At 2-2, New England visits Tampa Thursday
FOXBORO – Depending if you’re a glass half-full or half-empty person, it’s either good or bad that the New England Patriots have a quick turnaround to deal with.
Considering New England’s next opponent and based on what transpired at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, some fans and pundits might be more inclined to say the Patriots are getting set to walk the plank.
Operating within the confines of a short NFL work is the definition of tough sledding. Bill Belichick and his New England players have little choice but to quickly lick their wounds after a last-second 33-30 loss to Carolina.
The time to feel sorry about falling to 2-2 after watching Cam Newton carve up the Pats’ porous defense with his arm and feet is over. The schedule says it’s onto Tampa Bay with that game taking place on Thursday night at Raymond James Stadium.
“We’ll get the plan in and figure out who’s out there, walk through it and get on the plane on Wednesday,” said quarterback Tom Brady after throwing for 307 yards and two touchdowns against a Carolina outfit that gashed the Patriots for 444 total yards. “I wish we would have won today to make the week a little bit better, but we didn’t. We have to go figure out how to beat a good football team.”
Added cornerback Malcolm Butler, “After that loss, we’re ready to move on right now.”
History is on the Patriots’ side when it comes to short weeks. Last season, they defeated Houston, 27-0, on a Thursday night behind thirdstring quarterback Jacoby Brissett. In 2015, New England routed Miami, 36-7. Both of those games came at home and came on the heels of New England victories.
This time around, the Patriots will be the road team with their opponent enjoying the advantage that comes with staying put. Tampa Bay hosted the New Giants on Sunday.
To compound matters, it would seem the Patriots have plenty of areas of concern heading into a matchup with Jameis Winston and the rest of the Buccaneers. Newton became the fourth quarterback in as many games to throw for 300-plus yards against the Patriots. Brady was sacked just twice, yet the offensive line was once again suspect at best.
There’s a lot to address, and time right now is not on New England’s side.
“We’re focused on the task at hand. Right now, we’ve got to move on and get onto Tampa Bay,” said New England fullback and Brown University alum James Develin, who caught two passes for 14 yards. “Short week or long week, whatever. We just have to prepare our best and go out there and put the best product on the field this coming Thursday.”
“I know we have a lot of information we need to process in a short amount of time and that we need to be playing our best ball in a couple of days,” said left tackle Nate Solder.
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The New England players displayed a united front during the national anthem on Sunday, one week after some took a knee while others stood and locked arms with the closest teammate. This time, the Patriots chose to stand as a team.
“I thought it was very wellthought out and happy we responded that way,” Brady said about the show of solidarity.
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Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower returned to the field after missing the previous two games with a knee injury. He predominantly lined up close to the line of scrimmage and recorded one of the team’s two sacks. He came off the left edge and dropped Newton for a 12-yard loss with 7:59 remaining in the game and Patriots trailing, 30-23.
“It’s good to have him back, but I can’t critique every player who played in the game,” said Belichick.
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Lost in the shuffle of Carolina’s Graham Gano kicking a 48-yard field goal as time expired was New England’s Stephen Gostkowski booming a franchise-record 58-yard field as the final seconds ticking off in the first half.
“It’s one of those kicks where it’s like you have nothing to lose,” Gostkowski said. “You’re not expected to make it, so you have to have a different kind of attitude going out there. It was set up nice, the wind was behind my back and it was a nice day, but it kind of feels like a foul ball because we ended up losing. It took the wind out of my sails.”