With questions on defense, can the Patriots keep this up?
The Patriots continued to prove many doubters wrong with a gigantic 51-23 win over a Chicago Bears team that is very talented on offense, but dysfunctional on the whole.
The effort from the Patriots capped off a brilliant month of October in which they went 4-0 and looked like the team many believed had a legitimate shot at winning the Super Bowl. It was vintage New England Patriots football.
However, some of these wins came at a cost.
As its well known by now, New England has lost some key pieces for the remainder of the season in Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley. Chandler Jones will also be out for an extended period of time.
He should be back within a month. But those losses come at a crucial stretch in the Patriots' season.
This weekend starts that crucial stretch, as the Denver Broncos come to town, riding high on the success of Peyton Manning and a revamped defense. This obviously will be anything but a walk in the park. The Patriots have their bye week after that game, but then will go on the road to face the Colts on Sunday Night Football, and then will face Detroit at home and Green Bay and San Diego on the road in that order.
The biggest question is can New England sustain the recent success they have had despite missing a couple of key cogs in what has, for the most part, been a pretty solid defense unit.
One can only speculate, but I believe if they play the way they did all throughout October, sans parts of the Jets game, the Patriots can continue to build on the success they've enjoyed. There are going to be some bumps in the road, but they are more than capable of going 5-0 in this stretch of non-divisional match ups. Will they? I say no, but take that with a grain of salt.
I think they will lose to Denver, but would not be shocked whatsoever if they were to win. They always seem to really get up for those games. I believe they are better than Indianapolis, Detroit, Green Bay and San Diego and will be able to beat them all. But that doesn't mean they will.
The reasons I'm still fairly confident the Patriots will continue to play at a high level are because the offense is literally firing on all cylinders, the offensive line issues have seemingly been solved and the defense looked stout against a very good Bears offense. Don't put the Bears up there with the likes of Denver or Green Bay, but in terms of offense, they are not something to turn a deaf ear on.
With that said, though, don't be surprised if New England is involved in some shootouts during this stretch. It's not crazy to think any one of the five games I mentioned go in that direction, especially with Jones and Mayo out. Akeem Ayers looked solid in his debut, and the team should be getting the services of Alan Branch in the near future. Neither of them are as good as Mayo and Jones, but they will handle their roles well.
The two biggest keys to all of this is 1.) staying as healthy as possible and not losing anyone else to injury, and 2.) don't try to do too much and just make the crucial plays when you absolutely have to.
But by now, we have a better idea of what this Patriots team is and what they're capable of. They are still capable of winning the Super Bowl if they play the way they have been. And even with questions on defense, they can and will hold their own.
Follow me on Twitter - @JesseGaunce
For more of my articles, click here.
The effort from the Patriots capped off a brilliant month of October in which they went 4-0 and looked like the team many believed had a legitimate shot at winning the Super Bowl. It was vintage New England Patriots football.
However, some of these wins came at a cost.
 |
| Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images |
As its well known by now, New England has lost some key pieces for the remainder of the season in Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley. Chandler Jones will also be out for an extended period of time.
He should be back within a month. But those losses come at a crucial stretch in the Patriots' season.
This weekend starts that crucial stretch, as the Denver Broncos come to town, riding high on the success of Peyton Manning and a revamped defense. This obviously will be anything but a walk in the park. The Patriots have their bye week after that game, but then will go on the road to face the Colts on Sunday Night Football, and then will face Detroit at home and Green Bay and San Diego on the road in that order.
The biggest question is can New England sustain the recent success they have had despite missing a couple of key cogs in what has, for the most part, been a pretty solid defense unit.
One can only speculate, but I believe if they play the way they did all throughout October, sans parts of the Jets game, the Patriots can continue to build on the success they've enjoyed. There are going to be some bumps in the road, but they are more than capable of going 5-0 in this stretch of non-divisional match ups. Will they? I say no, but take that with a grain of salt.
I think they will lose to Denver, but would not be shocked whatsoever if they were to win. They always seem to really get up for those games. I believe they are better than Indianapolis, Detroit, Green Bay and San Diego and will be able to beat them all. But that doesn't mean they will.
The reasons I'm still fairly confident the Patriots will continue to play at a high level are because the offense is literally firing on all cylinders, the offensive line issues have seemingly been solved and the defense looked stout against a very good Bears offense. Don't put the Bears up there with the likes of Denver or Green Bay, but in terms of offense, they are not something to turn a deaf ear on.
 |
| Jim Rogash/Getty Images |
The two biggest keys to all of this is 1.) staying as healthy as possible and not losing anyone else to injury, and 2.) don't try to do too much and just make the crucial plays when you absolutely have to.
But by now, we have a better idea of what this Patriots team is and what they're capable of. They are still capable of winning the Super Bowl if they play the way they have been. And even with questions on defense, they can and will hold their own.
Follow me on Twitter - @JesseGaunce
For more of my articles, click here.
