I don't know what to say. They were bad until they weren't. The chiefs were the better team until the pats won a coin flip.
It feels like the pats had a bad season and yet they're in their third super bowl in a row.
Nothing makes sense except everything follows a script, apparently, which is that the pats don't lose until they face a hated foe in the AFC championship game or they make the super bowl.
This ride will end eventually but it's fun while it lasts, even if I still believe it probably should've have ended already.
Will they win this year? It doesn't seem likely, which means it's anybody's game, I guess.
Not sure I understand your analysis. If "bad until they weren't" is reference to the season, not sure what difference that makes. They were 11-5 and the #2 seed in the conference which means they couldn't actually be too bad.
They played well v. the Jets and extremely well v. the Chargers. If "bad until they weren't" is reference to the Chiefs game asserting that Pats were outplayed till the OT coin flip, I disagree. Pats played magnificently in the first half. I'll go as far to say that if it weren't for the interception at the goal line, the first half of football by the Pats may have been the best half by any team all season. They were excellent defensively against the most potent offense in the league and they had sustained drives that led to scores (would have been 3 TDs if they'd run instead of pass on the INT). They thoroughly dominated the 1st half on the road at vaunted, loud, Arrowhead against the #1 seeded team in the conference who had just come off a dismantling of the Colts.
Also, in order to get to the "coin flip", they engineered TWO terrific fourth quarter touchdown drives in order to get to the coin flip. Then, of course, methodically drove for the third time in about 10 football minutes for a winning touchdown in OT.
What makes sense is this: Tom Brady was injured, Julian Edelman missed 4 games and was coming off an injury, and Rob Gronkowski was injured. They all got healthy for the playoffs while both the offensive and defensive lines came together and the secondary solidified. That's the script.
Actually... it's mostly about health. And if they are healthy in 2 weeks, the SB is winnable. Not predicting a win, LA is an excellent team, but Pats have legit shot at it.