New England Patriots Fanfare Needs Throttle Back
By Erik Lambert
They are unquestionably the hottest team in football and a Super Bowl favorite, but the crowning of the New England Patriots needs to ease up. Yes, they have had their way with teams lately after receiving a tidal wave of doubts from fans and the media. Tom Brady is playing like an MVP and Bill Belichick finally has a serious defense on his hands courtesy of Darrelle Revis.
However, it’s important to remember there is still a month left to go in the season. A lot can happen in that span of time and there are also some things to take note of in order to at the very least keep the frothing dreams of a fourth Lombardi trophy to a minimum.
Home Field
It’s important to note one of the key sources to this hot stretch run has been a long string of games at home. Of the seven games they’ve played in their win streak dating back to early October, five of them were at Gillette Stadium where the Patriots haven’t lost a game since January of 2013. Their two road wins were against the Buffalo Bills, who are 5-5 (2-3 at home) and the Indianapolis Colts whom the Patriots have owned for years. Suffice to say they’ve earned the wins but they’ve had help from the comforts of home.
Playoffs Are A Different Animal
Since when is domination of the regular season a surprise for the New England Patriots? They’ve hosted at least one playoff game every year since 2009 and haven’t won fewer than 12 games since that season when they went 10-6. Even so, their customary success during that time span hasn’t translated to the same results in the postseason. They have lost back-to-back AFC championship games by double digit points. Both teams that have beaten them this year, Miami and Kansas City remain in the playoff picture and the Denver Broncos, who beat them to reach the Super Bowl back in January will be there as well. Nothing about that reality says “gimme.”
Injuries
One last thing to note with great care is that the New England Patriots are walking a fine line on the injury front. Consider this. How disastrous would it be if Rob Gronkowski or Darrelle Revis went down? There is no question those two players are the focal points of this terrific run the team has enjoyed but they are also the keys to it derailing. Gronk has a long history of problems staying healthy and with his physical style it will only take one good hit for things to start all over again.
That doesn’t mean it will happen of course, but the threat is real. The Patriots are the best team in the NFL right now, but champions aren’t crowned in November.