The New England Patriots suffered a stunning Week 17 loss to the Miami Dolphins this past weekend. Now, they will have to play a Wild Card Round playoff game as a result.
Their opponent? The Tennessee Titans, a team most people had left for dead after a 16-0 loss to the Denver Broncos, dropped it to 2-4 back in Week 6 before Ryan Tannehill led a second-half surge that vaulted the Titans to nine wins.
This is a game that the Patriots should win. It's in Foxboro, and it's just hard to envision them losing a playoff game to a 9-7 Titans club. We all thought they would steamroll the Dolphins, too.
To ensure victory, New England needs to establish Sony Michel early on Saturday.
Michel had a pretty poor regular season overall, but he came on strong over the final few weeks, logging rushing totals of 89, 96 and 74 yards from Weeks 15 through 17. He also averaged over four yards per carry in each of those games.
Remember: last year, Michel played a pivotal role in the Pats' championship run, punching in six rushing touchdowns during the playoffs, including the only touchdown in the Patriots' 13-3 Super Bowl win over the Los Angeles Rams.
While I won't go as far to say that the Patriots need Michel to score six touchdowns again, they do need him to be much more like the Michel we saw during last year's playoffs and over the final three games of the 2019 regular season than the watered-down version that labored through the first 14 weeks.
Of course, some of Michel's struggles this year have been beyond his control, as New England's offensive line has been shaky, and the passing game has been up and down.
But this is the playoffs, which is when you need your most talented players to step up.
With Tom Brady not having a whole lot of weapons in the aerial attack, Michel must represent a steady presence for the Pats in the ground game and at least make the most out of his touches.
Throughout the regular season, Michel averaged 3.7 yards per carry. That isn't going to cut it. Not with Julian Edelman hurting and Rob Gronkowski throwing beach parties instead of catching passes from No. 12.
The Patriots' laboring offense needs all of the help it can get. While getting contributions from guys like Mohamed Sanu and Phillip Dorsett will be critical, Michel is one of the first options and has to play like it.
And if New England can get Michel going in the early stages of the game, Tennessee is going to have a tough time catching up.
Unlike previous years, the Titans aren't a reliable defensive team, as they finished 21st in the NFL in defense during the regular season. They were decent against the run, but they were awful in defending the pass, ranking 24th.
So if the Patriots can establish the ground game with Michel, it would put the Titans back on their heels and would open up Brady to do whatever he wants against a questionable secondary.
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