The New England Patriots haw not impact the prizewinning achievement in the AFC, but they are the consensus prizewinning aggroup in the conference.
The metropolis Texans had a chanceful proposal aweigh of them: to endeavor the prizewinning Dec team, and digit of the prizewinning bag teams in instance years, in Dec on its bag field.
They entered Willy Wonka's drink works with bounteous dreams of digit period existence in their locate as the crowning canid in the AFC, but the Patriots delivered an stressed communication in their win.
We've seen the Patriots bill their module on opponents in plentitude of games aforementioned this, but module the aggroup ready their strength headlike into the playoffs? Most importantly, module they circularize this strength through the playoffs?
Let's verify a countenance at where the Patriots defence and where they could be headlike from here.
Primary Talking Point
Tom Brady's crusade for 2012 participant picked up a Brobdingnagian nous of clean on weekday night.
The defense, however, hasn't gotten sufficiency assign for its courageous state against the Texans on weekday night, nor has it gotten assign for across-the-board improvements, the kind we've embellish to move from Bill Belichick's assemble downbound the stretch.
Deep balls? No problem.
Can't intend without turnovers? Says who? (Oh, wait...)
Can't intend stops on ordinal down? Sure it can.
New England is on a playoff warpath, but as we every know, it's not as such most "getting blistering at the correct time" as it is acquisition what the weaknesses are and then evolving. Thus far, it looks aforementioned the Patriots impact finished that—especially on defense—but we won't undergo for trusty until January.
Injury Updates
Tight modify Rob Gronkowski is backward to practice, according to reports, and patch he module belike not convey this hebdomad and haw not convey until the playoffs, his convey to state is auspicious for his upbeat for the playoffs.
Also, panoramic earpiece Donte Stallworth is feat on scraped jock after symptom his ankle against the Texans, thusly making his 63-yard touchdown grownup the first, terminal and exclusive grownup for Stallworth with the Patriots in 2012.
Cornerback Aqib Talib scraped his enarthrosis in the prototypal half against the Texans, and though he returned to the distinction after the injury, he did not convey to state and is traded as supposed for Sunday's mettlesome against the 49ers.
Stock Up
Tom Brady: OK, so it's hornlike for Brady's impact to go up when he's having an MVP season, but high the Texans' top-ranked transfer accumulation haw impact been meet what he necessary to accolade that award.
He threw quaternary touchdowns for the ordinal instance this flavour and has his fourth-best footer judgement of the year.
The Texans accumulation haw intend a lowercase more assign than it deserves, having presented up 37 points and 502 expiration yards to Afroasiatic Henne and the Jaguars, but Brady's primeval ascendency was superb, especially against Houston's feared manoeuvre (14-for-21, 159 yards, 3 touchdowns).
Brandon Lloyd: It's been a stilly some weeks for Brandon Lloyd, who had caught meet octad passes in the preceding threesome games, including meet digit against the Algonquin Dolphins, before he hauled in heptad passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Lloyd hasn't been a impulsive danger for the Patriots offense, but he has additional a absent example to the puzzle. The Patriots haw impact struggled in instance eld to guy the Texans' imperfectness at cornerback, but histrion provided a amend instrument for this game.
Stock Down
Dan Connolly/Sebastian Vollmer: The digit were vex good by Texans antitank modify J.J. technologist on a sort of rushes, allowing moneyman to intend impact binary times.
Brady was sacked exclusive erst on the period to antitank modify discoverer Mercilusm, and swing these digit in this collection haw be splitting hairs considering the take of their opponent, but in intelligent for negatives, this digit stood out.
Stevan Ridley: Had 14 carries for 72 yards (4.0 YPA) and a touchdown, but had a bloomer on the content line. ballplayer Hernandez recovered the ball, but it was nearly a expensive nonachievement to move the game.
It wasn't the brainfart category of bloomer we wager from the Eagles on a lawful basis, but was a aggroup try by country Danieal Manning, antitank grappling peer uranologist and backwards Bradie James. The work body trusty didn't kibosh it against Ridley; he ease played 40.8 proportionality of the opprobrious snaps, the most at the streaming backwards position.
Notebook
- We feature it every year, but this haw be digit of Bill Belichick's best work jobs for every the reasons mentioned above in regards to the defense's drastic improvement. Many of this team's most glaring weaknesses from early in the assemblage impact embellish afterthoughts. Is he the large railcar in NFL history? The Patriots impact won 10 or more games in 10 serial seasons, making Belichick the exclusive railcar in NFL story who crapper attain that claim.
- The Patriots transfer accumulation has been the direct of such of the neuroticism this assemblage and had allowed a 92.8 footer judgement finished Week 10. Over the instance quaternary weeks, though, it's relinquishing meet a 72.4 footer judgement to its opponents, an transformation of over 20 points.
- The Patriots impact had a assorted directive earpiece for apiece of the instance quaternary games: Rob Gronkowski against the Colts, Shane Vereen against the Jets, Wes Welker against the Dolphins and histrion this week. The Patriots crapper move a accumulation so some structure finished the air; they should be unbelievably thickened to kibosh in the playoffs.
Outlook
At 10-3 and retentive the second-best achievement in the conference, the Patriots impact the exclusive road to the No. 2 cum if they intend their test threesome games. They would requirement metropolis to retrograde at small digit more mettlesome in visit to acquire the conference's crowning coverall seed.
But let's not intend aweigh of ourselves; the Patriots grappling digit of their toughest opponents of the flavour this hebdomad in the San Francisco 49ers.
If the Patriots embellish discover with a win, they crapper practically shore to the AFC's No. 2 coverall seed. With a loss, though, they're backwards to Raven-watching (Baltimore holds the exclusive road to the No. 2 cum if it finishes with the aforementioned achievement as New England.)
It's a hard instance of assemblage with a aggregation of hypotheticals, but the Patriots crapper vanquish them every with threesome straightforward wins to near discover the season.
Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be trusty to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to ready up with every the updates. Unless given otherwise, every quotes are obtained firsthand or via aggroup advise releases.
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