Morning Sports Update
“You have to hold up. Let’s not panic.”
Drake Maye and the Patriots’ offense huddles during the game against the Bills on Dec. 14. AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper
Devin McCourty’s take on the Patriots’ approach to the rest of the season: Though the Patriots lost to the Bills 35-31 on Sunday, ending the team’s 10-game winning streak, New England remains in a strong position heading toward the NFL playoffs.
At 11-3, the Patriots remain a game above the Bills in the fight for the AFC East, and on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot. In the view of former New England defensive back (and now NBC Sports commentator) Devin McCourty, the loss against Buffalo is not cause to get carried away.
“I do think what Vrabel said is real,” McCourty told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio of comments the Patriots’ coach recently made. “You’re 11-3, you’re in a situation that I don’t anybody expected you to be in. I don’t know if you expected to be in that situation.”
“You have to hold up. Let’s not panic,” he added.
Thinking back to how Patriots coaches of his time would’ve handled the matter — led by the strict standards of Bill Belichick — McCourty thinks the current New England staff will pursue a similar course correction ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Ravens in Baltimore.
“I’m sure Monday [Patriots coaches] were highly, highly critical of everybody involved,” McCourty noted. “I’m sure they went through everything, talking about exactly what you just said. We’re up 21 points. If we make four plays in the second half, we probably win the game.”
The former New England defensive back also explained the logic of coaching a team through a situation like this.
“That’s the thing as a coach. There’s a fine line of creating a sense of urgency on, ‘Hey, it’s this time of year.’ But also not turning it into a panic situation because you lost one game,” said McCourty.
Still, the Bills are not the matchup the Patriots would ideally want in a potential postseason run.
“I don’t think it’s a great matchup for them, the way they’re built right now,” McCourty explained. “They have to get healthy. They played Sunday without Milton Williams, who was on IR, and Robert Spillane was active, but he didn’t play in the game. Those are guys that are key for them. So I think Vrabel’s trying to make sure — and I’m sure — that he was digging into those guys. I’m sure it’s going to be a rough week of practice, because now you talk about not wanting to play Buffalo in the playoffs, I think every team in the AFC would rather not see Baltimore in the playoffs as well, and keep Lamar Jackson out of it.”
Despite his reassuring words, McCourty still acknowledged that New England’s problems will escalate with another loss on Sunday. Simultaneously, the door isn’t completely shut on a potential No. 1 playoff seed.
“You lose Sunday night, you might lose that division with Buffalo right behind you, trying to get back into it,” he said. “I do think he’s going to make Sunday night a big deal. We have a chance to possibly close out another team in the AFC and end their season, and also make our situation better in hope of, ‘Hey, it’s still alive for the one seed. We don’t know what’s going to happen in Denver.’ Maybe they lose two more games. We don’t know, but we’re saying how do we turn each one of these last three games into a playoff game, because possibly we could get a break, a bye week if we keep winning and Denver or somebody else slips up.”
Trivia: Devin McCourty’s first career interception came on Oct. 24 2010 in a Patriots win over an AFC West opponent. Who was the quarterback that McCourty intercepted that day?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He was picked fourth overall in 2004 before immediately being traded to the team that had originally held the No. 1 overall pick. He started for another NFL team this past Sunday.
Scores and schedules:
The Bruins defeated the Mammoth 4-1 on Tuesday night. Boston will play the Oilers at TD Garden on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Boston Fleet play the New York Sirens tonight at 7 p.m. in Newark.
On Friday, the Celtics host the Heat at 7 p.m.
And on Sunday, the Patriots travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens at 8:20 p.m.
More from Boston.com:
Catching up with Chris Berman: The longtime ESPN broadcaster and commentator spoke with the Globe’s Ben Volin on the latest episode of Boston Globe Sports Report.
On this day: In 1994, the Celtics defeated the Rockets 112-109 thanks to 43 points from Dominique Wilkins. Elsewhere, Jose Canseco discussed his larger-than-life image after signing with the Red Sox, and the Patriots prepared for an AFC East showdown with the Bills.
Daily highlight: San Jose’s Macklin Celebrini pulled off a perfect spin move before scoring the Sharks’ 6-3 win over the Flames on Tuesday.
Trivia answer: Philip Rivers
Hayden Bird is a sports staff writer for Boston.com, where he has worked since 2016. He covers all things sports in New England.
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