Pats must get edge back to solidify playoff position
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A week after apologizing for his surly demeanor in the aftermath of the Patriots’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts, coach Bill Belichick was more composed Sunday as he answered questions about what went wrong in New England’s 33-21 loss to Buffalo.
Then he got an inquiry he probably wasn’t expecting.
“Football aside, I’m doing a story about New Year’s resolutions. I was wondering if you had any you wanted to share with your fans and our readers?” a reporter asked.
“Yeah, no, not right now. Maybe next week,” Belichick deadpanned.
It’s a safe assumption the only thing he wants to change at this point is the direction his team’s season has taken over the last two weeks.
A seven-game winning streak made the Patriots look like a team capable of making a deep playoff run, but they have taken significant steps backward in back-to-back losses to the Colts and Bills.
At 9-6, New England is still in good position to get back in the playoffs for the first time since quarterback Tom Brady’s departure, but it has much to correct over the final weeks of the season.
It starts on offense, where the Patriots have averaged just 19 points and turned the ball over four times over the past two games.
Most troubling is they’ve lost the edge that contributed to an early season turnaround following a 2-4 start. But that’s something they can get back, receiver Jakobi Meyers said.
“We all know what we’ve got to do. We all know what we’ve got to bring to the table at the end of the day,” he said. “It’s on each man to contribute to this family, come in, put your best foot forward, and that’s what we’ve got to do. Everybody is doing their best job. I believe in our locker room. I believe we’ve got a lot of talented players. As long as everybody comes in and is their best self, I think we’ll be all right.”
The Patriots have little margin for error over their final two games against the Jaguars and Dolphins if they want make it back to playoffs in a tight AFC postseason race. Though the Patriots and Bills now both sit at 9-6, Buffalo holds the tiebreaker because of a better win-loss record within the division. If the Bills win out, they’ll win the division title.
“It’s basically all playoff games from here on out,” Patriots safety Devin Mccourty said. “If we don’t finish the way we need to finish, we’ll be at home.”
There were also uncharacteristic mental mistakes against the Bills, such as right tackle Trent Brown getting called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the second quarter with his team in a 17-7 hole and trying to close the gap before halftime. Center David Andrews also was called for a fourth-quarter taunting penalty that was offset by a flag on the Bills.
“It’s our own fault. There is no one to blame except for us,” Andrews said.