Pats’ confidence soaring after clinching playoff spot
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots’ one-year, post-tom Brady postseason drought is over because of their 50-10 rout of the Jaguars on Sunday.
Yet there’s something resonating more in New England’s locker room heading into the final week of the regular season. It’s a sense that the team has the confidence back it lost after following up a seasonhigh, seven-game winning streak with back-to-back losses to the Colts and Bills.
But with a small chance to still take the AFC East title Sunday with a win at Miami and a Bills loss to the Jets, the Patriots are refraining from patting themselves on the back.
“When you start the year, you want to be in the postseason,” coach Bill Belichick said Monday. “The fact that we’re one of the playoff teams is, obviously, part of the goal. Long way to go. We’ll see what happens, but you certainly want to be playing in the postseason. That’s the idea.”
While their performance did come against a Jacksonville team just trying to make it to the finish line of a disastrous season, the Patriots did leave the game with plenty to build on.
The defense forced multiple turnovers for the first time in three games, improving their record to 7-1 this season when that occurs. The offense also finished drives, scoring all six times it reached the red zone.
Safety Adrian Phillips said it felt like the brand of football they want to play.
“We knew that this week we really had to go out there and play, go out there and dominate and don’t worry about anything else,” he said. “For us to go out there and do that ... is a step in the right direction. We just have to keep doing it.”
Big contributions by two unlikely sources helped the Patriots take control Sunday against Jacksonville. Second-year receiver Kristian Wilkerson had the first two touchdown catches of his career after being promoted from the practice squad for the second consecutive week, and rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for a pair of scores.
It was the third appearance of the season for Wilkerson, who has spent most of the year on the practice squad, logging only seven offensive snaps prior to Sunday.
Stevenson was back on the field after spending last week on the reserve/covid19 list. He responded with a career-high 107 rushing yards on 19 carries. He carried the load for the rushing attack after Damien Harris was sidelined in the second half with a hamstring injury.
Stock up: Wilkerson. The second-year receiver added his name to New England’s long list of undrafted players to make a significant impact within their first few seasons. He hauled in the first two touchdown catches of his career after being promoted from the practice squad for the second consecutive week. He got the snaps that had been going to N’keal Harry. He was a healthy scratch Sunday after being limited early in the week with a hip issue.
Stock down: Harry. The 2019 firstround pick’s prospects are not looking great following the performance by Wilkerson. Harry’s agent made a surprise trade request prior to training camp and though Harry ultimately had a sit down with Belichick and remained on the roster, his production has continued to wane.
In his first two seasons, Harry logged 21 games and been targeted 81 times, totaling just 45 catches for 414 yards and four touchdowns. This season he has only 12 catches (21 targets) for 184 yards and no TDS in 11 games.
Injury report: Harris sat out most of the second half with a hamstring issue but said, “I’m good,” when asked about his status postgame. Phillips said he was OK following a wrist injury that also cut his day short in the second half.