New England Patriots: Do not hit the panic button yet

After a worrying performance against Houston, the New England Patriots do not look as dominant as usual. Don’t panic yet though, there’s more than meets the eye.

A soft schedule and cemented reputation, combined with a duo of convincing losses make a perfect storm for Anti-Patriot Nation to launch their tweets. In a 28-22 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday Night Football, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looked distraught and the only viable offensive complements appeared to be Julian Edelman, James White and undrafted rookie sensation Jakobi Meyers.

The vaunted New England Patriots defense also appeared to be having an out-of-body experience, lacking the same physicality in the secondary that has made them so successful. Without the top-flight secondary handling the back-end, Belichick is unable to send the same pressure packages that have made quarterbacks miserable for 10 of the previous 11 games (excluding potential MVP Lamar Jackson).

According to the official New England Patriots injury report for Week 13, 10 different players had “illness” listed as a cause for missed time, much of which involved limited or no participation Wednesday through Friday. The players included on this list are: (* = players who have not been regular starters this season)

Eight of these players have been regular starters for New England, and other players including Phillip Dorsett and Mohamed Sanu were also reported to have the flu. Based upon the increased workload in the running game for James White and reduced usage of Sony Michel, it would not be a far reach to guess Michel was also suffering from illness.

When flying to Houston, the team took two separate planes to avoid the transmission of illness to any healthy players. Players were also seen entering NRG Stadium wearing surgical masks.

One individual in specific (Marcus Cannon) was seen receiving fluids throughout the game on the sideline. No matter how much New England downplays the impact of illness this past Sunday, its impact on the final result can not be undervalued.

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Now, after a key loss to a conference rival and now behind the Baltimore Ravens by tiebreaker for the first seed in the AFC, New England looks to bounce back against the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by the Buffalo Bills.

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