Revenge on the 'Phins

And so begins a dominant December for the Pats. Hopefully. 

While Sunday night's matchup against the Chargers was far from pretty for most of the game, a win is a win. Belichick, Brady & Co. usually play some of their best football in December. If we're lucky, this season will be no different. Our last 3 games are all against division rivals. We host Miami at home, then go to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets, then back home vs the Bills to close out the regular season. A lot of fans seem to think that these final games will be blow outs and are definite wins. But if you look deeper than their records, you know that the Bills defense is pretty good, Miami's offense can be sneakily explosive, the Dolphins defense is nothing to overlook, and the 2-win Jets will be giving everything they've got. What does that mean for New England? The Pats (which I doubt they are) and their fans shouldn't expect a cakewalk, by any means. Miami and Buffalo are both still fighting for a playoff berth. I definitely hope we win out and finish the season strong. More than anything, I hope we avoid injuries and stay healthy. Home field throughout the playoffs would be wicked nice, but give me a healthy Pats team, and I really think they could win anywhere this year. Brady wants it too bad not to. 

Sweet, sweet revenge
Since the Pats got embarrassed in week 1, by the Dolphins, they're more than likely looking to get revenge. Because the season opener loss was really what started all the Patriots criticism and doubt. 
What's different this time?
For one, location. The Patriots always seem to struggle in Miami, and the Dolphins usually struggle in Foxboro. 
Second, injuries. The Dolphins were healthy and loaded at the beginning of the season. Now, not so much. One positive for the Dolphins and a negative for the Pats this time around: Dion Jordan is active and healthy. The first time they faced off this season, D. Jordan was serving a 6 game suspension for PED use. Luckily, we have a much improved offensive line. I don't think anyone wants to remember our atrocious Week 1 offensive line and performance. Scary stuff. 
Third, division games are different. Not that the other 10 games we play every season don't matter, and they're certainly not easy, but something is just different about playing division opponents. You can feel it in the atmosphere and the energy is insane. I think it has a lot to do with even though the AFC East has been called the weakest division in the NFL multiple times, the Pats and their fans know that often, the teams are better than their records say. 

3 things I hope to see:
- another shutdown defensive performance. Who else is stoked for Revis/Wallace, round 2! 
- no Patriots turnovers and a classic high-powered New England offense
- an all around good game and a convincing win...since we're tied with Denver but hold the tie breaker (thankfully), and the last 2 weeks have been slow starts and too many 3 & outs for the Pats offense. I'd love to see us score 40+ points. But a win, will do! 

I think it's going to be a relatively close game, but the Patriots will start to pull away early in the 4th. There's a lot on the line over the next 3 games. I don't think a loss completely derails the Patriots from their Super Bowl goal, but an AFC playoff road that runs through Foxboro is definitely what we want. 

As always, Go Patriots.