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Potential roadblocks for New England Patriots – ESPN Boston

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Potential roadblocks for New England Patriots – ESPN Boston

Agreed on all these fronts that Reiss lists. Lots of ball left this season and we certainly didn’t win the Super Bowl by beating Peyton Manning and the Broncos last week. But there are some boosts coming as well with the bye week, including some guys getting more healthy, new guys getting more time to get up to speed in the system and of course, the returns of Chandler Jones and Sealver Siliga at some point. My favorite? Dominique Easley finding his groove as a pass rusher. I still believe.

Rank the remaining games in terms of level of difficulty. Here’s mine: 1. @GB; 2 @Colts; 3 Dolphins; 4 @San Diego; 5 Lions; 6. Bills 7. @NYJ. Not as bad as first thought. SD has come down to Earth, the Jets should be packing it in by week 16, the Colts have no defense. Green Bay will be tough (on the road against an unfamiliar opponent). Dolphins and Bills (maybe) should be playing for something.

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Here’s mine, basically the same except at the top.

7. @ Jets – just a chance to rub some salt in the wound that it is the 2014 season for them.

6. Bills – Garoppolo time!

5. Lions – good test, but I think the Pats will be ready for them after the beatings they gave us in recent preseasons. Hope Megatron plays to see him vs. Revis.

4. @ San Diego – they’ll present some challenges, especially on the road. Depends on which Chargers team shows up – last weekend’s one that got blown out by the Dolphins or the one that got off to a hot start. Probably one that comes down to the end.

3. Dolphins – I kind of think they’re overrated right now and I have my doubts they can put up much fight in mid-December weather in Foxboro. But if there’s a playoff spot on the line it could be a good one.

2. @ Green Bay – Fun matchup but not a critical game for either team. Good road test for the Pats at a time when they should be rounding into the best football.

1. @ Indy – The LOS has been a house of horrors for the Pats (4th and 2, SB46) and the Colts would love nothing more than to finally get a win vs. the Pats after getting dominated the last two times in Foxboro. This feels like a proving game and one that will impact the playoff seedings. Big, big tilt on national TV. Can Andrew Luck play a perfect game? That’s what it will take.

Hey Mike, I can’t help but see Amendola as the equivalent of a trap game for defenses right now. With adjustments being focused on LaFell, Gronk, and Minitron, it feels like Danny is one overlook away form bustin out a big game. What are you thoughts on Amendola moving forward?

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I think that’s a good way to put it. As I said in an answer earlier this week, I think the bye week needs to focus on ways to get guys like Amendola and Wright (and maybe Dobson) more involved in the passing game. Teams will catch on to what the Patriots are doing with Gronk-LaFell-Edelman. Not that that means they will shut it down completely, because that’s a very tough trio to contend with, but there will be times where they cause the Pats offense some problems. Those are the times where switching gears to Amendola/Wright/Dobson might help. 

Figures. The one time you don’t post my comment I have a prescient comment last week about special teams favoring the Pats against Denver and what happens? NEP special teams owned DEN in that game!

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Really wish I had posted that one now. It was a great point and something I’m kind of mad at myself for ignoring. I focused a lot on Denver’s lack of depth this offseason, they’ve been lucky so far on the injury front, but you were right – where that shows up most is on special teams and that really made a huge difference in this game. If I’m Denver, that might be the area I’m most concerned about right now.