Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots were under some pressure entering their Week 10 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On Thursday, the Denver Broncos opened the week with a victory to improve to 8-2 on the season. Earlier on Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts celebrated a win in Germany to tie their record and reclaim the top spot in the AFC.
For the Patriots to keep track with those two teams and stay well-positioned in the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, they needed a win as well — one against a tough opponent on the road. The team of head coach Mike Vrabel ended up delivering, beating the Bucs with a final score of 28-23 to earn a seventh straight W and improve to 8-2 as well.
Here are our lessons learned from the contest.
Coming off a 4-13 season that saw them finish in last place in their division, the Patriots naturally were set to go up against one of the easier schedules in football this season. And over the first half of their campaign, they took full advantage: their 7-2 record entering Sunday included wins over some abysmal teams like the New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns.
The Buccaneers, despite having been bitten hard by the injury bug this year, do not belong in the same category. Quite the opposite: at 6-2, they were the second-ranked team in the NFC coming out of Week 9. The challenge they posed was as big as any Mike Vrabel’s team encountered so far this season.
And yet, they proved that their record was no mirage and that they indeed are contenders that need to be taken seriously.
“It’s huge to come down to South Florida and get a win against a great football team who’s won a lot of games this year,” said linebacker Robert Spillane after the game. “I’m really proud of the guys, of how we got some stops — crucial stops — late down the stretch. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, we knew it was going to take four quarters, we knew Baker [Mayfield] loves to fight back in these games. I’m just proud of how we finished.”
The Patriots did not play their best football on Sunday, with their offense in particular being hit and miss at times. And yet, in the end, they delivered with an eight-minute stretch around the half and a three-play sequence in the fourth quarter making the difference in the visitors’ favor.
“It was a good battle,” added cornerback Christian Gonzalez. “They got a good team, they made some plays, we made some plays — that’s how football goes, that’s the nature of the sport. It was good to get a win, an away win.”
The Patriots will soon return to the non-playoff-caliber portion of their schedule — a Thursday night game against the 2-7 New York Jets awaits — but they showed that they can play winning...
