Patriots Report: Week 16

The Magic Number is 1!

Look for that exclamation point to to disappear if the Pats can't clinch the division with a win at home against the Jaguars on Sunday.

The goal for the next two weeks has to be, in Tom Brady's own words, "Finding some consistency" on offense. In the five games when the offense has been stellar, the Pats have looked like the sure winners of Superbowl XLVI.

And believe it or not, New England is now tied for the fourth best defense in the NFL.

The bottom line is that despite all the fan pessimism that has resulted from four really horrible losses this season, and only five really dominant wins, the Pats are still in a position to put it all together for a strong playoff run. There isn't a team in the conference that they cannot beat if they have all the parts working.

Really.

They can do it, but all cylinders need to be firing. I look at it this way. The defense has allowed 16.27 points per game on average. However, the offense has only scored 24.3 points per game. What they need to do is put up a couple of convincing two or three touchdown victories in the final two games to generate some good momentum going into January.

But first things first. Sewing up the division should look like this.

My prediction for week 16:


Pats: 31
Jags: 14