Boomer: Bit Of A Wake Up Call For Patriots Offense Not A Bad Thing
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots offense overcame some early adversity in Saturday night's AFC Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans, and in the end were still able to cover that near-historic spread in their 34-16 victory.
The Texans' pass rush was in Tom Brady's face for much of the evening, and the offense never really got into a great rhythm, as Brady was picked off twice. But in the end the offense still got the better of a tough Texans defense, and New England is off to a record sixth straight AFC Championship Game where they'll host the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
"What a run that Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the Patriots are on. Even though they didn't play well on Saturday night, it goes to show you how well-prepared they are," Boomer Esiason of WFAN and CBS' The NFL Today told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich during his weekly interview on Monday. "Even when things don't go well offensively and they fumble, drop passes and throw interceptions, they still put up 27 points offensively. It also goes to show you just how underwhelming Brock Osweiler and that Houston offense is.
"Pittsburgh is the one team I felt, at least offensively, should be able to go in there and move the ball on the Patriots defense," he said of the upcoming AFC Championship. "That's why this game is so intriguing and should be a game that both teams score in the high 20s."
Esiason said overcoming that early adversity on Saturday night should only help the Patriots on Sunday.
"If you don't want complacency, it does help," he said, pointing to the "twinge of negativity" in the Patriots locker room after Saturday's win. "That's a great form of motivation. The Patriots' offense, if you look at the numbers the last five weeks of the season, they blew out everyone else. But are they blowing out everyone else because everyone was like [Brock] Osweiler and the Texans, brutal on offense, and all they had to do was do their normal stuff and put up big numbers? They have not played a great offensive game, and if you listen to all of their players after [Saturday's win], they all said they have to be better, sharper and on top of their game. So it was a bit of a wake up call, which I think, can only help. I think this week they'll play a lot better against a Pittsburgh defense that can give up some big plays."
Boomer also touched on what the Patriots defense can take for Kansas City's game plan against the Steelers in their Divisional Round match up, how the Texans were able to beat the Patriots' offensive line up the middle, and the Hall of Fame credentials of Vince Wilfork. Listen to the full interview below: