Reaction to Colin Cowherd's Patriots Comments, And My Take On New England

Welcome to The Truda Report everybody. Usually on a Tuesday I'd give my reaction to the biggest story lines coming out of the NFL from that said week, but today I'm doing something different. On Fox Sports 1 Colin Cowherd said a couple things on his show that rubbed me the wrong way, so I want to quickly give my take on that. Make sure to share this article as it helps TTR grow.

Before I start I want to give some quick background. Colin Cowherd, on his show The Herd, claimed that the Patriots proved themselves to be the clearly superior team to the Falcons this past Sunday. I completely agree with that, and I have no issues. What I did find to be wrong is what I'll be discussing below. 

"The Patriots are one field goal away from 6-1."
Cowherd said on his show that the Patriots, a 5-2 team, are one field goal away from 6-1. That may be true, but they also very well could have been 2-5. The game against the Houston Texans week three of this year the Pats should have lost. Brady almost threw 2 interceptions on that final drive, and he fumbled the ball after being sacked. In all three instances, the ball was either dropped by a defender or the Patriots luckily recovered the football. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had an NFL caliber kicker on their roster they also would have beaten the Patriots. Three missed field goals lead to the Bucs 19-14 loss in week five. Two weeks ago the Jets were robbed of a touchdown when Austin Seferian Jenkins had his touchdown nullified and the ball given to the Pats because of a fumble call that clearly wasn't a fumble. 99% of non Patriots fans who watched that game all agreed that the Jets should have gotten the touchdown, which would have left the Jets only down three. The Jets defense held the Pats to two punts to end the game, and if they had gotten the touchdown not only would they have had the momentum, they would have had a chance to win the game. 

I guess what I'm saying overall is that the Patriots are not what their record shows. They have not been themselves this year and continually win close games due to a lucky call of fluke play. They are in NO WAY, a 6-1 team.

​"The 28-3 lead is the anomaly, not that the Patriots came back from down that score."
Cowherd said on his show that the fluke in last year's Super Bowl was that the Falcons had a 28-3 lead, not that the Patriots came back from down that score. Everything that I just explained in the above paragraphs refutes what Cowherd said. THE PATS ARE NOT THE TEAM THEY USED TO BE. They are very close to being a bad team this year, and that is not like them. For the first time in over five years, the AFC East Champion is not a given. The Pats defense looks old and slow just like it did in the first half of the Super Bowl last year. The Pats are relying completely on the passing game and on multiple occasions defenses are taking away short routes forcing Brady to struggle and throw the ball deep...just like in the first half of last year's Super Bowl. I completely disagree with Cowherd, and if anything I believe that the second half of the Super Bowl is the anomaly. The first half and the 28-3 deficit has been more reminiscent of New England this season than anything else, and if it weren't for coaching errors on the Falcons side of the ball (which the Pats don't struggle with because everyone can agree Bill Belicheat is probably the greatest coach of all time) then we would be standing here talking about the Falcons odds to repeat as Super Bowl Champs.

As a Miami Dolphins fan I obviously have biases about the Patriots, but I have done everything to keep those under check while evaluating New England this year. I don't like how the media always gives the Pats the benefit of the doubt when their play is questionable. Admittedly, New England has earned that right with their excellence over the last decade and a half, but someone needs to stand up and really take a long, hard look at this team. They have issues, just like every other roster in the NFL. Don't just overlook the issues, analyze them and make a smart judgement about where New England is really headed this season, and seasons down the road. They aren't who they used to be.