new england patriots

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas yesterday. We’re on vacation all week so forgive me for the sporadic to non-existant posts. The fact is that we know what we got with the 2011 Patriots and speculating whether or not the defense will suddenly be consistently tough seems useless.

That’s probably why I wasn’t really that surprised when Miami torched the Pats on a few drives last weekend. We’ve seen it all year and expecting anything otherwise, especially against a team that was playing well like the Dolphins had been, is foolish.

The Patriots can win the Super Bowl, but things are really going to have to go their way. Tom Brady will have to put together three solid playoff games (something he hasn’t done since 2004), and the defense is going to have to be opportunistic and keep getting takeaways.

Here are our notes after re-watching the Dolphins game:

Jerod Mayo is finally really coming on like we’d been hoping for. He’s always been a tackling machine but the last few weeks he’s been turning into a big play machine. This will need to continue in the playoffs. 

Dane Fletcher is also really adding some speed to the defense. He’s been a good Spikes replacement. He just needs to wrap up and finish his tackles and he’ll cement himself as a solid building block for the future.

This is it, last week for Spikes and Chung to get a game in before the playoffs. Both players could still help in the playoffs (Chung especially) but they won’t have much time to knock the rust off. One missed tackle is all it takes in the playoffs. Both players will face questions in 2012 if they can make it through a season.

I’ve never seen a more up and down corner than McCourty. Sometimes its a huge swing just between snaps. He’ll need to put together some consistency if the Pats are going anywhere. Nothing kills you more than needless 3rd down penalties and McCourty’s put together a few of them.

I like Ihedigbo for his toughness but I don’t see him as a long term solution at safety. Sometimes just staying healthy is enough to get you playing time. As a special teams piece, I’ll take him long term.

Not expecting Guyton back. And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m not that broken up about it. 

Pats used a heavy front four that got pushed around early, creating the creases that Reggie Bush thrives on. They also got little pass rush pressure from their base front which due to the heavy nature isn’t a total shock, but it only made Andre Carters absence that much more noticeable. 

I think the pass coverage could pull it together for a playoff run, but I have real concerns about the pass rush from the base front four without Carter. If we see Mark Anderson out there in base we’ll know BB does too.

Brandon Deaderick is quietly having a great season along with Kyle Love. The enigma known as Ron Brace remains unable to stay on the field. 

I don’t know if Shaun Ellis is saving something for the playoffs but his get up and go got up and went. 

Prayers for Matt Light and Logan Mankins are my number one concern. 

Its scary how this offense goes back and forth from useless to unstoppable. They’re so patient for good reason even when they look as bad as they did in the first half. 

Stevan Ridley or Woodhead will have a huge playoff game. Not sure which just yet. 

When we talked about the Pats inability to develop receivers perhaps we shouldve given them credit for Hernando?

We all still know its possible for TFB to go into three game berserker mode for the playoffs and lead the Pats to SB #4 right? Just need the defense to continue to force turnovers and hold teams to field goals. Start getting your heart ready for the playoff games now, I’m sure we’re all going to be having heart attacks multiple times.

It’s easy to get caught up in the stats and minutiae that surround a football team during the four month regular season campaign. It’s certainly even easier for Patriots fans who’ve witnessed both epically good and epically bad things since September.

On the positive side you’ve got another historic season by Tom Brady, a breakout star in Rob Gronkowski and another AFC East championship.

On the negative side you’ve got a defense that is giving up a record amount of yards, a significant number of injuries both large and small, and a running game that has been invisible down the stretch.

When you take all the good and the bad, you’re left with a team that could very well take the number one conference seed in back to back years for the first time since the Bills of the early-90’s. That’s not a bad season by any metric.

But looking past the stats and numbers is necessary when measuring one of the most important elements of making a Super Bowl run. For every good or bad stat there’s a team that either didn’t leave up that standard when it was all on the line, or a team that overcame that one stat that was supposed to be their doom.

What I’m talking about is the character and personality of these 2011 Patriots. Every team will face adversity in the playoffs, but it’s not the stats that tell you if they’ll overcome, it’s how much heart and how much competitive fire those teams have.

You could look at the 2007 Giants and see they had the 21st ranked passing offense, but that didn’t matter when Eli, David Tyree and Plaxico went right down the field in the closing minutes of the Super Bowl. The same thing goes for the 2001 Patriots’ 22nd ranked passing offense. Or the 2006 Colts 32nd ranked rush defense.

Those teams all wanted it more than their opponents. They were all on the same page, pulling together when it mattered most. So what can New England fans says about their team this year outside of the stats and rankings?

The 2011 Patriots are a team with no quit in it. A team that has won multiple hostile road games. They’ve been competitive in every game they’ve played, and that’s something that no other team in the AFC can lay claim to. The Steelers and Ravens especially have had multiple games this year where they didn’t even show up.

Of course a consistent regular season won’t matter at all if the Pats bow out in the divisional round again. Division championships and homefield advantage are nice, but are little consolation to anything short of playing in the Super Bowl.

But the Patriots are patient. Adaptable. And as well prepared as any team in the NFL. We’ve almost always been able to say these three things about Bill Belichick’s Patriots teams. But what we haven’t always been able to say is that this team has heart and fight.

The 2011 Patriots are not a perfect team. They have their flaws and they have their strengths, but most importantly, they are a consistent team that never folds even when their backs are against the wall and they’re playing horribly. And their a team with an incredible will to win.

Every last player on the roster will fight to the final whistle of their season, no matter when or where it ends, and that might be the most necessary championship ingredient there is.