Here's Why The Patriots Will Win All Four Games Of Tom Brady's Suspension
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Sports often transcends the rational. Few other topics of discussion breed true stories of the improbable and absurd like sports do, both on and off the field. In New England, DeflateGate has long been the most absurdly overblown storyline in the history of sports, and, astoundingly, it continues today with no end in sight.
The news of the reinstatement of Tom Brady's four-game suspension created two factions of people: those who wonder how the Patriots could possibly win those four games with Jimmy Garoppolo at QB, and those who wonder why anyone would think this would affect the Patriots as badly as they think - if it affects them at all.
If you're a betting man, you should put your money on the Patriots winning all four games of Tom Brady's suspension. My reasoning for it is not rational or terribly logical, yet again has any of this DeflateGate nonsense been that?
My reasoning is simple: When you stack the whole deck against the Patriots, when you write them off before the games start, they don't fold. They go all-in and win. And this case may become the ultimate example of that.
Anyone who's been paying attention to the Patriots for the past decade-and-a-half knows that this will make them rally around each other like never before. The defense will read the headlines, listen to the hot takes, drown in the doom-mongering of the pundits and experts who bury the Patriots in a 1-3 ditch to start the season.
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Hey, it's possible that Garoppolo turns out to be a zero at QB and the Patriots slog their way to a losing record throughout Brady's suspension. They have started slowly at times before gradually improving over the course of the season. That's entirely possible - but, in this wholly unique circumstance, I'd rather predict a 4-0 start.
The opening night road tilt against the Arizona Cardinals is a perfect trap for fans outside of New England. It was a fairly even matchup when Brady was set to play, but still a trap. Now, Cardinals fans and national gum-flappers probably already have their best scorchers ready to spit into the Hot Take Machine: "How will the Patriots stop this Cardinals passing attack? Can they slow down Carson Palmer? How will they score on this defense? How will Bill Belichick strategize against Bruce Arians? How will they win on the road without their Hall-of-Fame quarterback?"
Then, before you know it, the Patriots hang 42 on Arizona. The defense holds Larry Fitzgerald without a catch and baffles Carson Palmer into multiple turnovers. Bruce Arians' head is spinning by the midway point of the third quarter. Belichick coaches circles around Adam Gase, Bill O'Brien, and Rex Ryan in Foxboro. LeGarrette Blount scores like 19 touchdowns. And, yawn, the Patriots have proven everyone wrong, once again. How about THAT for a hot take?
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This is not to say that the Patriots will go undefeated the whole season or that they'll win every game by 50 points. This isn't to say that you're stupid if you don't like the Patriots' chances. The only mistake on your part is that you're thinking rationally about a situation where all rationality has been thrown out the window for nearly two calendar years. When the Patriots are being kicked while they're down, when they have their proverbial backs against the wall, when everyone is on the edge of their seat waiting for them to get a comeuppance on national TV ... that's when you should bet on them to win.
Look at last season's AFC Divisional Round game. Plenty wondered how the Patriots would score on the Kansas City Chiefs defense, or how they'd respond to the now-legendary drubbing they took in Week 4 of 2014, or how they'd play after such a bizarre week that appeared rife with off-field distractions. And, as I predicted the week of the game as negativity swirled around Foxboro, the Patriots won, and while it was not a blowout, the game never felt like the outcome was in doubt.
Patriots fans should rest easy knowing that, while they ultimately may not win more than two of the four games of Brady's suspension, Belichick will be out to deliver the ultimate middle finger to the NFL (besides making Roger Goodell hand him another Lombardi Trophy or three). The team will be fueled by disrespect, as they have consistently done under Belichick - and this time, the disrespect is real and palpable. The owners got their way in having Brady sit for four games (assuming this debacle doesn't make its way to the Supreme Court). It would be just as glorious as the feeling Patriots haters are getting right now as they revel in the suspension news to see the looks on their faces when their precious suspension didn't set the Patriots back one iota.
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Call me arrogant. Call me stupid. Say I don't deserve a job as a writer or whatever generic internet insult you have in the hopper for today. I could very well turn out to be wrong as soon as that first night of the season. But if the 2004 ALCS, the Miracle on Ice, Super Bowl XXXVI, Super Bowl XLII, Bills-Oilers in the 1993 Wild Card, and Buster Douglas have taught us anything about sports, it's that there's no such thing as a guarantee (well, maybe UConn women's basketball). And, having witnessed an unprecedented run of success by Bill Belichick's Patriots, and having seen them prove doubters wrong at so many turns, I'm going to go ahead and bet on them pulling the rug out from under everyone once again. I'm not guaranteeing it, but I'd be silly not to think it's possible, as would you.
I'm kind of acting on emotions right now and forgoing the very logical assessment that if you take Brady off the field, the Patriots are a significantly worse team. You can count the Patriots out without Brady if that's your prerogative. Just know that it's more probable than not that you're making a mistake, and you're generally unaware of what Bill Belichick's teams do in these situations.
They prove you wrong.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
