Guest Post #5

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.