Patriots may be 10-0, but how long can they keep it up as injuries pile up?
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots remain undefeated, continue to be a playoff lock and, by and large, are one of the strongest teams in the NFL.
But is trouble looming?
New England suffered yet another key injury in Monday night’s 20-13 victory against the Buffalo Bills, capping a night that saw the Patriots do just enough to improve to 10-0. But receiver Danny Amendola, who had been stepping up in the absence of Julian Edelman, left the game with a knee injury.
“I don't think that's an excuse,” quarterback Tom Brady said of the injuries. “I think we can play better, and I think some of the things that we didn't do well have nothing to do with missing some other guys.
"We've just got to do things better if we want to score more points, and I always talk about just execution, us all being on the same page. And I think there were a lot of plays out there where we didn't necessarily do our job very well, and if you don't do it well then no one else can really make up for what you're trying to do.”
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Coach Bill Belichick said after the game he did not have an update on Amendola’s injury.
Edelman broke a bone in his foot, and his availability for the rest of the season is uncertain. He joins running back Dion Lewis (torn anterior cruciate ligament, out for season) and left tackle Nate Solder (torn biceps, out for season) as significant injuries on offense.
Brady threw for 277 yards against the Bills. While that’s solid output, it marked his second-lowest total this season. He completed just 51.3% of his passes. By comparison, he entered Monday night’s game connecting at a 67.8% clip.
Perhaps most concerning, the Bills and New York Giants, who played New England in Week 10, put enough plays on film to create something of a blueprint for exploiting the defending champions. Buffalo’s performance was the most effective a defense has been against Brady this season. Coach Rex Ryan crafted a gameplan that disguised pressure by dropping defensive linemen into coverage and showing simulated blitzes.
Brady, officially, was hit 10 times Monday night. It seemed like a lot more. A sight all too common was Brady tossing the ball harmlessly to the turf when the Bills foiled his plans.
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The Bills also completely shut down tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is largely considered the biggest matchup nightmare in the league due to his exceptional size, strength and hands. He finished the game with just two catches for 37 yards on seven targets. Because of New England’s missing pieces, the Bills were able to devote a safety to shade over Gronkowski for most of the game, limiting his effectiveness.
That means Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are going to have to be very creative in the coming weeks.
“We’ll see what it is going forward, but tonight we definitely had to work around it,” Belichick said of playcalling with all the injuries. “I thought Josh did a good job managing the game, and we were able to do what we could do. It wasn’t necessarily what we wanted it to be, but it was good enough.”
But if there’s one thing the Patriots do better than anybody else in the NFL, it’s plugging in players that every other team has overlooked and molding them into productive pieces. Edelman and Lewis are the perfect examples.
Keep an eye on running back James White.
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“Guys are going to go down,” White said. “So people have to be ready, whatever the situation is. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just how it goes in this league sometimes. People just have to step up.”
White had his most productive game against Buffalo. Though he’s not as shifty as Lewis, White showed he can be relied upon by collecting 46 total yards and two touchdowns on four touches against Buffalo.
All the Patriots can do is hope that Amendola’s injury isn’t bad. The Patriots have their toughest remaining test of the season Sunday night against the Denver Broncos (8-2), who own the NFL’s top-ranked defense (284.3 yards per game), passing defense (190.6 yards per game), and trail the league-leading Patriots in points allowed (18.3 per game) by just 0.1.
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“We’ve lost a lot of guys and we’ve lost quite a few guys over the last three weeks,” Brady said.
“So I think we’ll just keep fighting and figuring out a way to win, and it’s good to win against a good defense. Any way you can get these wins, I think it’s a positive. I think just whoever is in there, we’ve got to have confidence in what they’re doing.”
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Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes
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