New England Patriots
vs.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Okay, so really quickly, let me continue the tradition of giving my predictions for the upcoming week, starting only with tonight's game in Tampa.
It has been a busy week filled with horrible news, with the Las Vegas mass shooting, and the situation in Puerto Rico, and that is just what is going on in the United States! I have not even gotten to some of the other things going on, such as the turbulent situation in Spain, where Catalonians tried to vote on independence from Spain, but Spanish officials tried to shut down the vote, claiming it was illegal. There were some disturbing scenes, and now, apparently, many Catalonians felt that this was the last straw, and that if they were not in favor of independence before, they were now.
Let's see what comes of that situation.
Alright, as for tonight's game, the defending champion Patriots will visit the seemingly rising Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New England suffered two losses already, and are tied with the Jets for second place in the AFC East, which is obviously not what they are used to. The Patriots have looked surprisingly shaky so far this season, having lost to the Chiefs on opening day (and having gotten blown out particularly in the fourth quarter), and then struggling against Houston a couple of weekends ago, before falling just short against Carolina last week. That was a humbling and disappointing loss, and it means that already, with only four games under their belt, New England has already equaled the total losses that they suffered during the entirety of their championship season last year, when they went 17-2 overall, including the postseason championship run.
Tampa Bay, by contrast, is coming off a narrow win against the Giants, one that did not come easily. That game nonetheless allowed them to recover from a blowout loss in Minnesota. The Bucs are 2-1 right now, and behind both the Falcons and the Panthers in the NFC South. Both of those teams are 3-1 presently. The Saints, it should be noted, suddenly look very good themselves, despite being in last place. They have pulled off two straight wins after starting off 0-2. So, this game is incredibly important for Tampa Bay.
Obviously, it is also important for the Patriots, who now need to win just to try and keep up with the surprising Bills and Jets. It is not even impossible that New England could find themselves in sole possession of last place after this weekend, if the Jets and Bills keep on winning, and if Miami finds a way to knock off the Titans. I am not saying that is going to happen, but that scenario, which admittedly seems unlikely, is still possible, even though it would have seemed unthinkable at the start of this season.
So, here is what I expect will happen:
The Patriots will defeat Tampa Bay. New England always seems to respond well following a loss - that is why they have not accumulated many losses for quite a few seasons in a row now. They lost to the Panthers last weekend, and that followed a narrow win against Houston that presented more questions than answers just the week before.
I suspect that the Patriots will devise some ways to come up with the answers in Tampa tonight. The Bucs are tough, but they do not have the depth, the experience, and the coaching that New England brings to the table, and that should be the difference. I expect the Patriots to be a little too much for Tampa Bay to handle tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment