So, I finally saw the smirk. The haters know what I'm talking about. The Tom Brady smirk. That crooked Mona Lisa smile that greets yet another press conference question asking him what he saw out there. Tell us about [fill in the player's name] and what he meant to the Patriots today/this season. Tom! Tom! Do you think you're the MVP? Tom! Tom! You know I never said you were a cheater; I always had your back! Tom! Over here, Tom! How important was getting that #1 seed?
Yeah, I finally saw the smirk.
And it was awesome.
Could things have turned out any better for the New England Patriots? Well, here's a scary thought for the rest of the NFL; yes, if Rob Gronkowski was healthy and ready to go for the playoffs. That would've been better. But other than that, no. The answer is no. Things could not be better for the New England Patriots.
With the #1 seed in the AFC bracket, the Patriots have a week of rest, self-scouting and in the case of coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, head coaching interviews. Two weeks from now they will line up opposite the least of the Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders or the Miami Dolphins team they just put the clamps on in Miami. Was it only last week the pigskin pundits and bobbleheads were breathlessly asking if Oakland's defense could do what Denver's defense did the year before? The Dolphins were supposed to win in Miami where the Patriots had struggled in recent years and the Raiders were supposed to win in Denver with their defense and a strong running game, forcing an AFC Championship Game in Oakland.
None of those things happened, of course.
Oakland dropped from a possible #1 seed to #5 and may be forced to play their wild card game with 3rd string QB, rookie Conor Cook, as backup Matt McGloin suffered a shoulder injury in Denver. The Raiders will travel to Houston to face a Texans team that did not finish strong and has their own issues at QB, with concussed Tom Savage and the $37M man with the $9 arm, Brock Osweiler the options in a game that could have career implications for HC Bill O'Brien. This looks like a game that could be won by a 4-3 score and go either way. Well, unless Osweiler throws a pick-6.
Miami remains in the #6 spot and will travel to Pittsburgh where they will likely be double-digit underdogs. The Dolphins will start either journeyman Matt Moore or a rusty Ryan Tannehill, who would be coming back from a knee injury. Yes, the Dolphins beat the Steelers earlier in the regular season but that was in Miami with a healthy Tannehill facing off with a banged up Ben Roethlisberger. This Sunday's game will be in Pittsburgh with a relatively healthy Roethlisberger will be coming off a personal bye week.
It's the NFL where anything can happen and usually does but it would be an upset of Biblical proportions if any one of those teams beat the Patriots in New England two weeks from now. Roger Goodell and the Other 31 owners may not want the Patriots to win, but the way this sets up, it looks like God does.
In the divisional round, we do know the Patriots won't face either of the two biggest threats to a second Super Bowl in three years, the Steelers or the Chiefs. In all likelihood (oh please oh please oh please), those two teams will face off and beat the living snot out of each other before the winner makes the inevitable trip to Foxborough for the AFC Championship game.
Yes, inevitable.
Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and this Patriots team will not take their foot off the gas regardless of their opponent in the divisional round. They will play their best game of the year two weeks from now and then play even better the week after that. Call it retribution, call it the Tom Brady Revenge Tour, call it a reckoning. Say they're exorcising all the demons of pigskins past. Come up with whatever subtext for the smirk you want but know this; you're just guessing at what it is Tom Brady knows that you don't.
Just like the rest of the NFL.
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