Unanswered Points

You’d have to think the Dolphins were feeling pretty good at halftime. They had dominated the first 30 minutes of play. The Patriots seemed to crumble at the end of the half, playing poorly in all three phases of the game to set up Miami for the spectacular one-handed TD grab by Mike Wallace and a one-point, 14-13 deficit. Everyone remembered what happened in the second half of the Week 1 game in Miami, right?

Yeah. Everyone remembered.

 

As Bill Belichick observed in his post-game presser, the Patriots played 30 minutes of good football on Sunday against the Dolphins. You could make the case that it was really 15 minutes of transcendent football, as New England scored a franchise record 24 points in the 3^rd quarter. Lately, the Patriots have looked a bit like a basketball team built to play lockdown defense and run the fast break. At times in the early going against Miami, they seemed to be standing around on offense, settling for midrange jump shots, letting their opponents hang around, letting them think they might have a chance. Then the Patriots rattled off 27 unanswered points and suddenly a once close game was a blowout.

I guess the good news here is the Patriots still haven’t played their best game yet. (I’m hoping that happens in February. Fingers crossed!) It’s also good news that when they do play well they play very well indeed. They’re now 11-3-0 and own the playoff spot that comes with winning their division. They still need to win out – a roadie with the Jets next Sunday and a home game against the Bills in Week 17 – to hang onto the #1 seed. So, there’s that.

The Jets, despite their hard-earned, well-deserved 3-11-0 record, will be a tough out. Rex Ryan isn’t worrying about getting the #1 pick in next year’s draft because he already knows he won’t be HC of the NYJ in 2015. It may be his last chance to play pigskin chess with Bill Belichick and he wants the win so bad he can almost taste its toes. I’m expecting exotic blitz packages, triple reverse passes, Wildcat, laterals on kick returns, fake punts, fake field goal attempts, onside kickoffs (should the Jets actually score), going for it on 4^th down – going for it on every 4^th down – you name it. The metaphoric kitchen sink. Rex and the Jets will not go gentle into that good night. Or late afternoon/early evening.

As evidenced by their competitive loss on the road in Denver and their stunning upset of the Packers at home, the Bills will certainly present a challenge. The Week 17 matchup could well be a must win game for both teams, with the Bills hoping 10-6-0 will get them a wildcard spot and the Patriots needing the win to hang onto the #1 seed and home field for the playoffs. I’m hoping the Broncos stumble next Monday night against the Bengals. (I’m also hoping for a pony for Christmas.) I’m still rooting for Jimmy Garoppolo’s first NFL start against the Bills.

They’re both division games so we’d be fools to take them lightly and given the ample evidence this season (including the Bills 21-13 win over the Packers), the only thing predictable about the NFL is its unpredictability. Should the Patriots win both of these games? Well, yes. They are the better team. They’ll probably win like 90% of the Madden simulations.

It’s hard not to feel good about this thing but then again, we’ve been here before, haven’t we? It’s not quite like 2007 – they’re not undefeated and they actually have a defense – but this is arguably the best, most complete team in the NFL at the moment. Vegas isn’t going to make you rich betting on the Patriots. The roster is deep, versatile, athletic and (knock wood!) as healthy as any NFL franchise could expect to be fifteen weeks into the season. Let’s face it fellow Pats fans, anything short of a Super Bowl win is going to feel like discovering vampires actually do exist in those last brief seconds before all life drains from your eyes. Okay, I’m not sure what that means but I think the Patriots failing to win the Super Bowl would be equally horrible.

This Patriots team has a chance to be something special. They are that good.

Now comes the hard part, of course.

Doing it.

I’m still rooting for Jimmy Garoppolo’s first NFL start against the Bills.

That would be a good first step.