At the very least, the Patriots can chalk up Sunday night’s trip to Baltimore as a learning experience.
New England was handed its first loss of the season courtesy of the Ravens, who ran wild all night long at M&T Bank Stadium. The Patriots weren’t exactly embarrassed in this primetime showdown between AFC powerhouses, but a few of their weaknesses were exposed at a greater scale.
That said, the Patriots have a history of laying an egg or two in the regular season before putting together a Super Bowl run. Former New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi knows this all too well and understands the Week 9 result isn’t all bad for the Patriots in the long run.
To beat this Raven team in the playoffs, this almost had to happen.
— Tedy Bruschi (@TedyBruschi) November 4, 2019
Bruschi probably is right. Just look at last season, for example. While the Patriots didn’t lose their Week 6 tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs, they were pushed to the brink and just barely managed to scrape out a win. The lessons learned in this matchup surely helped New England pull off a road win over Patrick Mahomes and Co. in the AFC Championship Game.
The Patriots have a pretty strong track record in their second game against a team in the same season. So if the Ravens have to venture into Foxboro in January, New England fans still should feel confident despite what we saw in Week 9.
