Why the Patriots will win in the Playoffs
The playoffs are here! Finally we can talk about playoffs without someone quoting Jim Mora.
Our Patriots have fought and clawed their way to a first round bye and they are going to do some serious damage this year, even with all the losses they have dealt with. What makes me so confident? This team never quits.
Now granted that's not a thing like 'passing the ball' or 'getting interceptions' that you might have expected coming into this reading adventure. And its also something that is true (to a point) with most sports teams. But most sports teams don't come back from a 24 point deficit to beat the best team in their conference. Most teams don't have three come from behind victories in a season, let alone in a row. Most teams don't lose four Pro Bowlers and two starters and still go 12-4. That's because this Patriots team isn't most teams.
There is a lot of pressure going into any playoff game. "Lose and you're out" weighs heavily on every athlete's mind, whether they admit it or not. It's tough to win a playoff game, and if you get down in one, that makes the win nearly impossible. But this Patriots team could do it. They never seem to stop playing, no matter what the score is.
Brady keeps the offense cool and collected, and even if they have struggled early in the game, he will find a way to fix it and come out driving. The defense, while having regressed a little, in recent weeks has shown flashes again of the shutdown, physical, in your face defense we haven't had in New England in quite some time. And all of a sudden we have a run game! What is that!? Any commentator will tell you 'defense and running the football' wins playoff games. Well if the Patriots can run the ball as well as they did last week against the Bills, we are in good shape.
But I digress. The Patriots will win in the playoffs because they don't quit and have a mental toughness most teams only dream of. Both Brady and Ninkovich have talked about this, saying this is like no team they have ever played on before. And it's like no team I have ever seen before.
If the Patriots were down to the Broncos by 14 points in the third quarter in the AFC championship game, I would bet everything I own that Brady and this Patriots team pulls out the win. Why? Because they have been there before. Because this season, they have fought through almost every single in game scenario you can think of:
Offense sputtering, rely on defense for win: Jets Week 2
Big ticket game where opponent is driving and defense needs to get the win: Falcons Week 4
Big game where offense needs to put together game winning drive in under a minute: Saints Week 6
Come from enormous deficit and win the game: Broncos Week 12
Lose best offensive weapon in close game, still pull out victory: Browns Week 14
Obviously you can think of a scenario for every game the Patriots have played, but to me, these five wins show every part of the Patriots team rising when they need to in order to pull out the win. I know this might be a little rambling but basically I am so frickin excited for the playoffs. We know, and you can bet everyone in that locker room knows, what this team is fully capable of and with a week off to get healthy, these Pats are going to be tough to beat in two weeks.
- Pete Rogers
@ftcsports
@petahrahgas
Related:
Brady says he has never been a part of a year like this
Rob Ninkovich: "I think as far as toughness goes, this is one of the best teams I've been on"
Our Patriots have fought and clawed their way to a first round bye and they are going to do some serious damage this year, even with all the losses they have dealt with. What makes me so confident? This team never quits.
 |
| Photo via zimbio.com |
Now granted that's not a thing like 'passing the ball' or 'getting interceptions' that you might have expected coming into this reading adventure. And its also something that is true (to a point) with most sports teams. But most sports teams don't come back from a 24 point deficit to beat the best team in their conference. Most teams don't have three come from behind victories in a season, let alone in a row. Most teams don't lose four Pro Bowlers and two starters and still go 12-4. That's because this Patriots team isn't most teams.
There is a lot of pressure going into any playoff game. "Lose and you're out" weighs heavily on every athlete's mind, whether they admit it or not. It's tough to win a playoff game, and if you get down in one, that makes the win nearly impossible. But this Patriots team could do it. They never seem to stop playing, no matter what the score is.
Brady keeps the offense cool and collected, and even if they have struggled early in the game, he will find a way to fix it and come out driving. The defense, while having regressed a little, in recent weeks has shown flashes again of the shutdown, physical, in your face defense we haven't had in New England in quite some time. And all of a sudden we have a run game! What is that!? Any commentator will tell you 'defense and running the football' wins playoff games. Well if the Patriots can run the ball as well as they did last week against the Bills, we are in good shape.
But I digress. The Patriots will win in the playoffs because they don't quit and have a mental toughness most teams only dream of. Both Brady and Ninkovich have talked about this, saying this is like no team they have ever played on before. And it's like no team I have ever seen before.
If the Patriots were down to the Broncos by 14 points in the third quarter in the AFC championship game, I would bet everything I own that Brady and this Patriots team pulls out the win. Why? Because they have been there before. Because this season, they have fought through almost every single in game scenario you can think of:
Offense sputtering, rely on defense for win: Jets Week 2
Big ticket game where opponent is driving and defense needs to get the win: Falcons Week 4
Big game where offense needs to put together game winning drive in under a minute: Saints Week 6
Come from enormous deficit and win the game: Broncos Week 12
Lose best offensive weapon in close game, still pull out victory: Browns Week 14
Obviously you can think of a scenario for every game the Patriots have played, but to me, these five wins show every part of the Patriots team rising when they need to in order to pull out the win. I know this might be a little rambling but basically I am so frickin excited for the playoffs. We know, and you can bet everyone in that locker room knows, what this team is fully capable of and with a week off to get healthy, these Pats are going to be tough to beat in two weeks.
- Pete Rogers
@ftcsports
@petahrahgas
Related:
Brady says he has never been a part of a year like this
Rob Ninkovich: "I think as far as toughness goes, this is one of the best teams I've been on"
