DeMarcus Ware predicts New England Patriots will be one-and-done

The New England Patriots seem to be in the AFC Championship every year as they face consistently weak divisional opponents and tend to lock up at least one playoff home game and a first round bye every year. They don’t usually end up a one-and-done kind of team like the Kansas City Chiefs.

Former Denver Broncos pass rusher DeMarcus Ware feels differently with this Patriots team, however.

“It’s funny that I feel like the Patriots will be one-and-done in the playoffs,” Ware said on NFL Network’s show Players Only. “And the reason why I say that is because they have not played teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars. They still got to play the Pittsburgh Steelers again. They got to play teams that can really bring pressure and when those pressure situations come on [Tom] Brady, you know what’s going to happen: he folds. He did the same in the [2015] AFC Championship against the Denver Broncos, the Miami Dolphins and so [...] one-and-done. [Brady’s] going to fold [under pressure].”

Although I don’t necessarily agree that Brady folds under pressure. Even in that 2015 AFC Championship game, while being hit a whooping 22 times by that vaunted Broncos defense, Brady still led an incredible comeback attempt that fell just short of tying the game.

That said, the Jaguars defense has intrigued me all season - until last week anyway. I think the AFC is extraordinarily weak this year, which should give the Patriots an easy path to yet another Super Bowl appearance. That is where I think they’ll meet their maker.

The Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, and Philadelphia Eagles all have defenses that can shut down a guy like Tom Brady. If any of those teams make it to the big game, we should be in for a 2015 Broncos defense kind of treat on Mr. GOAT.