FOXBOROUGH – Win two out of three games, have Drake Maye rejuvenate the team, and all of sudden the P-word comes out of the closet. It’s already being whispered as a possibility for the Patriots.
Playoffs? Seriously?
Technically, Jerod Mayo’s team is two games out of a wild card spot. But let’s not lose our minds over the math. That cart is way before the horse.
The Patriots are 3-7. They’ve already endured a stretch where they lost six straight.
The rest of the season isn’t about the playoffs. It’s about another P-word.
Progress.
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It’s about figuring out who the Patriots want surrounding Maye going forward. What will Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker look like going forward, and how will those young receivers figure into the plans? How far does Maye advance with a dozen starts under his belt?
It’s also about seeing how good Christian Gonzalez becomes, and getting an idea what the future holds for some of the younger players on defense.
And, it’s about Mayo and his coaching staff, and see if they can field a consistently competitive product over the course of the remaining seven games.
Put together a five-game win streak from this point on, then the other P-word can legitimately be discussed.
But for now, the Patriots have smaller goals they’re trying to achieve. They’re still trying to win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
That’s their mission. The Patriots have yet to be able to repeat success. That was Mayo’s focus Wednesday. Taking another step forward with a win over the LA Rams Sunday.
“We haven’t had a back-to-back win this year,” Mayo said during his media session. “We’ve lost multiple games in a row, so we know that side of it. Now we’ve got to figure out how to turn the page after a win and get a victory.”
That was also veteran safety Jonathan Jones’ message.
“I think we’re taking strides and learning how to win,” Jones said Wednesday. “The next step is going back to back, re-setting, having a good week, then going out and executing this week to get two wins in a row.”
The Patriots haven’t been favored in any game, and still won’t be down the road.
Their schedule ahead is rather daunting. That won’t help the Patriots string together wins, much less improve their playoff standing.
After the Rams, they still have to face Buffalo twice, the Dolphins in Miami, Arizona and the LA Chargers. There’s too many tough games to expect them to even approach a .500 record, much less gain a wild card entry.
The Ravens (7-2), Chargers (6-3) and Broncos (5-5) currently hold the three wildcard spots. The Colts, Bengals, Dolphins and Jets are ahead of the Patriots in the playoff pecking order. So that remains such a long shot.
Let’s remember, the Patriots have already lost to a Dolphins team without Tua Tagovailoa, a Jacksonville team that was in turmoil, and a woefully bad Tennessee Titans team that didn’t have it’s starting quarterback.
They may have turned a corner with wins over the Jets, and a horrible Chicago Bears team, but they haven’t shown or proven anything yet.
The best development so far is that Maye looks like the real deal. But the offense is still averaging a league-worst 16.0 points per game. The defense, meanwhile, managed nine sacks on Caleb Williams, but it came while taking advantage of an offensive line that’s worse than their own.
Perspective is important.
“We can’t get big-headed (over one win),” Tavai said. “We can’t think we’re all-world right now.”
That said, wins are still good. Winning is what it’s all about, as Tavai said Wednesday.
But the Patriots are still trying to figure out how to produce those wins. They’re still trying to figure out if they have the right formula to beat more talented teams.
“We’re still trying to create our identity,” Tavai said. “What we put out there last week is what we’re trying to show. But it’s not that any one game shows our identity. We have to stack this past week, and come ready and prepared for the Rams.”
The players aren’t thinking about the playoffs. They’re thinking about the Rams, executing the game plan, and becoming more consistent with each performance.
Said defensive lineman Keion White: “We have to take the approach of letting the cards fall where they fall, and just go 100 miles an hour and see what happens.”
If that somehow produces a legitimate winning streak, then it’ll be time to talk about the other P-word. But not now.
