Patriots week 11 matchup

The Patriots take on a rather hot Colts team this week. Andrew Luck being everything the Colts could have asked for, but there are a few reasons why I still take the Patriots over the Colts with ease. Tom Brady has 18 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions this season, while Luck has 3 touchdowns and 8 interceptions on the road. Also Luck doesn't deal well with the pass rush so look for the Patriots to be blitzing Mayo and Spikes to try and create turnovers and not big gains down the field with the secondary of the defense still not quite figured out. My prediction is the Patriots will in a way cruise to victory this week and win 34 to 17. The Colts team is good but not quite at the level that they can beat this Patriots team with their struggles on the road.

Patriots edging the win

The Patriots came into the game against the Bills today confident and for good reason. The Bills defense has a poor secondary and their quarterback isn't good. But they were awakened in the third quarter when their lead became a 34 to 24 game. The Patriots were shut down for a while and it was fairly obvious a close game was in store. The game came down to the final seconds with the Bills getting the ball and charging down the field, down 31 to 37 with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter. They found themselves at the 15 yard line looking to steal the game from the Patriots. This was all forgotten after quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick forced a pass into the zone of McCourtey and was intercepted to end the game. The Patriots really at times seem like they have the skill to win a championship but need to finish putting the pieces together. I think if the Patriots can prove themselves down the stretch of the regular season they will be at the top for championship favorites.

Patriots on bye week

With the New England Patriots on a bye week I was expecting to be a bit bored this week, but the Steelers and Giants matchup was hardly boring. The game featured some confusion. First the Steelers were without Rashard Mendenhall and Jonathan Dwyer, the first and second string running backs. And  third string Isaac Redman was banged up and questionable. He would play and prove to be helpful. The Giants were expected to be somewhat dominated by the aggressive defense that the Steelers have. Eli struggled early throwing bad passes and interceptions but the run game of Ahmad Bradshaw, who was questionable going into the day, had 100 plus rushing yards and a touchdown. This in the end wasn't enough as the Steelers got a touchdown by Isaac Redman who ended up with 121 rushing yards and a touchdown, and the defense got a stop with three and a half minutes left to take the ball back with a four point lead. They ended up getting first down after first down and would run out the clock to end the game. The Steelers improve to 4-3 while the Giants go to 6-2.

Patriots Defense

The New England Patriots defense has really struggled in late game situations this year. The most memorable defensive breakdown was in week 6 against the seahawks when Kyle Arrington allowed his man to run effortlessly by him into the end zone where he received the pass to give them the go ahead touchdown. The defense is really at a disadvantage with Devin Mccourtey playing Safety when he normally plays Cornerback. The only good part of the Defense is Spikes and Mayo at the linebacker positions. With the offense I often forget but you have to realize with the defense as young and inexperienced as it is, I question if the offense can over power the defense to forfill the playoff run. None the less I have hope in the team to not only make the playoffs but make it into the AFC Championship. I believe they will lose to the Texans in that game.