Can the New England Patriots finish the regular season undefeated?
The Patriots just hit the halfway mark in their regular season with a perfect 8-0 record. They have benefitted from a favorable schedule and a dominant defense piloting their early success. Week 8 against the Browns was supposed to be the first challenge in the six week stretch that was considered to the be “teeth” of the Patriots‘ schedule this season, but the Browns made it easy for the Patriots via three turnovers on three consecutive offensive plays. The next two games are going to a be tough test for New England.
The Patriots play the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday night in a game that very well might ruin the undefeated streak. The Patriots do nearly everything perfect on defense, but teams have been able to run the ball against them. Despite Nick Chubb’s two fumbles on Sunday, he had a decent game against New England. He finished the day with 131 yards on 20 carries. With this information, teams may be able to exploit a weakness in the defense. Everyone knows how dangerous Lamar Jackson can be with his legs, and not many teams have found a way to slow him down this year. I suspect Baltimore will put together a game plan that features Lamar Jackson running the ball quite a bit. On the other side of things, this may a game where Bill Belichick shows the Ravens some looks to see how they respond, but will ultimately hold some of their playbook close to the chest. The Ravens are likely to win the AFC north and New England could very well see them at some point in the postseason. If that’s the case, Belichick will want to have some tricks up his sleeve that the Ravens have not seen. You could compare this kind of approach to the first few rounds in a boxing match where the fighters are just feeling each other out. A team can only game plan for what they’ve seen you do, so if Belichick sacrifices this week’s game against Baltimore and use it as a “feeling out” game, it can be beneficial for them down the road.
I do not think the Ravens are talented enough to flat-out beat the Patriots. If the they do lose, Belichick will not lose sleep over it. Looking past the Ravens though, the Texans may actually be a good enough team to beat New England on any given Sunday. They are also on a fast track to the playoffs and they can be as dangerous as any team in the AFC. Deshaun Watson is in the upper echelon of quarterbacks in the AFC right now and can make plays that very few players can make. They have a solid defense and some very good offensive weapons. Belichick will not suffer two back-to-back losses, but if the Patriots do lose a game and ruin their perfect season aspirations, I believe it will be one of their next two games.
Beyond their next two weeks in the schedule, the Patriots play the Eagles, the Cowboys, the Chiefs, and then the Bengals and a few favorable games against the Dolphins and Jets. Everybody, including myself, thought their was now way around a rematch in the AFC Championship between New England and Kansas City. Kansas City is quickly spiraling, and may find themselves struggling to win their division if they do not quickly right the ship. Reigning MVP, Patrick Mahomes has been battling injuries all season, and his below average offensive line has been no help. The Chiefs also have a defense that can only be described as soft. They are undisciplined, have a weak-tackling secondary, and cannot stop the run at all. The blueprint is out on how to beat the Chiefs, and even Patrick Mahomes may not be enough to make up for their defense.
The Patriots are heavy favorites against a top-heavy AFC and for good reason. As soon as it looks like a team could be a contender to potentially knock them off, they have a bad loss to a team they should beat. I think this week against the Ravens is the toughest game on New England’s schedule, and if they can keep the streak alive after this week, they have a good chance of going 16-0 to finish out the rest of the season.