When the Patriots play against the Texans this weekend, it’s looking to be a tough game. The Texans will be playing for a playoff spot. It’s going to take a lot of work for them to get into the playoffs, and not a little luck. Meanwhile, the Pats don’t have much reason to play too hard. Of course, they want to be in good form when the playoffs begin in 9 days, but they don’t need to play too hard for it because their spot is pretty well assured. They aren’t perfect this year, but that’s probably ok. Our Pats seem to play so much better when they’re not at the TOP of the rankings. They seemed to get a bit psyched out when they were undefeated. Hopefully the playoffs look better generally than the regular season has at times. I’m sure they can kick it up a notch.

It’s possible that the New England Patriots are suffering in part because Tom Brady just isn’t keeping up with his old style of play calling. Several commentators have said that it’s because he’s making bad choices in the pocket and on the field generally. But I don’t see it. Yes, there have been some silly mistakes, but any player is going to make those at various times. I think it’s more likely that this quarterback is just playing the way anyone else would in the same situation. Brady has always been a player that’s willing to take risks; it’s just this year that he finds that he needs to take them more often, for whatever reason. Either it’s because his defense didn’t work out right or because the plays just aren’t working out the same. Brady will keep his starting job for a long time to come because he deserves it.

When the Patriots took on the Bills yesterday, the Buffalo fans were hoping to at least be spoilers for the New England team. But alas, while Buffalo did their best to slow down the Pats, it just didn’t work out this time. They had hoped that they could stop their losing streak to the Pats and start getting their team back on track. Obviously, they’re not headed to the playoffs, but they were hoping to salvage this fun thing. But yesterday, the game came down to one touchdown making for a 17-10 win for the Pats, keeping them in the playoffs as of now. It does depend on what the 7-7 teams do in the next couple weeks as well as what New England itself does. But their win against Buffalo definitely helps them on their way!

Against the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots have a lot to prove. There has been a drumbeat of discussion as to whether the team is out of shape, out of sorts or just out of ideas. Instead of thanking Randy Moss for all his effort so far and how he will give more in the next several weeks or years, there’s been a lot of questioning whether he’s still got it. This has been disheartening this time around. So this Sunday, we’ll finally get to see the team take on a big division rival in a game that could send them to the playoffs or not. They’re in decent position for the division title, but it might come down to the last game or two. But if it comes down to some kind of tie breaker, the Pats will want to have another division win under their belts this season. This is a team that can do great, so we’re expecting them to get into the playoffs and get back to the glory that should be ours!

Randy Moss has always seemed to have it in for his teams. He used to be such a force on his previous teams but as soon as the team stopped being as good as it had been, he ends up getting lazy and slow on the field. When he was with Oakland and the team started to slide, he basically developed a bad attitude and stopped playing (or at least stopped playing hard). This week, there seems to be a heavy sense of awareness in Boston that he might have phoned in their winning game yesterday against the Carolina Panthers. He has had 6 catches in the last few weeks for not very many yards. Has he given up on Brady and the Pats? Or is he just struggling like the rest of them. Hopefully it’s just the latter, because you can dig out of that. If it’s the former, we might be in for a rough ride with him.

Because this team is on a losing streak, coach Belichick came out this week and told his team that the way to get out of a funk is to work hard, come early and stay late, and work hard some more. A couple days later, several players came in late, including Randy Moss, and coach sent them home. This was a big surprise. He told them that they shouldn’t even spend time in the practice facility, and instead they should just go back home. That’s a tough signal, but it also lets them know what kind of shenanigans they aren’t willing to deal with this year anymore. Many guys on this team have no idea what it’s like to be on a losing streak, so it’s time for that kind of lesson. They are in a huge hunt for the playoffs and want to take the AFC East if they can. Only a couple more games remain, but we are still in good position. Hopefully that will give us some good momentum going forward too!

I still have confidence that the Patriots can pull this out of the fire. They are a great team with lots of ability. But they have had some trouble over the last few weeks. They lost again on Sunday, a one point loss to the Dolphins that is a big shift in the division. Last year, it looked like the Dolphins were just an aberration when they made it to the playoffs. But in the struggling AFC East, they seem to be the emerging powerhouse. But the Patriots are still a strong force. We have Randy Moss with his great receiving abilities and Tom Brady who can still lead a team down the stretch. I think there wasn’t quite enough prep time for them to get things together before this season. They are both on a bit of a different pacing than they were before. Next year, they will have all the reps together that they need and we’ll improve our offensive and defensive line again to get everything done just like before. This year is them trying to get back to work, so we’ll see what happens.

According to one columnist, the Patriots are back to being a typical team. He claims that they were originally a normal team and have fallen back to that level again, which has been shown in the last few weeks. With the difficulty they’ve been having with their defense and the less-than-stellar performances on offense, they haven’t been convincing of late. But let’s stop and ask what kind of team this still is. They haven’t changed that much and much of the offensive powerhouse is there. They might not be the only as young and dominant, but they are still strong. The defense can be fixed easily enough now, since they remain strong and just need a few new players. I think this team can still be great; maybe not playing at the awesome level that they did 5 years ago, but still a formidable force in the NFL.