Patriots going to come out angry
Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images |
My impression is the Patriots have really handled the last two weeks well. And they're gonna play pissed. That's a strong vibe.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) January 29, 2015
I have to agree. This bears some resemblance to the week after the blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. After that game, it seemed like non-stop "The Patriots are done," "Brady should retire," and blah, blah blah. Non-stop. Until 8:30 the Sunday after that, when they came back and blew out the Cincinnati Bengals. Then the Bills. Then the Bears a couple of games later (after a tight win against the Jets). And the Broncos, and the Colts the week after. They lost to the Green Bay Packers and the Bills, but every win with the exception of the 2 against the Jets after the Chiefs game was a blowout. They came out angry on the first drive against Cincy and never looked back, and here they are in the Super Bowl. Now, for the past 2 weeks, the Patriots have dealt with criticism over Deflate-Gate, as well as analysts questioning their legacy non-stop. It's a different type of criticism, but it's been non-stop for almost 2 weeks now, much like the criticism leading up to the week 5 game against Cincinnati.
So, yeah, I would not be surprised at all if the Pats come out angry. They don't need the extra motivation - hoisting the Vince Lombardi is motivation enough, especially since it will be the first for a lot of players, but they have extra motivation aplenty. I'm sure Bill Belichick has used this Deflate-gate stuff as bulletin board material. He wants his team fired up as much as possible. And it will make them that much more dangerous.