After what might be the sweetest victory of the season, the Pats have a
somewhat smooth ride to the playoffs for the rest of the season. Besides
a bump in the road in the Houston Texans, New England is looking at
fairly easy opponents for the rest of the season. The 4-6 Dolphins have been
struggling on the road this season with a record of 2-4, and have lost
the last 3 in a row. Coming off the back of the brutal beat-down against
the Jets, the Pats should have little trouble putting the Dolphins down
next week. The tougher opponents lie in the 7-2 49'ers and the 10-1 Houston Texans.
The story of the season, it seems, has been the Texans dynamic defense.
Their execution in the safety and on the defensive line has been great.
However, their defense was lacking yesterday against Detroit, as they
escaped with a narrow victory of 34-31 over the Lions, which could be
due to the poor touchdown call on a fumble recovery by the Texans. The
49'ers offense has also been very productive this season, and without
Gronkowski the Pats should be well matched against them. Still, their
schedule is promising to give them a mostly trouble-free journey to
January.
-Written by Aidan K.
