2014 Year in Review: October Edition

Patriots Steamroll Through October

Oct 5, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) reacts after a touchdown by tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) against the Cincinnati Bengals during the third quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Entering October the Patriots just came off one of their worst losses in team history, getting demolished by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football 41-14. Going into Week 5 there were many skeptical fans that were unsure about how this Patriots team would respond facing off against the Cincinnati Bengals, who at the time were leading the AFC North. However Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski made their presence known early and often, Brady throwing for 292 yards and two touchdowns, while Gronkowski caught six balls, including one touchdown totaling 100 yards. That performance would continue throughout the month as they beat the Bills, Jets, and finally the Bears by a combined score of 158-87. The dominance the Patriots showed in October gave Patriot fans new hope that this team was finally coming together and could still have a chance to be one of the top two seeds when the playoffs came around. As good as the Patriots had played their schedule in November looked daunting, facing Denver at home, then traveling to Indianapolis to face Andrew Luck and the Colts, back home against the Lions and finally meeting up in Lambeau Field against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. If you listened to radio stations or TV shows across New England, many analysts said they would be happy going 2-2 during that stretch of games, but even 2-2 would have been a tough record to be confident about since your facing arguably four of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. So as good as October was for the Patriots, many were looking ahead to the road they had and were still skeptical about how this years team would do against some of the best in the NFL.