that were counted here, although once the score began to mount…perhaps they were overlooked. Penalties were not a factor overall, either.
But situationally, such as a hands-to-the-face call on Wynn, an offside that turned a long-yardage play into a short-yardage reality and a roughing call against Dietrich Wise that kept a drive alive…paying attention to these details could come in useful when the real playoff stretch begins in a few weeks.
Miss us yet?
Saw where Tom Brady had a shorter-than-short post-game scrum with Tampa Bay media after the Buccaneers were stunned by Washington, 29-19. It lasted all of a minute, maybe a minute-and-a-half.
TB12 hates to lose. He also hates inane questioning especially when none of it will change the outcome of a game he’s already lost. Realizing, of course, that reporters DO have a job to do, regardless of how he feels about it.
You never know what you have, Tom, until you don’t have it any longer. But then again, he didn’t lose much in New England, really. He’s also one-for-one in Super Bowl seasons in Tampa thus far, and probably should realize bad, often inexplicable losses are a staple in other places.
Cut ’em some slack, TB.