Taking care of business

The Pats continued to position themselves for the Playoffs and got a nice win vs. The Jets yesterday. The offense saw the return of Dillon, Faulk and Givens, all of whom made substantial contributions to the win after a lot of time off due to, what else, injury. It was great to see those guys back out there. I had almost forgotten what the 'real' Patriots offense actually looked like.

Games like yesterday's are good for these guys coming back from injury. It will help to get them back into game condition. I'm sure many people will be going on today about how The Pats didn't score enough points and how they defeated a weak team, with a terrible record, blah, blah, blah. Like it doesn't count or something. Whateva. All I care about is that it's a win that gets us one step closer to the playoffs.

With this win, The Pats are now in position to clinch a playoff berth next week. If The Pats beat Buffalo and Miami loses to San Diego, The Pats are in.

It is kind of a sad state of affairs right now in the AFC East, formerly the Toughest Division in Football. Hey, it's not The Pats fault the rest of the AFC East sucks. I like to think of it as a small token from The Football Gods to make up for the ridiculous number of injuries the Pats have endured this year.

I have to say, I'm a little bit annoyed about some of the Pats talk I've heard and read about lately, with people calling this a 'lost' season, a dissapointment and other foolish talk.

I think Richard Seymour may be right. I think some people around here have short memories or maybe are too spoiled by the last 2 years. People seem to have forgotten that up until just the last few years, the Patriots *best* record, in their entire history, was 11-5. 11-5 people. I know this is going to shock some folks, but The Patriots are not going to go 12-4 or 14-2 every single year.

If the Pats go 11-5 or even 10-6 and make the playoffs, you're going to tell me that it's a disappointment? Sorry, but I have to disagree, especially when you consider what The Pats have faced this year with injuries and the difficulty of their schedule.

There is still a lot to play for here folks. Unless The Pats completely fall apart over the next 4 games, which frankly, I don't think they will, they will get, at worst, the #4 seed in the playoffs and a home game. As we saw from this weekend's results, with K.C. knocking off Denver, Cincy taking out The Steelers and Miami defeating The Bills, anything can happen in these last few games. The #3 seed is not locked up yet and there is even an outside chance at the #2 seed for The Pats if things fall into place.

11-5 has clinched a first round bye week in the past. Nothing to play for? Ride it out? Insane. I think a higher seed in the playoffs counts as something to play for.

If you look at the AFC Standings, The Pats are 2 games back of Denver and Cincy right now. Denver has Baltimore, Buffalo, Oakland and San Diego. Cincy has Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo and Kansas City. Anything can happen.

The other thing I have heard, from 'expert analyst' and fair-weather fan alike, is that even if the The Pats make the Playoffs, they don't have a chance to win. I've actually heard a few people suggest that it would be better for The Pats to miss the playoffs altogether, so that Tom Brady's playoff record will remain untarnished. WHAT?? I almost don't know what to say to that but I have a feeling if you were to ask Brady, he would rather make the playoffs and take his chances with his record...

The Pats didn't have a chance against the Rams in Superbowl 36 either as I recall. Or, for those who still don't want to believe in the Pats Playoff chances and want to go back a few years, maybe you should go check out the '85 Pats, a Wildcard team that won 3 road games to get to The Superbowl, including an AFC Championship against it's nemesis The Dolphins, in a stadium that had been the Patriots House of Horrors for decades.

To summarize, all the Patriots doubters out there can get the fuck off my bandwagon. Feel free to go root for Indy.

GO PATS

Comments

[Melissa]

I agree. We are spoiled fans, aren't we?? Worried about tarnishing Brady's record? WTF? We have been unlucky with all of the injuries, and we certainly can't win the superbowl every year.

[Me]

Call me crazy but I still think we have a shot. Once the Playoffs start it's a whole new ball game and The Pats have historically come through when the chips were down while some other teams (*cough,*The Colts*,cough, cough) have choked in the big games. :-)