Despite his protestations to the contrary, the rumor mill continues to swirl with possible destinations for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels at season’s end. As we all know, McDaniels ripped a chapter out of the Bill Belichick playbook last season when he accepted the Indy head coaching job but before the Colts’ brass had time to say, “Welcome to Indianapolis”, McDaniels had rescinded his acceptance and came back into the lovin’ arms of New England with a five-year deal intact.
McDaniels has already had an unsuccessful run as a head coach in Denver but his uninterrupted success with the New England offense has given him street cred throughout the league and most teams would love to land him. All but the Indianapolis Colts that is, yet, McDaniels continues to insist his loyalty lies with the Patriots. Even the oddsmakers at the well reviewed online sportsbook 5Dimes have McDaniels as the favorite to replace the recently fired Mike McCarthy in Green Bay. Other online sportsbooks, all of which can be seen in one convenient location at Sportsbook Review, have a variety of destinations and accompanying odds for McDaniels next season.
In the here and now, McDaniels is once again propped atop designing one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL led by the greatest quarterback to ever hurl the leather, Tom Brady. In typical Patriot fashion, McDaniels is steering clear of any controversy but not flatly denying an eventual move to the big chair.
“I don’t really worry about the future, and honestly, each week is a tremendous challenge. We try to stay in the moment and focus about the task at hand which this week is considerable considering we haven’t had a lot of success down (in Miami),” said McDaniels.
Patriots in Hunt for AFC Supremacy
New England’s 24-10 win over the Vikings cemented their hold on the AFC East and sent a clear shot across the league that they are once again for real. The defense, a bone of contention earlier in the year, has allowed a paltry 11.5 points per game over their last four victories. Sandwiched between those wins was a stunning 34-10 loss to the Titans but that game was the exception rather than the rule and the Patriots may get a redo if Tennessee secures a playoff berth.
The Patriots will be playing three of their four remaining regular season games against divisional rivals which means a 12-4 season is pretty much a foregone conclusion. However, the lone test left will be a visit to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers in what could be a precursor to an AFC title tilt, assuming Kansas City falls flat. But defeating New England in December is a daunting task to say the least. When the weather gets cold the Patriots get hot as evidenced by their 65-13 straight up mark in December since TB12 and The Hoodie teamed up way back in 2000. Brady has been a part of all but six of those wins, four as a rookie and two when he was shelved in ’08 with a season-ending knee injury in the opening game of the season.
Now that the Chiefs are without a ground attack, thanks to Kareem Hunt and his complete lack of self-control in striking a woman back in February, the Pats are now the hunter and not the hunted. New England claims divisional titles like UPS picks up packages so another AFC East crown renders only polite applause from Patriots’ fans. What we really want to see is Big Ben in a body bag come December 16th and another evisceration of Pittsburgh’s hopes and dreams of winning an AFC crown. The Patriots look to make it six straight over the Steelers, with Pittsburgh last defeating New England more than seven years ago. May the streak continue.
