The New England Patriots are facing off against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The only storyline being written about is Tom Brady playing against his old head coach, Bill Belichick. It’s understandable because we’re never going to see this matchup ever again. The best quarterback of all time against the greatest coach of all time. After all, they did win six rings together. But now, it’s time to see who will take the bragging rights.
Brady already has won a Super Bowl without Belichick. That’s why some think Sunday is a must-win for Belichick. If Belichick wins, at least he can say he beat Brady. But if he doesn’t win, then he’s without a post-Brady Super Bowl, while losing to him in the regular season. While that scenario might be good motivation for Belichick to win on Sunday, there’s another reason that nobody is talking about.
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New England’s Season Could Be on the Line
The Patriots spent the most money out of any team in free agency. They signed Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Nelson Agholor, among others. Belichick didn’t do that to miss the playoffs. However, their season hasn’t started off great. Mac Jones hasn’t been particularly impressive. The rookie has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Jones’ unimpressive first three games are part of the reason New England is 1-2. If they lose to Brady on Sunday, then the team is staring at a 1-3 start. The Buffalo Bills are playing the Houston Texans this week, so it’s safe to assume that they’ll win. That will make Buffalo 3-1, making them two games up on New England.
Patriots’ Schedule Not Getting Any Easier
If the Patriots start out 1-3, that could be the beginning of an unsuccessful season. Buffalo is clearly the better team and doesn’t have too tough of a schedule. Also, James White is out for the season. The more difficult games on Buffalo’s schedule are against the following teams:
- Kansas City Chiefs (October 10)
- Tennessee Titans (October 18)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (December 12)
Buffalo’s other games include the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets (twice), and Atlanta Falcons. On the other hand, New England doesn’t have it as easy. Their easy games see them play the Texans, Jets, Falcons, and Jaguars. Here are the Patriots’ remaining difficult games after Sunday’s showdown with the Buccaneers:
- Dallas Cowboys (October 17)
- Los Angeles Chargers (October 31)
- Carolina Panthers (November 7)
- Cleveland Browns (November 14)
- Tennessee Titans (November 28)
- Buffalo Bills (December 6 and December 26)
- Indianapolis Colts (December 19)
That’s eight more difficult games than Buffalo has on paper. Add that to the fact that New England will be two games under .500 with a loss this week.
Wild Card Chances?
If New England starts 1-3 then they probably won’t win the division. But what about grabbing a wild-card spot? That doesn’t look too good either. The Baltimore Ravens are a 10 win team. The Los Angeles Chargers just beat the Chiefs and look like the best AFC Wild Card team. The Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos have started out 3-0. The Colts are going to play better. While there’s an extra wild card team this year, there will be six teams, including New England, fighting for three spots. The Patriots don’t need to win Sunday just for Belichick. They should feel the need to win to get their season going back in the right direction.
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