No one bounces back quite like the Patriots

No one bounces back quite like the Patriots

At this point, you’d have to be a fool to bet against the Patriots following a loss.

Since 2003, they’ve only dropped back-to-back games twice, which might be the most remarkable statistic I’ve ever read at any given point in my life.

Think about it for a second: In a league where mediocrity is socially acceptable – the NFL calls it “parity,” but most of us know better – the Patriots rarely succumb to the pitfalls that plague everybody else at least once a year.

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Over the course of six and a half years, which is more than 100 games, the Patriots have only lost two in a row twice. Not even in 2008, when Tom Brady missed the entire season with a knee injury, did they drop back-to-back games.

And is has nothing to do with luck either, as if they just happen to play the Buffalo Bills following every loss. Last night, they had to travel to Pittsburgh to face the 6-2 Steelers after getting crushed in Cleveland two weeks ago. They responded with arguably their most dominant performance of the season, cruising to a 39-26 win against a team that hadn’t allowed more than 22 points all year.

The Patriots’ uncanny ability to rebound following a loss is even more impressive when you consider how unpredictable the NFL is on a weekly basis. On the same Sunday in which the Patriots clobbered the Steelers, the 1-7 Cowboys invaded the Meadowlands and laid an absolute beating on the heavily-favored Giants. Two thousand miles west, the Broncos, who had won only twice entering this weekend, dropped 49 points on the first-place Kansas City Chiefs in a surprising blowout victory.

As Forrest Gump would say, “@#$% happens,” but it never seems to happen to the Patriots. The stench of negativity in Foxboro never lingers beyond one week. In addition to the fact they haven’t lost back-to-back games more than twice in seven years, you’d have to go all the back to 2002 to find the last time they lost three in a row.

Aside from having one of the game’s greatest quarterbacks, perhaps New England’s greatest strength is its resiliency, which is no easy task playing within a 50-mile radius of Boston. Everything in this town is taken to the extreme. One loss is the end of the world; one win is the start of a dynasty.

The Patriots often get the benefit of the doubt around here based on their past success, but it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. After losing to the Jets in Week 2, they faced their fair share of scrutiny in various social circles, with some even questioning whether or not Bill Belichick’s coaching style had suddenly become outdated.

Such negativity can destroy a team’s foundation. Look at the Cowboys. They weren’t always as bad as they looked two weeks ago in that embarrassing loss to Green Bay. They were actually competitive early in the season, but the more they lost, the more people began criticizing head coach Wade Phillips. The situation quickly spiraled out of control. The players hopped on the “Fire Phillips” bandwagon and absolutely quit on their coach to the point where owner Jerry Jones was forced to fire him in the middle of the season – something he had never done since he purchased the team 20 years ago.

Yesterday under interim head coach Jason Garrett, the Cowboys played like a legitimate contender, and they did so with the same players who quit on Phillips, proving once again that the intangibles are more important than the stat nerds would like you to believe.

To Belichick’s credit, he’s never had a team quit on him in New England. Anyone who doesn’t buy into the system gets a one-way ticket out of Foxboro. The Patriots have their flaws, but no team in the league is more equipped to handle negativity, scrutiny and adversity than they are.

The numbers speak for themselves. They don’t lose back-to-back games, they don’t let things snowball and they don’t buy into what everyone else is selling, even if it sounds logical at the time. A lot of us thought the Patriots would get steamrolled in Pittsburgh after losing to the Browns a week ago. We should’ve known better. Never bet against the NFL’s most resilient team.