There are five teams that stand in the way between the Patriots and their 7th Super Bowl appearance in the Brady-Belichick era. Of course, the Patriots will only have to play two of the teams to reach the Super Bowl, but who they play is still a mystery. The problem with these playoffs is it almost seems too easy for the Patriots to basically walk their way into Houston on the last Sunday of the season. As I do every season, I researched all of the playoff teams, looking for the teams I did not want to see the Patriots play in the playoffs. It seems every year they do end up losing, it is to the team that no one wants to see them play. Denver in 2015 and 2013 as well as Baltimore in 2012. This year I was looking deeply to find that team. Contrary to other opinions, I have not found one team that scares me in any possible way. I am not even going to go over three of the five teams left in the playoffs due to how pathetic it is they are even considered playoff teams. The six-seed Dolphins who already got handed two convincing loses by New England. The Oakland Raiders who’s defense is non-existent excluding Khalil Mack. Finally the Houston Texans, who the Patriots easily defeated with a third string rookie quarterback. All of these teams also are dealing with issues at quarterback. One of these three teams will play New England in the divisional round, and truth be told I will be relaxing with not a worry in the world while watching. This will simply be a warm up game for the AFC championship. However, this leaves two teams left to stop the Patriots.
The Pittsburg Steelers, heavily thought of to be the one team that can out-shoot the Patriots. The deadly combination of the 3 B’s (Ben Roethlisberger, Leveon Bell, Antonio Brown) has many analysts concerned of this match up. However, my response to this is simply to laugh. I can not stress this enough, but who was the last team to out-shoot a New England Patriots offense? The answer is the 2012 49ers. It has been over four years since the New England Patriots scored 30 points and lost a game. There is just no way this Steelers defense filled with holes can contain this New England offense which has been rolling. The main idea of beating this Patriots team is keeping Tom Brady off the field, not continuously kicking field goals and allowing his offense back on the field. The Steelers will need more than the 3 B’s to beat this Patriots team, that is if they even get that far.
Kansas City is the team that scares me most, if we even have to get into that. A very good pass rush combined with very good secondary play seems like the exact Kryptonite that can knock TB12 out of the playoffs. However it is not that simple. A team like Kansas City may have a strong defense, but you need to be strong on both sides of the ball to beat a team like New England. In the offensive side, they are too weak. A very average, game-managing QB in Alex Smith combined with a beat-up, average at best Spencer Ware at running back does not seem like a very good offensive game plan. They do have Travis Kelce, but really how much fear can a Walmart version of Rob Gronkowski really strike into a team? Especially one with their own NFL Bachelor show. The one X-Factor seems to be Tyreek Hill. The explosive special teamer out of Oklahoma State has taken the NFL by storm by his repeated long distance touchdowns, averaging over 40 yards per TD. Here is another case of the Belichick factor. Hill’s touchdowns have came against undisciplined defenses. How to stop Tyreek Hill? Do not kick to him on special teams and stay disciplined on defense.
So don't worry Patriots fans. Barring an absolute collapse, sit back on your couch at home and watch New England cruise to a Super Bowl appearance in Houston.
