It's Writing Itself

They’ve lost stalwart DT Vince Wilfork, three-down LB Jerod Mayo and Vince’s DT dance partner Tommy Kelly on defense and RT Sebastian Vollmer and All Galaxy TE Rob Gronkowski on offense. They have almost as much money on IR as they do on the active roster. WR Danny Amendola has been nicked up since Week 1, safety Steve Gregory missed time with a broken thumb, cornerback Aqib Talib missed time with a hip injury and they only recently got pass-catching 3^rd down RB Shane Vereen back on the field after a stint on the short-term IR. And just as rookie wide receivers Kenbrell Thompkins and Aaron Dobson seemed to be getting consistently on the same page with Brady, both of them got hurt.

After all that, the Patriots are 10-3-0 and if they win today in Miami, they will hold the “if the playoffs started today” #1 seed in the AFC Playoffs, thanks to that tiebreaker they hold with the Denver Broncos.

How is this possible?

Acknowledging the Patriots could drop from the #1 seed to the #3 seed should they lose in Miami, I’d like to take a moment to enjoy this. I get that other teams have suffered injuries. Taking a quick look at the records of those teams would lead you to believe the Patriots should more reasonably be 7-6-0. New England has been decimated by injuries yet still has a reasonable chance to win home field throughout the playoffs. Their best case scenario is 13-3-0.

How is this even possible?

The Patriots are a sports movie about a plucky band of pigskin brothers who withstand adversity and overcome the doubters and it's being written right before our very eyes. Could Matt Damon still pull off Tom Brady? If not, there’s Chris Pine or maybe Chris Hemsworth to play Brady. They’ve got dreamy blue eyes and strong jawlines.  How about John Malkovich or Daniel Day-Lewis (a long shot, I know but after playing Lincoln why not?) as Belichick? I think Malkovich could handle the “suffer no fools and take no prisoners” aspect of Belichick yet still bring the pathos in those brief moments when it’s needed. Maybe Chris Hemsworth is better as Gronk. I like Harrison Ford as Robert Kraft or maybe Ed Harris. How about Leonardo DiCaprio as Julian Edelman (Channing Tatum?) and Jake Gyllenhaal as Rob Ninkovich?

Can we make this work?

Just tell me it has a happy ending this time.