Patriots Ready To Enter The Final Games Of The Season

By: Steve Atkinson

Now that the bye weeks is over the Patriots will get ready to face the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots are 9-4 and currently hold the top spot in the AFC East and the AFC Conference. The Titans and Chiefs are also 9-4 and are behind the Patriots for the top spot. Kansas City looks really good right now and if I was the Patriots, I would rather host the Chiefs in the playoffs rather than play them on the road. Every game should be a win for this Patriots team to finish the regular season. I know with the win against the Bills we didn’t see Mac Jones throw the ball and people still need to see if this kid is legit.

Let me tell say this to the people that are criticizing Mac Jones because he didn’t throw against Buffalo. Belichick knew the Bills couldn’t stop the run, so he just kept running the ball. Jones had that one pass to Jonnu Smith that he tipped and caught. It was hard to throw that night and they did what they could to win the game.

Patriots Coming Off Bye Week

As they play the Colts this week and the Bills a week from Sunday expect Mac Jones to air the ball out like he did against Cleveland and Tennessee. After watching this weekend’s games it’s clear Bill Belichick made the right choice is starting Jones over Cam Newton who was benched again on Sunday. Newton loses you that game in Buffalo and you aren’t in first place in the AFC that is a fact. So, to say we don’t know if Jones is legit, or the Patriots beat teams that were injured forget that with Cam Newton you are out of the playoffs. If teams are injured and you are full strength you should win those games no matter what. No excuses and when you see them later in the playoffs at full strength and you are home then the Patriots should win those games.

The Patriots should put up points Saturday night against the Colts with throwing the ball. Hunter Henry, and Kendrick Bourne should catch some touchdowns. Bill Belichick talked about the Colts offense at Monday’s press conference

“Well, the Colts are a well-balanced team. It starts with the offensive line. They have a lot of experience on the line with [Ryan] Kelly, [Quenton] Nelson, [Mark] Glowinski, [Braden] Smith, and [Eric] Fisher. They definitely know what they’re doing and they’ve done it together for a while, other than Fisher. You can put [Jack] Doyle in that group too and [Mo Alie-] Cox. Those guys have played together. The backs have a good feel for the line, I think. [Jonathan] Taylor’s a hard guy to tackle. He’s strong, runs through a lot of arm tackles, and then he’s very fast. Not many players, defensively, that can catch him. If he gets out in the open, he can turn that eight or ten-yard run into a 60-yard touchdown. They run a variety of plays. They run gap plays. They run zone plays and they hand the ball to some of their skill players to keep you honest which, ultimately, opens up things for Taylor or [Nyheim] Hines, whoever it happens to be. Taylor’s strong. He catches well. He’s got total yards from scrimmage. Some of that’s in the passing game. He’s really been effective when he’s been able to get through the line of scrimmage and break a 60 or 70-yard run. It’s hard for teams to count on that in the running game. He’s been able to deliver for them with his speed and running ability.”