Week 9 kept sorting the NFL into two piles: teams that look ready for a real January run, and teams that still have something to prove when the lights get brighter.
The Patriots are firmly in the second group. Their loss to the Green Bay Packers came with the same old problem against elite competition - no answer for Matthew Golden or Christian Watson, and no big response when the moment demanded one.
The Packers, meanwhile, keep rolling as one of the league’s better teams. For New England, the issue is simple: if they want to be taken seriously, they have to start winning these kinds of games.
Right now, they keep crumbling when they face a great opponent.
At the other end of the spectrum, the 49ers are starting to look like the kind of team nobody wants to see in the postseason. Their offense is close to impossible to slow down because Kyle Shanahan can throw so many different looks at a defense.
Shanahan has done another impressive job as head coach, and Christian McCaffrey backed that up with a stellar day against the Raiders. He continues to show he can still play at an elite level.
Add in a defense that looks strong too, and the 49ers are checking the boxes championship teams usually check on both sides of the ball.
The Jaguars are making a similar kind of noise. Against Baltimore, they handled business, and Liam Coen has them playing excellent football.
The offense has plenty of weapons and looks spectacular, and there’s already talk that this group could make a big move at the trade deadline. Offensive line help or defensive help could be on the table, but either way, this is a roster that looks dangerous.
Coen deserves credit for how far this team has come, and the case for them as the best team in the AFC is getting harder to ignore.
Then there’s Detroit, which fits the pretender label after a win that raised more questions than it answered. The Lions beat the Miami Dolphins, but the performance wasn’t clean at all.
The offense managed under 100 yards and went 3/12 on fourth down, which is not what you want to see from a group with this much firepower. Jared Goff didn’t have his best day either.
And if the offense stalls like that, the defense becomes a much bigger concern. Against a division opponent, that kind of outing could turn into a major problem.
The Dolphins aren’t a great team, which makes the narrowness of the game even harder to overlook.
In Other News...
Drake Maye Faces Fresh Doubts After Costly Patriots Setback
Drake Mayes latest rough afternoon left the Patriots searching for answers after a 45-27 loss to the Packers, a game in which turnovers once again tilted the field against New England. Maye said after the game that his giveaways were a major reason the Patriots came up short, and the broader picture is getting harder to ignore for a team trying to stabilize its offense.
Through nine weeks, New Englands turnover differential sits at minus-11, tied for the worst mark in the NFL. For a young quarterback still trying to settle in, that kind of team-wide ball security problem only adds pressure, and it leaves the Patriots with more than one issue to sort through as they move on from another frustrating Sunday. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Face Big A.J. Brown Question Before Lions Game
After a frustrating loss, the Patriots are turning the page toward a trip to Germany and a matchup with the Lions that could help steady their place in the AFC East race. Mike Vrabel said the team is planning for wide receiver A.J. Brown to travel with the group, a sign that New England is at least keeping the door open as it sorts through its game-week plans.
The roster picture is not fully settled yet, though, and the Patriots will have to manage at least one notable absence along the way. Center Ben Brown will not make the trip, leaving New England to adjust its preparation as it heads overseas with a few important questions still hanging over the week. [Read more 🡒]
Patriots Suddenly Have A New Problem In Front Of Drake Maye
A battered Patriots offensive line took another hit coming out of the recent loss, with head coach Mike Vrabel saying starting left guard Ben Brown is unlikely to be available for the next game after going down with a knee injury. For a team already juggling multiple absences up front, it is the latest reminder that protecting Drake Maye has become a week-to-week puzzle rather than a settled part of the operation.
Greg Van Rotens return process is at least starting to move in the right direction, but the Patriots are still sorting through their interior options with the NFL trade deadline looming. Between the injuries already on the books and the uncertainty around who can actually line up and play, New England may have to get creative fast if it wants to keep its offense from being overwhelmed by the pressure in front of Maye. [Read more 🡒]