New England Patriots still searching for complete game

The New England Patriots will need to play up to their potential in all phases of the game in order to make another playoff run.

One of these days, the New England Patriots are bound to put together a complete game. They’ve had flashes of brilliance at various times throughout the season, but have yet to show they can play truly complementary football.

In Weeks 1-3, nothing seemed to be working for the defending AFC champions. Sportswriters fishing for clickbait regurgitated the age-old prediction that the end of the Patriots’ dynasty was finally at hand; while wiser observers preached patience, noting New England’s well-documented history of struggling in September.

Then in Weeks 4-7, the offense got hot, stringing together four straight outings with 38 points or more. But just when it looked like Josh McDaniels’ group might have finally found their stride, Sony Michel went down, and suddenly Brady’s bunch became one-dimensional again.

The defense picked up the slack in Weeks 8-13, holding the Patriots’ opposition to an average of 16 points per game. If you toss out the game against Tennessee in which nothing went right for the Pats on either side of the ball, that number drops down even further to 11.5 points per game over a four-game stretch (New England had their bye in Week 11).

Special teams have been decidedly un-special this year for the Pats; a strange development when you consider the added emphasis Bill Belichick puts on it year after year. How many times have we heard him wax on and on over the strategic importance of field position, kickoff coverage, left-footed punting, etc?

And yet it was special teams blunders that doomed the Patriots in their shocking loss last weekend in Miami.

New England is still plenty capable of making a deep postseason run – as always – but this year feels a little different. So far, the Pats are 3-4 on the road. Last year they went 7-1, and two years ago they were a perfect 8-0.

Why is this important? Because this might be the first year since 2015 that the Patriots don’t earn the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Lose in Pittsburgh, and there’s a chance they might not even win a first-round bye.

All of that equates to more pressure on this team – pressure to win more games to make it to the Super Bowl, and pressure to potentially win them on the road in hostile environments (think Arrowhead Stadium in January).

An impressive, dominant performance from both the offense and the defense in a victory over the Steelers would raise the Patriots’ road record to an even .500 on the season. But more importantly, it would go a long way in showing this team has the necessary balance and mental toughness to compete for its sixth championship.

Who better to prove that against than the only NFL team with six championships of their own?