Are the Patriots a dangerous playoff team or are they in danger of an early postseason exit?

That’s the question, assuming they handle their business on Sunday against the Jaguars and clinch the AFC East crown.

There are undeniable issues right now with this Pats team. The all-everything quarterback is hurting. The star wide receiver seemingly has to be coddled in order to get anything out of him. A series of injuries have thinned the defense up front. And, as it turns out, they’re just plain thin in the defensive backfield.

Oh, and this team struggles to win on the road, which they’ll have to if they plan to advance deep in the postseason.

Other than that, everything’s fine in Foxboro. Thanks for asking.

The expectation coming into the season was high, even by Patriots standards. We were focusing too much on the offense, foolishly wondering aloud if they could top their 2007 numbers (guilty, as charged) without even stopping to consider two very important details:

1. Tom Brady needed time to recover from major knee surgery, and …
2. This season was more about transition than we initially thought.

So many out there in Patriots Nation counted on at least 13 wins and home field, even as they struggled through two weeks. So naturally, by those standards, 10 or 11 wins and a ho-hum AFC East title just seem disappointing. But 13 wins and an AFC East cakewalk weren’t in the cards, even from Day One.

The trade of Richard Seymour should have signaled to us, more than anything, that we needed to lower our expectations this season.

Looking ahead, there are serious questions about the Patriots that will need answering. Bill Belichick needs to get more from his drafts, and maybe more out of his coordinators too. The defense may need to move on from what now appears to be an outdated 3-4 scheme.

But when you take all of that into consideration, if this team ends up winning the division in a down year, how can you argue with that?

by John Chandler (www.nesn.com)

Photos by www.starpulse.com

Are the Patriots a dangerous playoff team or are they in danger of an early postseason exit? That’s the question, assuming they handle their business on Sunday against the Jaguars and clinch the AFC East crown. There are undeniable issues right now with this Pats team. The all-everything quarterback is hurting. The star wide receiver [...]