By Sam Rosenblatt
With just two weeks remaining in the NFL’s regular season, Patriots’ fans still have many questions concerning the destiny of this team. Can they win without Rob Gronkowski? Can the Patriots surpass the Broncos and earn the #1 seed in the playoffs? How far can the 2013 Patriots go?
Gronkowski is an integral part of the Patriots’ offense and an explosive tight end when healthy. Gronk has suffered from various injuries for a large portion of the past two seasons, but the Patriots were still 9-3 without him in the lineup. However, the Pats dropped their only playoff game without him: a loss in the AFC Championship Game to the Baltimore Ravens last season. He is a presence on the field that they will surely miss.
Gaining the top seed in the AFC is now an uphill battle for New England. The Patriots hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Denver but trail the Broncos by one game and need a miracle to earn home field advantage. Just how important is home field advantage? In all five of their trips to the Super Bowl this century, the Patriots had at least a first round bye, and were the #1 seed in three of those years.
In addition, there are many doubts encompassing the Patriots on the road. New England has not played a single road playoff game in seven years: a loss to none other than current Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Though a Patriots-Broncos rematch in Denver would be a dream matchup for football fans, there is no doubt that Bill Belichick and company would rather play them in Foxborough, should the two teams meet again.
At 10-4, the Patriots play in Baltimore this Sunday before closing the season at home against the Buffalo Bills. It is crucial for the Patriots to win both games to ensure a first-round bye, as the Cincinnati Bengals trail them by a game and own the tiebreaker between the teams.
As for how far this Patriots team will go, the possibilities seem endless. This team has lost games to less talented teams but has pulled off wins over the powerful Broncos and Saints. It had three miraculous comeback victories during consecutive weeks and nearly had a fourth against the Dolphins last week. The defense seems to have improved a lot since last year. More impressively, the Patriots have won 10 games without their top receiving targets from last year and amidst a never-ending string of injuries to their most important players.
Many were skeptical of this Patriots team before the season, especially Tom Brady. With a new cast of receivers, Brady has led the Patriots to the brink of the playoffs. This is a team that lost Wes Welker, Brandon Lloyd and Aaron Hernandez. It also played most of the year without Gronkowski. Surprised?
It was a strikingly similar situation in 2006, when Brady nearly led the Patriots to the Super Bowl. The best Patriots’ receiver on that team was Reche Caldwell; Tom “Terrific” guided a no-name offensive core minutes away from a Super Bowl berth before bowing to Peyton Manning’s Colts. The parallels between that season and 2013 are undeniable and scream for another rematch between two of the game’s greatest quarterbacks in this year’s AFC Championship Game.
The struggle for this team lately has been starting games off strong. It may have mattered less in the regular season, but the Patriots cannot fall behind by 10 points or more in playoff games against the league’s best and expect to win. They need to be successful from start to finish in order to win in the playoffs. If the Pats figure out how to play a complete football game, they will be playing in Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2nd.
