The Patriots face another significant opponent this week.
Themselves.
After taking down the Buffalo Bills Sunday night, the Patriots have to avoid playing like they’re now a front-runner, given they just beat one.
Lose to New Orleans, and the boost from upsetting the Buffalo Bills flies out the window. Lose, and the team will turn back into a pumpkin.
Sitting at 3-2, it behooves the Patriots to keep the ball rolling if being a playoff team is an achievable goal, as opposed to a pipe dream.
Given the favorable schedule ahead with the Saints (1-4), Titans (1-4), Browns (1-4) and Falcons (2-2), that ball could be rolling for a while if the Patriots take care of business.
It’ll stop in its tracks if the players don’t heed Mike Vrabel’s words and stick to the process. All of the air will come out of the balloon if they lose to the Saints on the heels of beating the Bills.
The Patriots are in a spot where they need to build momentum off that upset win, and continue to stack wins against opponents they should beat. The Saints, Titans and Browns fall into that category.
If the Patriots stay the course, that’ll further solidify the notion they’re a team to be reckoned with.
We’ll know soon enough if they can deal with success. They can’t get too cocky over one win. If they do, they’ll lose their edge, and what’s gotten them to 3-2 in the first place.
During the week, the players said all of the right things. They understood the stakes.
Stefon Diggs, who turned in a vintage performance against the Bills, talked about the importance of forgetting what happened in Buffalo and flipping the page.
“Obviously, we got a big win. But moving forward is going to be key for us as far as where we want our season to go,” the star receiver said. “New Orleans is a really good football team. Their record might not show it. But they’re very skillful up front and in the back end.
“To be honest, it just might be a bigger test than last week as far as having success, or being able to replicate that process or do it all over again, and work equally hard with an attention to detail and focus, because this opponent, their record doesn’t say it, but that’s a good football team.”
A bigger test than the Bills?
Not bigger. It’s just the next one.
The Saints are coming off their lone win of the season. They pulled off a fourth quarter comeback to beat the New York Giants at the Superdome.
They are one of the bottom feeders, but they’re also trying to emerge from the gutter with new head coach Kellen Moore.
If the Patriots are as good as they’ve shown, they should beat the Saints, and win their third straight game, and second straight on the road.
If not, if they produce another 5-turnover stinker like they did against Pittsburgh, then all bets are off.
“It’s any given week in this league. You learn that really fast,” Drake Maye said. “So, everybody’s got good players and good scheme. The more you play, the more they get tape on you, pick up habits and tendencies.”
The Patriots quarterback looked like a superstar against the Bills, He just needs to stay consistent, and not fall prey to giveaways.
The Saints helped set up their first win by producing five turnovers (2 picks, 3 fumble recoveries). So the Patriots, who haven’t been immune to giveaways, need to avoid mistakes.
The Patriots are a young team, but the way they handle this game should reveal a lot about their maturity.
“Can you keep doing it? Can you add the consistency, the preparation as this thing starts to wear on and your body starts to feel less than ideal?” Vrabel said during the week, talking about the road ahead. “This is a long haul here. We’re just past the quarter pole here and we’ve got a long way to go.”
The players certainly know they’re being hyped up on the local and national front. For a team that’s finished 4-13 the past two seasons, it’s easy to fall into that trap.
Safety Jaylinn Hawkins, who is out for the Saints game with a hamstring injury, isn’t worried about the team’s mindset.
“I know there’s a lot of possibilities. There’s a lot of good things being said. You can’t really buy into that,” he said. “You have to buy into what’s being talked about in-house, what’s getting talked about in the meetings rooms, corrections, stuff we can fix. If we keep our focus on that, things will take care of itself.”
Starting in New Orleans.
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