FOXBOROUGH – When is a 14-win season not a 14-win season?
When it comes with a “soft” schedule.
With every win, every goal achieved, there was always an asterisk assigned to the Patriots record thanks to playing a ton of bottom feeders.
It didn’t matter that they beat an undefeated first-place Bills team in Buffalo Week 5. It didn’t matter that they beat an NFC South-leading Bucs team Week 10 in Tampa Bay. Or a perennial AFC North power Ravens team Week 16 in Baltimore.
Or went 8-0 on the road.
Some pundits and critics of the team kept pointing to the slate of tomato cans the Patriots had on the schedule.
From the 17 games in the regular season, they played only two teams with winning records, and went 1-1, losing to Pittsburgh to go along with beating Buffalo in the first of two meetings.
The Patriots have been reminded constantly about having the easiest strength of schedule. They know in some circles, they aren’t taken seriously.
They can fix all of that.
During tonight’s Wildcard playoff showdown with the LA Chargers, the Patriots can show their 14-3 wasn’t simply a product of playing cupcakes.
They can silence the doubters by beating a very good Chargers team, an 11-6 outfit with a great coach and quarterback, and an elite defense. They can toss the soft schedule narrative out the window.
And, they can prove their season meant more than some metrics suggest.
While they might not believe it’s necessary to validate what they’ve accomplished to this point – that’s certainly not the perception from the locker room nor their motivation to win – it would a nice way to get the last laugh on anyone who’s been poking holes in their 14-3 record.
Naturally, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel has no use for the soft schedule argument, but he understands what’s at stake for his team.
Sure, the team has already put check marks next to all of the goals Vrabel set out for them to achieve after taking over as the team’s head coach in January.
They’ve already won a division title. They’re hosting a home playoff game, and are contending for a championship. So they’ve checked all the boxes.
Vrabel isn’t resting on what they’ve already accomplished. He’s emphasized the importance of what happens from this point on.
No matter how the Patriots got here, there’s more on their plate. There’s more to prove. And much more to gain.
“I‘m happy, I’m excited, but also, we’re not here just to get here. We have to be able to host games and compete for championships,” Vrabel said. “So, there’s not going to be any consolation prize for anybody. We understand what we have to do.”
The Chargers defense poses one of the biggest challenges of the season for Drake Maye, who has blossomed into a superstar in Year 2.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has masterfully guided and mentored Maye, didn’t sugarcoat the task at hand.
“Their players are really, really good. They play sound football,” McDaniels said of the Chargers defense. “They don’t beat themselves. They don’t give up a lot of big plays. They’re going to make you execute and drive the ball.
“This is as good a unit as we’ve played.”
The statistics and metrics support that claim. By most measures, the Chargers defense is among the best.
So Maye & Co. have to do what they’ve done to most every defense that’s come in their path – beat them.
While Maye has been able to solve whatever wrinkles have been thrown his way, and navigate the team to wins, doing so against this Bolts defense will be much different than many of the defenses he’s faced.
The Chargers front is physical and have a masters degree in pressure and sacks.
Maye knows he has to rise to the occasion, much like he did during the regular season. To be the best, you have to beat the best.
“I’ve got to play well for us to win. I know that’s the nature of this league and the nature of the position,” Maye said Wednesday. “I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.”
As Vrabel has said a number of times during the season, his best players have to play like it in order for them to consistently win games.
Facing good teams or bad, that’s been a key ingredient in the team’s recipe for success.
While the Patriots would love to make a run, and fully expect to make a run, they can’t do that without taking out the Chargers first.
If they don’t, they’ll have to live with the disappointment, and listen to the continued devaluing of their season.
“All this stuff is evident. It’s in front of your face,” safety Jaylinn Hawkins said of his team’s naysayers. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. We’re focused on what we gotta do. And that’s just win.”
