![Tom Brady always gets back in the game. [Image via Jeffrey Beall/Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/10/6/660x290/b_502x220x82/tom-brady-always-gets-back-in-the-game-jeffrey-beall-via-wikimedia-commons_1618061.jpg "Tom Brady always gets back in the game. [Image via Jeffrey Beall/Wikimedia Commons]")
The New England Patriots beat the Bucs 19-14, but they allowed the Bucs a chance to win the game with just a few seconds left. The Bucs could not convert, and the Patriots walked away with a very unimpressive win. This team has been in very bad shape for much of this season, and we can add this win against the Bucs to the long list of evidence that is piling up. Sure, the Patriots could end the season with a good record, but they simply do not look good. I turned to my wife Thursday night and said, "the Patriots never do this." She did not actually care, but something is wrong.
Everybody loses
It is absolutely true that every team in the league will lose because that is how the league works. We have not had an undefeated team since 1972, and that is probably going to stay that way. The Dolphins can sip their champagne and laugh that they are the only team that was ever undefeated. That is fine. However, the Patriots do not allow teams back into games. They won the Super Bowl after trailing 28-3. So it is reasonable to think that they would not let the Bucs back into the game with a chance to win.
Give the defense credit
The New England defense should be given credit for the way that they held the Bucs offense to 14 points. There are a lot of people who think that the Patriots defense is not very good, but at least they could play better against a decent Bucs team.
New England has made some adjustments, but they still seem to have problems. At the end of the day, the Bucs lost this game more than the Patriots won it. That is when you know that the Patriots are in trouble. They never give games away, but they almost did that on Thursday.
More adjustments
Clearly, the Patriots need to make more adjustments.
There are a lot of things that need to be fixed on this New England defense so that they can get their offense back on the field more. There are a lot of things that could be fixed, and the Patriots have to start fixing them faster if they do not want to have any more close calls. What if they start losing games because they let teams come back on them late?
That would be the opposite of what happened in the Super Bowl, and that means something is broken on the New England roster.
They cannot win everything
The Patriots cannot actually win everything, but they still need to be in better shape than they are now. They need to be so much more prepared and solid than they show because they are in a division that they can run through while fixing their team.
