Do Your Job... Better

Last night, the worst possible thing happened for whoever the Patriots play next.

I'm sure there will be plenty of "I told you so" takes from pigskin pundits and bobbleheads. New England's 14-2-0 regular season was inflated by a weak schedule. They hadn't faced adversity since way back whenever that loss to the Seahawks happened. The playoffs would expose the Gronk-less Patriots. When the gridiron cognoscenti say the Patriots 34-16 win wasn't as close as the score might indicate, this time they'll be talking about how much closer it seemed than the 18-point margin.

The Patriots didn't win this game, Brock Osweiler lost it.

Maybe this is simply fanboy rationalization but from my perspective, if whoever plays the Patriots next Sunday thinks the Texans' defense exposed some fatal flaw - the exhaust port to the Patriots Death Star - they'll be in for a huge surprise.

Unless that fatal flaw is hoping New England plays badly again in the AFC Championship Game.

That would be their record-setting 6th consecutive AFC Championship Game, of course.

"We'll take it."

-Logan Ryan

Let's not be all gloomy and doomy. We shouldn't forget the Patriots covered a 16-point spread in winning this divisional round game. Tom Brady extended his own record for playoff games started to 33 and wins to 23. Dion Lewis wrote his name in the record books with TDs by rush, pass reception and kick return. The Rutgers Alumni Association, New England chapter, intercepted three passes. While he seemed to be running for his life and throwing the ball away more often than he was stepping up in a clean pocket, Brady still made some remarkable throws; the TD pass to James White and the parabola he dropped into Julian Edelman's hands in the 4th quarter stand out. When Brady was able to connect, he came up big. While he averaged just 7.6 yards per attempt, his receivers collectively averaged 15.9 yards per reception, led by Chris Hogan's 23.8 yards per catch. Jules being Jules: 8 receptions for 137 yards, eclipsing Wes Welker's Patriots' record for playoff receptions in the process, and somehow it seemed like just another day at the office for Edelman. Fun with small data samples: Edelman's numbers project to a regular season of 128 receptions and 2,192 yards. Yes, that would be a record. That's how good a day at the office Julian Edelman had.

Still…

The penalties. The turnovers. Inconsistent play from the offensive line and the disappearance of the running game.

It's going to be an uncomfortable week at 1 Patriot Place for New England's players and coaches. "Uncomfortable" is probably an understatement. Okay, definitely an understatement. It was a decidedly out of character performance by the Patriots Saturday night. The Texans certainly had something to do with it but Bill Belichick isn't the type to concern himself with that. This week will be all about how the Patriots played, about being smart, about ball security, about getting better.

If New England had handled Houston as easily as everyone predicted, perhaps they would've been just a little bit overconfident heading into the AFC Championship Game. It's human nature. The little voice in your head is saying, "You got this." Before you know it, you're trailing 14-0 and that little voice in your head is screaming at your teammates on the sideline. Instead, New England managed to survive that "the only team that can beat the Patriots is the Patriots" scenario and make enough plays to keep the Super Bowl dream alive.

There may not be another team in the NFL that could use an 18-point win as fuel for their unquenchable thirst for greatness. As badly as the Patriots played Saturday night, I expect they'll play their best game of the season this Sunday.