It’s hard to believe we’re about to close the books on another regular season but the strangest part is that I don’t really know who the 2015 Patriots are. Are they the dominant Dion Lewis-at-RB team from the first half of the season? Are they the “Sick Jamie Collins” defense they played a month with?
Really, the defining characteristic of the 2015 Pats seems to be getting by with what they had on any given Sunday. Players were in and out all season, still they lost just three games, two of which came in overtime, while also having 14-point leads in two of the three as well.
No, the 2015 will truly be defined by how well these injury-riddled Pats can come back together and perform under the pressure of the playoffs. How healthy will Edelman, Hightower, McCourty, Chung, Vollmer (and even Chandler Jones) be in two weeks? Can they step in and play at the highest level necessary to win in the playoffs? Or will they be just enough out of sync to not be able to make the one or two critical plays often needed to win a playoff game?
So in a lot of ways the 2015 season has felt like one long preseason. There are certainly things we know – that this defense is the best they’ve had since 2007, and in my view is the best and most promising for the long term since 2003. Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan and Malcom Brown have emerged as legitimate building blocks, while free agent Jabaal Sheard has taken the pass rush to the next level.
But on offense things are far more murky because of unrelenting injuries. Can Steven Jackson convert a critical third-and-two? Can Edelman step in and make an incredible catch on third down while taking a big hit? Or will he not quite be up to game speed and make a critical drop? What about Amendola in that situation? Can Vollmer take on the kind of dangerous pass rushers with his bum ankle? Will Hightower and Jones be shadows of themselves, or will three weeks off get them back to near-100%?
Most of Pats Nation seems to count on everyone coming back, stepping in at 100% and making all the key plays like they did in last year’s playoff run. I am cautiously optimistic, but the 2015 Pats’ fate will depend entirely on how fast the offense can “re-click” and we just don’t know for sure how close to 100% many of the vital players are.
Usually you know who your team is by this point. You know where the expectations lie for them. This year I’m not so sure, and given how the playoff field is lining up, I don’t see a Colts-esque slam dunk anywhere for this Patriots team.
Obviously the playoffs will define the 2015 Patriots and each game will come down to a small handful of critical plays the Pats will either make or not, but right now we still just don’t know the true impact of all these non-season-ending injuries that have thus far been the only consistent trait of the 2015 Pats next to Tom Brady and Malcolm Butler starting.