There was plenty of talk last week about how the Patriots hadn’t beaten a playoff opponent on the road since 2011, and even then it was the Tebow-led Broncos. So there’s no question, this was the biggest road win since 2010’s 39-26 demolition of the Steelers.
Hard to remember a bigger set of back-to-back wins than the two we’ve just seen, against the other two best teams in the AFC. Yes, we’re all feeling pretty good about the Patriots today, but the hard road continues, with Detroit coming to town and then a trip to Green Bay for a potential Super Bowl preview matchup.
Here are the things that stuck out to me about last night’s win…
This game wouldn’t have even been close if Brady hadn’t been so bad in the first half. Those two interceptions were both really poor decisions, the kind of thing we don’t see out of TFB.
But the good news is that this Patriots team is unflinching. Even when they’ve had bad plays the last two games – like the poor end of the first half last night, or the interception to start the second half against the Broncos – they’ve come right back out with dominant drives. They don’t blink, in a way that isn’t as common for a Patriots team as you might think.
There’s just something about this team that plays angry, with something to prove. They are merciless in a way reminiscent of 2007, and that’s a very good sign.
The biggest questions about this team coming in were whether they could really pound the football when the power run game was required and if they were the kind of fearless team that could beat a good quarterback in his home stadium.
Both were answered with a resounding yes against the Colts.
One of the keys to the bye week was doing some self-analysis and getting the guys who have been thrust into the fire more time to get up to speed. I thought we might see a little more Jonas Grey in this one but obviously I didn’t expect him to suddenly look like LeGarrette Blount circa last year.
This of course tells you how Belichick feels about the Colts’ run defense. Spoiler – he thinks they suck.
Gray’s emergence really rounds this offense out into probably the most balanced attack since 2007. And it’s not just Gray who proved something last night, so did the offensive line, especially in the the short yardage situations where they’ve struggled all year.
The Pats ran the ball 15 times with 1-5 yards to go and picked up a first down 13 times. They hadn’t done that more than four times in a game yet this season.
Seeing what a difference healthy Gronk makes just makes me wonder what could’ve been the last three playoff runs if he had been in the lineup at full strength. He changes the entire offense, not only with his play, but with the energy he brings.
If Gronk is healthy to the final snap this season, it will be in the Super Bowl.
As for the defense, it starts with how they stopped the run. The Colts had 19 yards rushing on 17 attempts. That’s 1.1 yards-per-carry. Seriously. Not a typo. 1.1.
Run defense was the biggest concern with this defense earlier in the season. Miami gashed them for 191 yards on the ground. The Chiefs had 207.
I never thought it was time to panic. What I saw were just physical mistakes like missing tackles or losing contain. Now they’re not missing those tackles and keeping contain and the run defense is light years better.
Now we see that those who wanted to judge how good Revis is after the Bills and Jets games were a little premature. Revis’ impact the last three weeks, against very good quarterbacks has been on display and it’s time to start banging the “long-term extension” drum.
When targeting Darrelle Revis this season, QBs are 24 of 50 for 359 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. Revis has 2 of the INTs.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) November 17, 2014
Like many Pats pundits, I thought Browner would stay as an outside corner this season, but after the last two games it’s clear the Patriots want to use him against receiving tight ends, even in the middle of the field.
Thought Alan Branch played hard in his 15 snaps and was a good compliment to Vince Wilfork inside. When Siliga gets back they can ease Wilfork’s load a bit and try to keep him fresh for the playoffs.
Really started to see some burst and power from Dominique Easley. He’ll be one to focus on for the All-22 review. If he can get some interior pass rush going in concert with how the defensive backs are playing, look out.
Nothing against Jerod Mayo, but I just like the Dont’a Hightower Patriots defense better than the Mayo defense. Hightower moves incredibly well for his size, is a physical tackler, and really, I think he has better instincts than Mayo in the passing game.
And Jamie Collins seems to keep getting better each week. Granted these last two games play right into Collins’ style, but he’s been much better against the run than he was early in the year.
At this point it’s hard not to want to just shut it down for the season in an effort to keep everyone healthy. Because at this moment it feels like that’s the only thing that could really keep the Pats from being the favorites to represent the AFC in Glendale in February.
We know what can happen all too well – Andre Carter going down in December of 2011, losing Gronk each of the last three years… There’s a ton of football left and hopefully the Football Gods will be nice to the Patriots this year.
But for right now, in late November, the Patriots sit atop the football world and all is right.