New England is very fortunate to be 2-2. This team has been appalling this season and their woes continued last night against an injury-ridden Chiefs squad. Gronkowski is constantly running off the field and standing on the sidelines adjacent to Josh McDoofus during critical moments, Amendola barely plays, Thompkins/Dobson are randomly listed as “healthy scratches,” LaFell has been putrid until compiling some “garbage time” stats last night, and teams are simply keying on the electrifying Julian Edelman. The offensive line is pathetic with Mankins inexplicable traded, Wendell, Kline, and Devey injured, and sumos such as Cannon and Flemming inserted into the lineup. Honestly, Solder and Vollmer haven’t played well either.
Their 10/11 chocolate defense, which looked half-decent against anemic opposition such as Oakland and Minnesota, was gashed in every conceivable way by Kansas City. Chandler Jones, their “big star player,” was responsible for so many long runs around his end last night that I lost count. Former 1[SUP]st[/SUP] round bust, the slow-footed Dont’a Hightower, is quite possibly the worst starting linebacker in football. Jerod Mayo, the supreme master of the “10 yards downfield” tackle, was honing his specialty. 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] year LB, Jamie Collins, who was anointed the “second coming” after a good playoff game last year, has been invisible this season. Vince Wilfork gets blown off the ball and misses tackles like it’s his job…good thing the Patriots restructured his contract instead of cutting him this off-season. Rob Ninkovich has been average in the run game and applies no pressure on passing downs. Their secondary, which added the has-been, Darrell Revis (to the tune of $32 million) was burned early and often.
Something to keep in mind amongst all this pessimism…the Patriots began the 2013 season in a similar fashion, looking atrocious until about Week 8 (remember the game against Cincinnati?) before turning it on. Gronk missed the first 5 games, Amendola was injured after Week 1, Vollmer, Wilfork, Mayo, and Kelly went on IR, etc. They ended up in the AFC Title game. This team will win the division, as they always do, and will have the same chance as every other team in the playoffs to reach the Superbowl.