Curran: Patriots should aspire to be like Panthers in final games originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Expectations have been lowered in New England, to say the least.
When Tom Brady was in town, anything short of a Super Bowl was a disappointment. Immediately after Brady’s departure, the goal was simply to make the playoffs.
Now? Our Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran says the Patriots should try to be like the Carolina Panthers.
Yes, the Panthers are 3-10 (the same record as New England). Yes, they haven’t had a winning season since 2017. But Curran is more focused on Carolina’s last five games, which include wins over the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants, a three-point loss to the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a six-point loss to the 10-2 Philadelphia Eagles.
Curran’s point? The Panthers were competitive in three games against legitimate playoff contenders, and the Patriots should aspire to play the same way over their final four games.
“You look at those teams they’re losing to and you look at the margins of loss and you think to yourself, should the Patriots aspire to be Carolina?” Curran said Tuesday on Quick Slants, as seen in the video player above.
“This is really, to me, the definition of what the Patriots need to be over the last four games: a pain in the ass. A team that is bothering teams like the Eagles and the Chiefs, who are certainly among the top five teams in the league, (and) a playoff-bound team like the Bucs.”
The Patriots have the NFL’s hardest schedule to close the season, with a road matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, a home game against the Los Angeles Chargers and two games against the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills.
So, if Jerod Mayo’s club wants to show signs of “progress” to close the season, it needs to at least be competitive if it can’t pull off an upset.
“They should win against teams that are similar to them,” Curran said of the Patriots. “And again, they’re not going to face any, because Arizona is probably the closest, and that’s the opponent this weekend. Then you have the Chargers, who are going to be very, very difficult because of the quality of their defense, and you have the Bills twice.
“But if you are making the progress that you wanted to make, if you’re doing what Jerod Mayo has professed and I started professing before the season even began — be a team that nobody wants to play — you should try and be like the Panthers are right now.”
That’s obviously a low bar, but such is the reality for a Patriots team that took a disappointing step back prior to its bye week with a blowout loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 12 and a mistake-riddled defeat to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13.
Check out more from Curran and Quick Slants co-host Kayla Burton in the video player above.
