As we head into the first weekend of 2020, the New England Patriots, and its fans, are in unfamiliar territory. For the past nine postseasons, the Patriots skipped Wild Card weekend and hosted a home playoff game in the divisional round…but with a new decade comes a new challenge.
The last time the Pats played in a Wild Card game they lost 33-14 at home to the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. After that loss, the Wild Card game became an afterthought.
Since 2011, New England has appeared in eight straight conference championships, appeared in five super bowls, winning three of them, all without appearing in the first weekend of the postseason.
It’s no question that the success of this dynasty is built on earning a first-round bye in the playoffs and having home-field advantage throughout the postseason. This team is 4-4 in Wildcard games since 1982 and has never won the Super Bowl after playing in the first weekend of the playoffs.
The only time they reached the final game after playing in a Wild Card game was in 1985 where the Pats suffered a 46-10 beat down against Mike Ditka’s Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.
It’s a new challenge for this New England team that has dominated the NFL for the past two decades. And the path to a seventh Super Bowl title depends on the two men who began this dynasty in 2001, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
That may seem like an obvious choice, but this team has never needed their ‘G.O.A.T’ quarterback and head coach more.
Brady’s 2019 season was riddled with dropped catches, injured receivers, and for the first time, Brady looked like a 40-year-old. His 24 touchdowns are tied for the third-fewest in his career, his 60.8 completion percentage tied for the second-lowest in his career, and his QBR of 52.5 is the lowest since 2006 when Pro Football Reference began keeping that statistic.
The numbers are low, the product on the field looks sloppy, but in big games, #12 steps up. Brady leads the NFL in postseason games played and games started (41), games as winning quarterback (30), passing yards (11,179), and passing touchdowns (73). No one is even close to any of those numbers.
As for the Head Coach, Belichick has been referred to as “playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers.” That term coming from his advanced knowledge of the rule book, using un-drafted players frequently, and being one of the best in-game adjustment coaches in the NFL.
Belichick will need to get his league-leading defense back to elite status versus the Titans. Tennessee’s running back Derrick Henry has rushed for more than 1500 yards and 16 TD’s this season. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has thrown for 22 TD’s since taking over the starting spot. The Titans best wide receiver is A.J. Brown, who caught more than 1000 yards this season and added eight TD’s.
Luckily for New England, its best defensive player is lockdown cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Belichick always tries to eliminate opposing teams’ best players so Gilmore could be seen covering Brown all game. As for stopping the run, defensive captain and linebacker Don’t’a Hightower will need to lead by example to slow down Henry and the mobility of Tannehill.
Eliminating Brown and Henry should be the primary focus of the Patriots defense. If they can do that, and if Brady can return to his normal playoff self then the talks of retirement and rumors about free agency will stop for at least another week.
The end of the regular season came to a limping end for the Patriots where in years past they enter the playoffs clicking on all cylinders. In year's past, this team has tried to continue its momentum into the postseason but now, it's one game at a time.
Prediction: 24-14 New England.
