Pats look to trip into final stretch
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
MEXICO CITY — It’ll take some time to determine whether or not this will be a season-defining stretch for the Patriots, but signs have been pointing in that direction.
Like the team-bonding trip to California in 2014, the Patriots have made the most of their week in Colorado, which led up to today’s game against the Raiders at Estadio Azteca. The Pats didn’t sweep that Packers-Chargers swing in 2014, but veterans on that roster noted the importance of the week in terms of bonding and helping new faces like Akeem Ayers and Jonathan Casillas adjust to the culture. The Pats closed that season with three consecutive wins before a meaningless regular-season finale and a triumphant run through the playoffs.
This time around, the Patriots are riding a five-game winning streak as they approach their final game before Thanksgiving, which Bill Belichick
sets as the deadline to implement their best football.
“I think we understand how the season starts to pick up,” safety Devin McCourty said. “You know, each game means more. We understand that seven wins doesn’t mean anything. We have to continue to get better. So I think why we end up usually improving is because it’s the understanding of there’s no tomorrow. We have to now — not just improve, but play good football if we think we’re going to win games because no team really is where they’re at in September.
“When we were talking about improving and, ‘This is bad. That’s bad.’ There are always going to be some bad things, but for a lot of teams now, a lot is good. So you have to really play to it. I hope we can continue to build on it, and that always helps when you go down the stretch of the season.”
The Patriots are used to this type of success, and it extends beyond the arrival of Belichick and Tom Brady. They’re 135-50 (.730 winning percentage) in the second half since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994, and they’ve got 11 more wins than anyone else during that stretch.
“Things are always changing and evolving, and still trying to figure out kind of what exactly we’re doing well,” Brady said. “After eight, nine weeks, you start to kind of figure out those things. Now, we’ve got to work hard at those things and try to really own them and use them going forward to try to win the most important games. We have a lot of important games coming up, starting with this one, so hopefully we can play our best football going forward.”
If the Patriots cap their trip with another victory, it’ll set the table for that post-Thanksgiving run, but there’s so much time until the playoffs that it’s impossible to know what rewards this trip will reap.
“It’s a little bit different (than the 2014 trip), but I think, ultimately, it’s trying to win a football game,” Brady said before offering a tongue-in-cheek example to reinforce his point. “So things are geared toward that. I think, naturally, when you’re on the road like this, there’s less things to do. My family is not here. My kids aren’t here. There’s nobody telling me what I did wrong in the house. Now, it’s being here and trying to just figure out how to win a game.”
Raiders’ dual threat
Raiders wide receivers Amari Cooper (38 catches, 462 yards, three touchdowns) and Michael Crabtree (36-451-6) boast similar stat lines, so it’s difficult for a defense to roll a safety in one direction and expect to temper the threat.
Cooper is the more dangerous receiver but Crabtree has unquestionably been the more imposing threat in the red zone, so that could lead to wrinkles in the coverage plan. The Patriots wouldn’t tip their hand to their preferred assignments, but cornerback Stephon Gilmore wants the best the Raiders offer, whoever they deem that to be.
That’s how Gilmore has liked it throughout his career, including his past two performances against the Buccaneers’ Mike Evans and the Broncos’ Demaryius Thomas.
“I just take that challenge because I want to be that guy that can play physical, play tough, go against the best guy,” Gilmore said. “I’m just here to do whatever I can to help this team. Whatever position they put me in, I want to do it well. It’s fun. It’s fun to do it every week.”
Oh, and don’t forget about tight end Jared Cook, who leads the Raiders with 39 receptions and 499 yards, though he only has one touchdown.
“This isn’t a game where we can just say, ‘Let’s stop this guy or that guy,’ ” McCourty said. “We have to really cover all five of their threats on the field.
“There’s no one thing that we can do to kind of cancel them out of the game. They’re just tough receivers, and I think one of the hard things is they’re everywhere. … We’ve got to have a high awareness of where those guys are at all times.”
Line the pockets
Count rookie defensive lineman Deatrich Wise among those who are impressed by the Raiders offensive line, which has been considered one of the best groups in the NFL for a couple years.
“I believe that they have a good offensive line, and I think (it’s) because probably they’re experienced across the whole line and how big they are,” Wise said.