Can Tom Brady Take The Patriots to a Perfect Season?

The New England Patriots are one of just two remaining perfect teams through nine games in the 2015 season. Tom Brady is in fine form, having thrown for 3000 yards already this season. A 24-3 TD-INT ratio also suggests he is still in his prime, despite being the ripe old age of 38. He is the league’s best passer this season, and the Patriots are the favourites to retain their World Champion status this year. The big question, however, is whether they can go perfect or not?

The Patriots have not been challenged much this season, with the game last week against the New York Giants being the closest they have come to losing. They had to rely on the right leg of Stephen Gostkowski to score the winning field goal with just a second left on the clock. They have also had some convincing victories, including a 51-17 win against Jacksonville, and a 30-6 win on the road in Dallas. But how do their fixtures look for the rest of the year?

 

New England have seven matches to play in the regular season, with three of those coming against divisional rivals (bold):

Week 11 – v Buffalo Bills (.556)

Week 12 – @ Denver Broncos (.778)

Week 13 – v Philadephia Eagles (.444)

Week 14 – @ Houston Texans (.444)

Week 15 – v Tennessee Titans (.222)

Week 16 – @ New York Jets (.556)

Week 17 – @ Miami Dolphins (.444)

Their run in looks pretty simple for a perfect team, with only three of the seven teams having a record better than .500 at this stage. Peyton Manning and the Broncos have been misfiring the last two weeks, with Manning throwing 4 INTs before being benched against the Chiefs in Week 10. He is also out this week through injury, but it could be a lengthier layoff than that.

The other two teams above .500 are both divisional rivals, in the shape of the Buffalo Bills, who they face this week, and the New York Jets (W16). The Bills have a dominant rushing game, average 140 YPG, the 2nd best in the NFL. At the moment, the Bills are the 6th seed in the AFC playoff picture, and they know they have a chance of getting January football this season. As do the Jets, whose 5-4 record has them as the 7th seed, behind the Bills on the tie breaking procedures.

Their other games, including the Texans and Titans, who are both in the AFC South, will be tricky, but ones they should come through relatively easily. The Philadelphia Eagles match could be the one everyone looks towards now for the Patriots run to end. The Eagles may well only be 4-5, but with their division being the most competitive, they have everything to play for, and they have been known to defeat the Pats in the past.

 

Injuries:

This week, the Patriots overcame the Giants in the dying seconds of the game, but it came at a cost.

Their main wide receiver, Julian Edelman, broke a bone in his foot on Sunday, and is expected to be out for six to eight weeks, meaning he is more than likely to miss the rest of the regular season. This will be a big blow for the Patriots, with Edelman being the go to guy for Tom Brady. The pair have connected 61 times for 692 yards and 7 TDs so far in 2015, and alongside Rob Gronkowski, Brady has used the two to full effect.

The star QB will have to use more options for the coming weeks, including Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell and Keshawn Martin, when the latter returns this week from a hamstring injury.

 

2007 Season:

Of course, the Patriots are familiar with going a season undefeated, when they went 16-0 during the 2007 regular season. They made it to 18-0 with two playoff victories and they were clear favourites going into Super Bowl XLII. However, on that night, Eli Manning and the Giants defied the odds to win the title.

 

Tom Brady definitely has the skill to take this team all the way to becoming Super Bowl Champions for the second season in a row, but whether they do it undefeated is another question. The injury to Julian Edelman is a big hit, so the Patriots will need their running game to step up a level. If they do that, their run in is not the trickiest, and we may just see the second ever perfect season after the 1972 Miami Dolphins.