Serious question: can a “trap game” exist in the first six weeks of the season? And if a “trap game” is defined by underestimating what appears to be a weaker opponent, is it possible to have four trap games in a row?
Is there such a thing as a trap schedule?
The Patriots face the 1-4 Saints Sunday, a week after knocking off the last undefeated team standing through the first quarter of the season. Then they see the 1-4 Titans, followed by the 1-4 Browns.
New England definitely has advantages over these teams that measure beyond their own 3-2 record. Most importantly, they have a young quarterback who appears worthy of shouldering franchise expectations. The Saints are relying on Spencer Rattler, who has a 1-10 NFL record. Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward is a rookie with a 51% completion rate and more interceptions than touchdowns. The Browns have just recently rolled out rookie Dillon Gabriel and gotten the most headlines this season for Shedeur Sanders’ silent one-man show.
The Patriots should be favored in all of these games, but have they accomplished enough through the first six weeks of the season to earn the moniker of being a team who can be “trapped?”
New England earned heaps of optimism and excitement when they beat the Bills in Sunday Night Football. Drake Maye, on the national stage, introduced himself to the rest of the league as a starting quarterback not just to take seriously – but to fear. The culture of the program Mike Vrabel has built since last winter looks sparkling.
Coaches and players like to remind everyone how high the floor is when it comes to individual talent in the NFL.
“This league, there’s so much parity, and everybody’s so good,” Garrett Bradbury said in a conversation before the Bills game.
Maybe it would be easier to qualify the Saints as a “trap” if, say, they faced the Buccaneers the following week – a team with a bon a fide starting quarterback and deep playoff aspirations.
But really, the Patriots look like a team just starting their own ladder to success, when compared to the Eagles, Lions, or even the just-beaten Bills. This is not to say the Patriots shouldn’t be taken seriously – they should. They just don’t have the luxury of discounting anyone else as an unserious team.
This group still has some big issues to sort through. After a glisteningly clean game against Carolina, they lost a fumble early in the Bills game, courtesy of Rhamondre Stevenson. Stevenson’s fumbling habit is always a concern, but even more so when they face a Saints team who forced five consecutive turnovers against the New York Giants last week.
They also haven’t unlocked their running game – an area of the roster that looked primed to be premium.
“We understand that. It's got to be better. It has to be better at the line of scrimmage, at the second level, and then continue to try to finish to break some of these. And we’ve had some good runs, just not enough of them. Not enough double-digit runs that help your average,” Vrabel said.
Defensively, the Patriots are starting to figure it out, and a lot of that has to do with the return of Christian Gonzalez, who had back-to-back shutdown plays in the fourth quarter last week. Now, Gonzalez is limited once again with a hamstring injury in practice.
“He’s on a plan with Vrabes, with Frank and Jim in the training room,” cornerbacks coach Justin Hamilton said Thursday afternoon. “It’s kind of a warm-up, the early portion of practice. Because some of the stuff, special teams, or different things. It’s like, a jog through, walk through. It’s for him to be able to get to the pace that he can go at to be able to get out there when we are at the speed periods of practice.”
So, the Patriots aren’t yet the kings back at the top of the mountain, kicking rocks at the losers trying to dismount them. They’re still early in the climb, and too early not to watch their own backs, week-in and week-out.