Pats can’t keep turning it over
ORCHARD PARK - The Patriots are winning. They’re scoring points. They’ve put themselves in decent position for their usual run toward the playoffs.
On the surface, it all seems to be moving in the right direction as they take on the
Bills tonight in a primetime AFC East division battle at New Era Field.
Except, they don’t look quite like a Bill Belichick team just yet. Between a rash of turnovers, mental mistakes, and even the simplest fundamental slip ups, it’s all been so out of character.
The gaffes just don’t compute. Seven games in, they have thirteen turnovers. That’s a stunning number for a Belichick-coached team. They’ve dropped sure-fire interceptions. Against the Bears last week, both Stephon Gilmore and Elandon Roberts let potential picks in the end zone slip out of their hands. That’s outrageous.
There’s also been repeated miscues by quarterback Tom Brady, who has had a turnover in every game. That’s unheard of.
After the resounding Miami win Week 4, everything seemed ready for the Patriots to launch their usual morph into a super team, and play a more sound, mistake-free brand of football only that hasn’t been the case.
With the Bills on deck, we’re still waiting for that error-free team to show up.
NBC commentator Rodney Harrison has taken note of the sloppy performances, but isn’t overly concerned at this stage. “It is uncharacteristic,” the former Patriot said when reached last week. “If you’re going to make the mistakes, and do some of those knucklehead things, do them now. I know Belichick is going to get them straightened out. I’m not concerned. I know they’re going to turn it around.”
All of it is fixable. The solution is playing better, starting tonight with the Bills. If there’s one thing Sean McDermott’s team does well, it’s cause turnovers. They’ve forced a dozen thus far, recovering seven fumbles, which is tied for second-best in the league, while picking off five passes.
They’re only 2-5, but they did upset the Vikings Week 3, and part of the reason they did, was because they produced a couple of key turnovers. So the Patriots would be wise to get it together.
Special teams captain Matthew Slater, after being asked if he was surprised it’s taken so long to iron out the kinks, providing some perspective.
“Every team is different. Every team comes into its own at a different pace. Obviously some of the things we’ve been doing from the kicking game, to the offense, to the defense, we can’t continue to do. We’ve been getting away with some things, turning the ball over, giving up some big returns against Kansas City, that if we continue to do, we won’t be where we want to be.
“I’m not really surprised or shocked,” he went on. “Every team is different. I’m hopeful we can move past some of this.”
There’s been a lack of focus at times. The Pats had to call a timeout last week because the defense didn’t have enough guys on the field. Ryan Allen also jacked a ball out of the end zone on a punt that required a shorter directional kick to set the Bears up with longer field position. Mistakes and plays like that happen on other teams. Not the Patriots. Not at this point.
“I think it’s been a com tion of things. Certainly, have been some mental l that have cost us,” said S “We’ve been physically beat plays that we probably shou be getting beaten on. Every collectively has to do a litt better job mentally and phy ly out on the field, and that in practice. Hopefully we h good week of preparation t ourselves in good po
for Monday night.”
Slater naturally sounded wary of the Bills, even though the Patriots have owned their AFC East counterpart for decades. The Pats have beaten the Bills more than any other opponent on the planet. It’s 72 wins and counting.
With a Monday night game, in that environment, anything can happen.
“There’s a couple of things I know about the Bills, No. 1, they always play hard. They’re coached the right way. They have a lot of high character guys. They’re going to play hard,” said Slater. “And when we go up there to Buffalo, all bets are off. We’ve seen it. It’s such a crazy environment. I don’t care what their record is. They’re going to play us tough. It’s going to be a big challenge for us. They’re good in the kicking game, they take the ball away a lot, and obviously (Bills
ff i di ) i is going to be a big challenge for us. We have to hone in and hopefully continue to make strides in the right direction.”
Thus far, they really haven’t been hurt by all the mistakes they’ve committed. On the flipside, the Patriots have also produced a ton of turnovers themselves. They’ve picked off 10 passes and come away with four fumble recoveries, so they’ve produced one more turnover than they’ve made.
Still, Slater knows they’re playing with fire.
“We’ve been fortunate we’ve been able to learn while winning. That’s a nice luxury to have. Not a lot of teams have that luxury,” he said. “But again, if we don’t get some of this stuff cleaned up, it’s going to cost us.” PREDICTION: Patriots 33, Bills 6