Another year, and yet another cakewalk for the New England Patriots through the AFC East.
The Patriots, who are led by their 42-year-old quarterback Tom Brady, have decimated the fierce competition they’ve faced at the start of this season. Nothing screams greatness like facing teams with a combined seven wins through six games, four of which come from their division opponent Buffalo Bills alone.
Half of their opponents this season have yet to win a game, am I supposed to be impressed? Sure, the Bills have a winning record, but they’re in the same boat of not having played another team that is even worth mentioning.
I get that 6-0 is a pretty impressive start even when they’re facing scrubs, but I can’t help but point out what should be obvious.
Their defense has piggybacked them to wins this year. Aside from Ben Roethlisberger in week one, the Patriots have not allowed more than 200 yards passing this season. Daniel Jones’ 64-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate last night — their sixth game of the season — was the first passing touchdown they have allowed all year.
The Patriots' defense has also allowed fewer offensive touchdowns from their opponents this season, three, than they’ve scored themselves, five. If any part of this team deserves credit for its early success, it’s the defense.
Six games in and the Patriots have yet to allow more than 14 points in a game. In those performances, their opponent had at least one score off a turnover by Brady. Taking those turnovers into account, the Patriots' defense’s worst performance was allowing 10 points to the Bills. That’s incredible if you don’t take into account the opponents they’ve faced.
The Patriots 'opposing quarterbacks this season include an aging Ben Roethlisberger, the Dolphins’ deadly one-two punch of Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Jets’ third-stringer Luke Falk, second-year Josh Allen, journeyman Colt McCoy and Giants rookie Daniel Jones.
That shouldn’t be much of a challenge for the GOAT huh?
My problem is not that I don’t think this team is good. You don’t start 6-0 for nothing. The problem I have is that year after year the Patriots get a cakewalk to the playoffs, effectively having six wins chalked up in the AFC East before a game is even played.
After their game last night, there’s no talk about the Patriots' astounding defense, but rather Brady’s apparent historic performance. Two one-yard rushing touchdowns are apparently more noteworthy than three touchdowns allowed through six games.
SportsCenter posted a graphic on its Instagram this morning showing some notable running backs he has more rushing touchdowns than with the caption “Tom Brady is 42 years old and still making it happen.” OK, I guess?
I’ll give credit where it is due. The Patriots defense has been amazing. I still want to see them do it against a half-decent offense, but with the Jets and Browns coming up for the Patriots in the next two weeks, it might be a while.
The Patriots will likely ride their defense and joke of a schedule all the way to a Super Bowl appearance again this year. Good for them. But their early season performance is not impressive in the slightest, it should be expected when half their games have been against teams that are still winless.
