Undefeated So Far

I guess I am that guy, after all. That insufferable New England Patriots fan who sounds like that obnoxious hipster talking about craft beers. Sorry. It's hard not to come off as… condescending, I guess. (I'm doing it right now!) Insensitive? It is easy to lose perspective rooting for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. (Oops! Doing it again. Sorry!) Let's be serious, though. Undefeated? Come on! It was just one game. They scored 51 points but still. Just. One. Game. Long way to go. Winning three games won't get you anything in this league.

It's a convenient story line, I suppose. The post-scandal Eff You seasons. They did it in 2007 following Spygate. Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women.

16-0-0.

For their post-Deflategate encore?

How about the Patriots just put the ball in Tom Brady's hands and see what happens?

 

I'm trying to contain myself. As effortless as it seemed at times while New England was serving up a 50-burger with fries and a Coke to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Patriots can clearly get better. They settled for field goals on three of their nine scoring possessions. (Yeah, okay. A little snarky. But factual!) They can get better on defense. Hard to say how they can get much better on special teams.

Undefeated?

There are a whole bunch of 3-0-0 teams, including the Bengals, Panthers and Falcons. It seems to me the Bengals were 3-0-0 last year, too. What ever happened to them, anyway? 

The Patriots were an apocalyptic 2-2-0 to start last season and that turned out okay.

The point is, the regular season is dick. Oh, sure, you've got to win enough games to get into the playoffs, preferably with home field but a single loss won't end your regular season. Doing that at least nine times probably will. The point is, you don't need to be undefeated in the regular season. You need to be undefeated in the playoffs. Yes, I'm looking at you Andy Dalton. (Again a little snarky. But factual!)

Ice me down, son.

It's a long way to January.