The Patriots Report: Week 8

Tweet

After praising the Patriots defense and hailing the BYE week as a point where Bill Belichick would finally patch things up and turn the Patriots into a Juggernaut, the Pittsburgh Steelers came and shoved everything I said into the same vortex that Donovan Mcnabb's career went to.  Seriously, it was painful watching 'Ben' pick apart the Patriots secondary like he was Joe Montana in his prime.  You would think that after the fourth straight catch by Heath Miller someone on the Patriots sideline would suggest they stop blitzing and allowing a zillion passing lanes.  I cannot stress how abysmal the Patriots were on Sunday, even their offence was sluggish, managing a meager 17 points for the game.  Before I continue it should be acknowledged that the Steelers played a hell of a game and literally kicked the Patriots ass, they handled their business like a contender should (and after the smack-down they laid, I have them and the Ravens as the primary AFC contenders).

So what the hell is wrong with the Patriots defense?  They are missing three starters, but this is no excuse because they used to thrive in situations like this, remember the days Troy Brown would cover the opposing teams best receiver?  Back then it didn't matter who played defense they were great for some reason, not so much anymore.  Poor drafting? A very big factor, their only decent draft pick in recent years has been Patrick Chung, Belichick has to accept some of the blame here, there is no excuse for picking so poorly in four consecutive drafts.  Lastly, some of the blame has to go on the players.  If you are playing a professional sport that you love, you should hold yourself accountable and do whatever it takes to be better.  So far this season, the Patriots defenders have not improved and if they don't the L's will pile up faster than everyone thinks.  At this rate, the Patriots will qualify for the playoffs as a wild-card and get demolished by Pittsburgh or Baltimore whenever they got to them.  The really sad thing about this is that the Patriots are still probably the third best team in the AFC, they picked an absolutely terrible year to suck defensively, if they were even decent I would have them penciled in to the Super Bowl.

Since there really isn't much more to say about the Patriots, a few quick hits from other parts of the NFL:

49ers: Do you realize that they still play the NFC west five times?!  They could easily finish the season 13-3 and get a first round Bye and a guaranteed home game in the playoffs.  Whether or not they can do anything with Alex Smith at Quarterback remains to be seen.

Ravens:  This season they have played some inspiring defense, they were setting some incredible records until they allowed Arizona to score 27 points against them.  Just throwing it out there, I don't think they will allow that much for the rest of the year.

Eagles: Finally played like the team everyone expected them to be, and even sweeter for them is that they are one (you read that correctly) game out of the playoffs.  An 11-5 finish isn't out of the question if they play every game like they did against the Cowboys.  

Titans: Chris Johnson has disappeared off the face of the earth

Giants: Playing the Patriots next week for the first time sense the '18-1' game, if Belichick doesn't throw his best and most secret game plan at them to try and humiliate them then I think his pulse should be checked.