Oh please. They scored 14 garbage time points against a shitty 4-7 team at home. That shouldn't impress anyone.
That game fucking sucked and was pretty clear evidence they didn't prepare properly at all. And they've gone from having the inside track on the #1 seed and HFA to very possibly having to play on WC weekend. There are no silver linings to be found anywhere in that game, as it should be. It was a dumpster fire from beginning to end and put a huge dent in this team's postseason chances, because their playoff road very likely got exponentially more difficult.
And I'm so disgusted because they usually DON'T take teams lightly, they don't make such egregious unforced errors in coaching, and they usually make sure to take care of business as big favorites at home.
It was a terrible performance. That's inarguable. Let me just make a few points:
1) I really would counsel some patience with Gronk and Edelman (and Hightower) out. We aren't the same team without them, and all are going to return.
2) As for the bye, as someone else said, Week 16 features CIN @ DEN, so one of them cannot finish better than 13-3. If the Pats win out, they are still guaranteed a bye. Oh, and both the Bengals and Broncos still have to play the Steelers.
3) The biggest things they did wrong felt like momentary lapses or individual bad decisions. Brady making one particularly bad throw. Ebner or others blocking the wrong lane on a punt. Etc. Everything about the Patriot Way and Belichick's system is designed to do things right as often as possible. They won't be perfect, but over a large sample I still trust them to get things right more often than anyone else in the league.
4) Personally, I was impressed by the heart the team showed in the comeback. Most teams down by 21 points in the 4th quarter pack it in and look ahead to next week (see, e.g., the Colts last night). The Pats actually had a chance to tie the game at the end.
Of all (the relatively few) Pats losses in the past few years, I was least bothered by this one in real time. Unless you think the Pats are going to continue to give up 14 points on special teams or Brady is going to throw keep throwing goal line INTs, I wouldn't sweat this loss all that much.
Indeed, given how impressed Belichick obviously was with the team's resilience in Kansas City last year, I thought their furious comeback was heartening and may portend well in the postseason.
Overall: Give me a healthy Gronk, Edelman, and Hightower, and I take this team on any field against anyone in the league.