Tampa becomes Patriots’ proving ground
Though still early, statement must be made vs. Bucs
TAMPA — Outside of having a prolific offense, and a quarterback who refuses to get old, pretty much everything we assumed about the Patriots entering the season no longer applies.
That includes being a lock to win the AFC East.
Let’s just say, with the league’s worst defense, they aren’t a lock for much of anything that’s trending upward. After a quarter of the season, the Patriots find themselves trailing the 3-1 Bills in the division and tied at 2-2 with the Jets, a team some pegged to go 0-16.
So as they head into tonight’s game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, still smarting from Sunday’s disappointing loss to the Panthers, it’s time to take all of those preconceived notions about the Patriots and stuff them in a box.
The Patriots are basically in prove-it mode.
They’re going to have to prove they can bounce back on short rest. They’re going to have to prove they can avoid back-toback losses. And Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are going to have to prove they can iron out all the problems with the defense and the secondary.
“The only thing we’re worried about is being better than (Sunday),” said defensive captain Duron Harmon. “The ultimate goal is to win, but we have to be focused on being able to do our job, play in and play out, for 60 to 70 plays. That’s the mission. Being focused, being accountable, and being able to lock in and doing your job.”
Will the communication be better with the short turnaround? As one of the leaders in the defensive backfield and quarterback of the secondary, Devin McCourty said the players have been working hard to show what they’re capable of.
“If we’re not playing well (in the secondary), that falls on me,” said McCourty. “We’ve just got to get it right. We know what we’re doing, we just haven’t got it done.”
For whatever reason, something’s been lost in the translation during the games. So once again, it’s about proving they can all be on the same page when the lights go on.
Sitting at 2-2, with both losses coming at home, the Patriots typically didn’t want to call this a make-or-break game with Tampa tonight, but, to a man, they know there’s a sense of urgency. They know they need to fix the issues on the defensive side of the ball, or at least patch them up to get by on the short week. Then, with the added time before the next game with the Jets, make more strides to improve the communication in the secondary.
“It’s a game where we know we need to be better. We need to play better defensively, we need to help our team,” said Harmon. “We need to start playing complementary football; this is a game where we need to take a step towards doing that.”
While the players on defense have been accountable for their poor play, the Patriots on the offensive side of the ball have been supportive of a unit that’s allowing a league-worst 456.8 yards per game.
Quarterback Tom Brady reminded everyone it’s still early. There’s still time to right the ship and prove they’re a much better football team than they’ve shown.
“No one likes where we’re at, but we’re the only people who can do something about it. I mean 2-2 is not where we want to be, but if you want to get to 3-2 we’ve got to play better than the way we played the first four weeks,” said Brady. “So it just requires a great level of commitment and attention to detail and obviously listening to coaches, taking the coaching, bringing it to the field, performing well and then stringing those weeks together.
“But we just haven’t done it well on a consistent basis. That really reflects in our record. It’s not great, but it’s also early. There’s a lot of football left and hopefully we can take all the things that have happened, learn from them and try to build on them. That’s what we’re going to try to do this week.”