Pats play it forward
No dwelling on success
FOXBORO — Chris Long stood at his locker following Thursday night’s 27-0 win over the Houston Texans and speculated whether the Patriots would be rewarded with a day off.
“That’s the word,” the defensive end said. “That’s the word on the street. Listen, short weeks are hard on everybody. Houston had to do it, too, and we just had to come in here and prepare really hard and everybody did their job tonight.”
As it turned out, the day off came yesterday, and it was pretty well earned, as the Patriots dominated in every fashion against a Texans team that entered the game with wins over the Bears and Chiefs.
By and large, Bill Belichick has been able to find success both on Thursdays and the following week after a 10-day space between games. The win over Houston gives the Pats a 10-2 record under Belichick in Thursday games, and the team is 10-1 in games following Thursday tilts.
Both of those statistics shouldn’t be all that surprising given Belichick’s 190-69 overall mark with the Pats, but there is something to be said for knowing how to navigate a break in the routine.
As the Pats prepare for a third straight home game on Sunday against the Bills, they’re going into the mini-bye on a high note. That makes a difference, according to linebacker Jonathan Freeny.
“It’s always good when you play a game and you play it the way you want to play it and then you get a little off time just to relax and regather some of your thoughts and those types of things just to get some alone time,” he said, “because, you know, it’s a long season, and this little break will be good for us.”
Defensive tackle Anthony Johnson agreed that some positive momentum makes the break more manageable. The team’s trust in the coaches skyrockets when the staff can put the players in position to win even with rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett making his first start. Therefore, the players are more likely to listen when they hear the message of fighting complacency after a 3-0 start.
“It feels good,” Johnson said. “That’s our third-string quarterback, but he worked hard all camp and he worked hard (in the) offseason. But us as a team, we’ve been working hard and it feels great. When you go out and you put your efforts out on the field, it shows up on the scoreboard, especially on the defense. We work hard to do that.
“So I feel good. As a group, we feel amazing now. We just have to keep getting better each week.”
That last sentence is a familiar one because the players have bought into the philosophy of improvement as the goal. They therefore won’t spend this extra time simply patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
“Like (Belichick) says, there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” Johnson said. “You’ve just got to keep your head down and wait until you get to that date.”
Tight end Martellus Bennett may have summed it up best.
“When you’re looking in the rear-view mirror, you’re more likely to crash,” he said. “So, just keep my eyes on the road and stay moving forward. That’s what life is about and these games are over, so I’m getting ready for the long haul of the rest of the season. So it’s a great start, but it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish. I’m looking forward the whole time.
“That’s just life right there, you know?”