New England Patriots' NFL Playoff Preview

The New England Patriots secured home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs with a 26-6 victory over the New York Jets.  They will have a bye for the first-round and face the highest remaining seed in the divisional round. The Patriots are the team to beat in the AFC.

The New England Patriots are a tough team to face.  It starts with the offense.  The Patriots are able to run and throw the football.  The running game will be important in the playoffs.  Brady can throw the football but the running game keeps teams off-balance.  The Patriots should be able to score at will.  The Patriots can strike early and often.  That won’t take a lot of time off the clock.

The only downside with the offense is if teams pressure Brady with 4 or 5 defenders.  That will force him to hold onto the football or throw into double coverage.  When that happens, there could be sacks and interceptions that might impact field position allowing opposing teams to score

The defense is the weak part of the Patriots’ game.  They allowed too many yards during the season, giving up 366 yards per game.  New England was unable to stop the passing game.  Teams were able to gash the defense through the air for a total of 251.1 yards per game.

The best part of the Patriots' defense has been not allowing points.  Opponents had a tough time scoring.  New England gave up 18.5 points per game, 5th in the entire NFL.

New England is a threat, especially at home.  They look primed for another Super Bowl run.  It can be derailed by injures or by opponents controlling the line of scrimmage.  If that happens and Brady stays on the sidelines, New England will not be able to beat anybody.  Hopefully it is going to be another long run in the postseason.

Comments

Post a Comment