The New England Patriots are about to embark on their most difficult stretch of the season with back-to-back altitude games against the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders, before heading home to facing the Miami Dolphins, and then going back out to play the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers on a lengthy road trip.
Quarterback Tom Brady knows the importance of this stretch and how the Patriots respond to the challenge will be representative of what this team is capable of accomplishing in 2017.
“We've got eight to go so this is about the time when everyone starts to see what you’re made of,” Brady said on Wednesday. “Eight games are done. I think we've learned a lot of things and hopefully we can use the things we've learned and apply them. We have very competitive games starting, obviously, with this one, a tough place to play against a very tough team. None of them are going to be easy, so we're going to have to play better than we've played. That’s what our goal is.”
The Patriots won’t be looking too far ahead of their upcoming opponent, but if they can pull off a 3-1 or 4-0 record in the third quarter of the season, then they will be in prime position heading into the final four games when the playoff seeds are ultimately determined.
New England finishes the season with back-to-back home games and a successful road trip over the next six weeks could allow the Patriots to stay home until the Super Bowl. Hopefully Brady and the Patriots are made of the necessary fortitude to accomplish this goal.
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Posted by SB Nation on Thursday, November 9, 2017