Mike Lombardi Releases Shocking Statement About Patriots’ Super Bowl Chances

December has almost passed and the New England Patriots are exactly where they should be. A win on Sunday against the New York Jets will earn them at least the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. That means a week off in the first round of the playoffs and a home game in the second, after which they will only need two more wins for a trip to Super Bowl 53.

Again, this is exactly where the Patriots are every December. But Mike Lombardi of The Ringer, a former Patriots executive, apparently in need of attention, went on VSiN and talked some rubbish.

“I think New England is one of those teams. I think New England is not playing very well at all,” he stated. “They are back to 2013. They are back to where they have to run the football to score points. Brady has not played particularly well. I think he’s having one of the worst years he’s had since 2013. His yards per attempt are way down. His interceptions, he already has 11 interceptions this year. That goes back to 2013 when he had 11 interceptions.”

Lombardi’s criticism was not reserved for only the offense. He had plenty to say about the rest of the roster as well.

“Their defense is very vulnerable,” he continued. “You watch that Buffalo game and Buffalo turned the ball over at the New England 5-yard line, a stupid — the kid just didn’t hold on to the football. They’re going to score and make that an even closer game. I think New England has got some significant issues. Their special teams, they’re the only team in America that blocks punts and don’t capitalize on them.”

These Patriots are far from perfect, but then again, all more recent Super Bowl teams New England has produced have come with some gaping flaw or another. Last season’s Patriots couldn’t block, didn’t have Julian Edelman and had the No. 29 ranked defense in football. The 2016 championship team was missing Rob Gronkowski and averaged only 3.9 yards per carry on the ground.

Yes, we would all love for the Patriots to go 16-0 and bring perfect rosters into the playoffs, but there isn’t a perfect roster anywhere in these playoffs. No AFC team will enter the playoffs with fewer than four losses. And the Patriots don’t have to be perfect. They only need to win one road game, and the only team currently slated to finish ahead of them, the Kansas City Chiefs, have a quarterback that has never played in the playoffs. The Patriots have already beaten the Chiefs once this season.

The Patriots of 2018 are far from being the perfect team. But to suggest that they aren’t capable of reaching the Super Bowl because of flaws that have been present during previous Super Bowl runs is simply naive. The Patriots don’t win in the playoffs by playing flawless football. They do it by capitalizing on the flaws that everyone else has. As long as Tom Brady is their quarterback and Bill Belichick is their coach, they will have no problem continuing to do so.