Tough stretch ahead for Patriots: Three big games in 12 days
FOXBORO -- Hopefully the Patriots got all the rest and relaxation that they needed over their bye week. An incredibly difficult stretch awaits them to start the final eight weeks of the season.
The Patriots will be back on the practice field Monday, after Bill Belichick gave his players four days off to close out their Week 10 bye. Up first for the 5-4 Pats is a visit from the 6-3 New York Jets on Sunday.
The Jets will be looking for some revenge when they take the field at Gillette Stadium, after they essentially gift-wrapped a 22-17 win to New England in New Jersey three Sundays ago. The Jets appear to be a serious contender this season, but they need to beat the Patriots to really convince everyone -- something they haven't done since 2015.
While the Patriots have won 13 straight against the Jets, Sunday will be no walk in the park. The New York defense held the Patriots to just 288 yards in Week 8, and the Jets were a roughing the passer penalty away from a game-changing pick-six just ahead of halftime. New England benefited greatly that afternoon from some horrendous QB play by New York's Zach Wilson, who threw three interceptions to the Patriots' defense.
New York bounced back nicely from that Week 8 loss by beating the Bills in Week 9. The New York defense is the best unit that the Patriots will see the rest of the regular season, but when they're done with the Jets, New England will then have to deal with two incredibly talented offenses on back-to-back weeks.
First up, the Pats have to take on the 8-1 Minnesota Vikings on a short week. A short holiday week, that is, with the tilt set as the night game on Thanksgiving. It will be a great test for the New England defense, with Minnesota possessing the eighth-ranked scoring offense at 25.2 points per game.
Usually, being featured on a Thursday night would get a team a little extra time before its next game. That is not the case for the Patriots after their Thursday evening appearance, however.
After their Turkey Day tilt, the Patriots have another Thursday night game the following week, at home against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13. The Bills are scuffling a bit, having dropped two straight to fall to 6-3, including an overtime loss to the Vikings on Sunday. Josh Allen doesn't look right at the moment, though he has games against the Browns and the Lions to regain his form before he gets his first look at New England this season.
And we all remember how good Allen and the Bills looked the last two times out against the Patriots. The Bills have not had to punt in their last two games against the Patriots, games they've outscored New England 80-38.
The Jets, the Vikings, and the Bills is quite the gauntlet in itself. But it will be all the more difficult for the Patriots with the three games taking place over a span of 12 days.
"We'll have to manage our time the best that we can. We know what the schedule is," Belichick said Monday morning. "Certainly, the Jets are highest priority, but we have to be ready for the rest of the schedule as well. We have different people in the organization working on different things, so hopefully we'll be prepared for each of our opponents through the remainder of the season, but Jets are a big priority right now."
The Patriots have the hardest remaining schedule according to ESPN's Football Power Index, and it starts with their toughest three-game stretch of the season. The next two-plus weeks are make-or-break for the Patriots, and will likely determine if the team goes on a playoff run or falls short of the postseason.
