How the Patriots are preparing for potentially the coldest game in franchise history
FOXBORO — The Patriots held their most important practice of the season Wednesday inside a frigid Gillette Stadium.
Temperatures hovered in the 30s. Winds snaked through the lower bowl. Players and coaches donned hats, masks, gloves and sweats during warmups, bouncing around while Meek Mill blared overhead.
It was the closest environment the team could create to simulate Saturday night’s forecast in Buffalo. That forecast?
Likely the coldest game in franchise history.
Temperatures in Buffalo are expected to remain in the single digits for Wild Card Saturday and drop to zero degrees flat at night. The forecasted wind chill is minus-8, and kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m.
The Pats’ coldest game to date was a 2004 divisional-round home game against Tennessee, which opened at four degrees with a minus-10 wind chill. They closed out a hard-fought 17-14 win that night, a distant memory frozen in NFL history.
As for Saturday, the Patriots intend to keep themselves warm by ignoring the weather all together.
“I’m more worried about the Bills than the weather,” Pats coach Bill Belichick said Wednesday. “I think the Bills are what we have to focus on, and that’s who we have to beat. The weather is the weather.”
Pats safety Devin McCourty believes he doesn’t need to address the biting temperature with his teammates. He trusts they know how to handle themselves by now, especially having practiced in frosty conditions for a month-plus.
“I think guys have figured that out, whether it’s been here or in college. A lot of these guys have played in cold games,” McCourty said. “And if you haven’t, you ask somebody else, but I would say at this point in the season, most of the guys know what they want to wear.”
Hours before kickoff, McCourty said he plans to walk the field in a sweatshirt to determine how many layers he’ll need to add underneath his pads. A few Patriots tend to go without sleeves in the cold, including several offensive linemen. Right tackle Trent Brown was among the sleeveless for the Pats’ regular-season games against Buffalo, both played in close to freezing temperatures.
Asked about the cold Wednesday, Brown echoed comments Patriots assistants made earlier in the week saying it will be less of a physical challenge than a test of toughness.
“It’s mental. Just like it is mental to work out in the heat in the offseason,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s football.”
As for any physical emphases, the Patriots sound as if they’ve somehow been prioritizing ball security even more. Turnovers, of course, are critical to any football game, but below-zero temps are more likely to cause a slip in focus or numb the hands, which could lead to fumbles.
“It requires a hell of a lot more concentration in those situations,” said Pats running backs coach Ivan Fears. “Sometimes you might have to do a lot of pulling and tugging and just trying to be safe with the ball (in practice). You don’t want to turn the ball over. You know that’s a big issue. The weather will factor in over there.”
Jakobi Meyers, the team’s leading receiver, added: “The main thing is just keeping your hands warm and your toes warm.”
Can the Patriots finally crack the Bills pass defense in the Wild Card round?
In Buffalo, the Bills revealed a relative lack of concern Wednesday by practicing indoors. Six weeks ago, concern abounded in Orchard Park, after they famously lost a chilly Monday night game to the Patriots. The temperature hit 36 degrees then, with a wind chill of 24 thanks to gusts that swirled up to 50 MPH
But roughly the same weather conditions resurfaced for their rematch three weeks later in Foxboro, where the Bills won 33-21. Without periodic gusts interfering with his passing game, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen tore the Pats defense apart over the best quarterbacking performance they faced all season, trumping efforts from Tom Brady, Dak Prescott and Justin Herbert.
Offensively, the Pats recognize they must start faster to keep pace with Allen and Co., and allow themselves to play their run-first brand of football. They’ve trailed at halftime in three of their last four games, all losses where their pass-driven, second-half comeback bids fell short.
“Our running game, I think for the most part, has been fairly effective,” said offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. “And we know at this time of year — it doesn’t matter what the weather is, doesn’t matter who the opponent — being able to run the football and being able to stop the run and being able to cover cover kicks … are an important part of winning.”
All in all, the Patriots have opted to treat cold as a down-to-down distraction this week. Something to block out, like a trade rumor or media storyline or opponent’s trash talk. It’s something that will only zap their attention and energy from winning if they let it.
After all, what will the stadium thermometer matter next to the scoreboard?
On Saturday night, one might make history, but the other could end their season.
“It’s a lot better to go out there in the cold and win than to lose,” McCourty said. “So let’s just try to go play good football and get a win.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/34LNfEq
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