Patriots Look Good Heading Into Thanksgiving Week

By: Steve Atkinson

The Patriots are now 7-4 after their 25-0 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. They did not wait to play the Tennessee Titans a week from Sunday. This team looks a lot better than a year ago mainly because they have a quarterback that the guys believe in. Mac Jones is the real deal and so far has proven he can be a franchise quarterback in the NFL.  The players around Jones are better too with Kendrick Bourne and Hunter Henry. The defense has played better as the season goes on led by Matt Judon. With the AFC wide open the Patriots should win the AFC East.

Last year was a bad year for Bill Belichick who went 7-9 with Cam Newton and missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, Tom Brady leads the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl championship. Now, this year the Patriots spent a lot of money in free agency, drafted a quarterback in the first round, and Belichick is now 14-13 since Tom Brady went to Tampa. Safe to say Brady lit a fire under Belichick by winning the Super Bowl because the narrative was Belichick was nothing without Brady. Belichick is coming back with a vengeance while there is friction in Tampa between Bruce Arians and Tom Brady.

The Patriots are fifth in the AFC Conference. The Titans and Bills are the number one and two seeds. Things are about to get really interesting heading into the last month of the season. We will find out which teams are real and which teams are a joke. The Patriots have taken care of the Chargers, and Browns both teams were thought to be good heading into the year. Now, they must tackle the Titans and the Bills to try and not only with the AFC East but possibly get a bye in the playoffs.

Patriots Look Like They Are Back

Mac Jones had this to say Thursday night about the offense after the game.

“I think we have a great group of guys and early on, you’re just trying to figure your way out with me in there and I’m trying to learn as best I can. But these guys have all played tons of football and I trust everybody on our offense. I feel like I can play better to you know, help them too. They’ve done a great job all year staying positive, and we all believe in each other and that’s the most important part. It’s the best team sport there is and I think our offensive unit really has that family feel to it and we love each other and we play together and we play for each other so we just have to keep doing that.”

Matt Judon also spoke on Thursday following the win

“My teammates put me in position. They were pushing the pocket and making it hard for the quarterback to step up and making it easy for me to run the edge. They just put me in a really good position to make those plays. When my number is called I have to go out there and make it, just like J.C. and Mac. When their number is called they go there and do it. I am just one of the eleven of the defense.”

With the Colts beating the Bills on Sunday the Patriots are in first place in the AFC East for the first time since 2019. The rest of the AFC is collapsing while the Patriots are peaking at the right time like old times. They had one dud this year and are now back on the map. Get ready it’s about to be a wild ride to the final stretch of the regular season.