Matthew Slater Believes the Patriots Will “Make a Stand and Fight” to Reach Postseason

When eleven-time team captain Matthew Slater speaks, the New England Patriots listen.

Keeping the team grounded is one of Slater’s areas of expertise. The fourteen-year NFL veteran, and three-time Super Bowl Champion, is well-versed in the time honored New England tradition of taking one game at a time. He has experienced winning streaks, as well as rough patches shrouded in defeat. Through it all, the successful Pats’ teams never lost focus.

How did they do it?

According to Slater, it took a great deal of faith and positivity.

“You want to keep your head down, and stay as positive as you can. And just fight through it,” Slater told reporters on Monday when speaking about overcoming adversity; a topic on which the current iteration of Patriots’ requires Slater’s wisdom and counsel.

In the aftermath of their demoralizing 33-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week Sixteen of the 2021 NFL season, New England fell behind Buffalo in the race for the AFC East title, and now sit as the sixth seed in the AFC postseason positioning. It is quite the reversal of fortune for a team which just days ago sat atop both the Division and the Conference

Despite their recent struggles, New England is still highly-likely to reach the postseason. However, following two consecutive subpar performances (resulting in losses to the Bills and Indianapolis Colts in Week Fifteen), questions have begun to arise about the Patriots as a true contender in the AFC.

Still, their two-game skid need not derail the impressive progress which the team showed during the course of its seven-game winning streak. When in doubt, they can be reminded of a time in the not so distant past when their postseason prognosis was not so bright. Through their first six games, the Pats sat at 2-4, clinging to slim hopes of contention. However, the Patriots have prosperously altered their course by blending great coaching with smart, complementary football on both sides of the ball, and strong leadership.

As one of the most respected players in their locker room, Slater still believes that the Patriots can rebound; seeing the promise beyond the grind in the team’s prognosis.

“We have some choices here,” Slater said. “One of the choices is to let this just spiral out of control. And the other choice is (put) our feet in the ground and make a stand and fight."

With over a decade of NFL experience, there is little which Slater has neither seen, nor done. As a three-time Super Bowl champion, the Pats captain is no stranger to success. He has also seen teams succumb to the stresses of adversity. When evaluating the 2021 New England Patriots, the 36-year-old believes that the team’s early struggles will help to galvanize their resolve to play up to (and beyond) their potential.

“This season is a marathon,” Slater remarked. “We’re in the sprint portion of the race now. We have to finish this thing fast and furious. I think everyone understands the urgency that we need to operate with, the resolve we need to operate with, the detail we need to operate with. But, we can’t spend a bunch of time talking about this stuff. We’ve talked about it all year long. Now it’s about going out there and actually doing it. Talk is cheap unless you back it up with action.”

With two games remaining on their regular-season schedule (Week Seventeen at home versus the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Week Eighteen on the road against the Miami Dolphins), the Patriots will need to show the mettle with which they had played during the month of November and early December. Though there are numerous adjustments to be made, Slater is confident in his team’s resolve to not only earn a postseason spot, but also the fear of any and all of their potential opponents.

“I believe in the character of the men in this locker room. I believe that we’ll fight no matter the circumstances, even though we’re facing some adversity right now, I believe that’s the choice we’re going to make.”

The Patriots host the Jaguars at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts at 1:00pm ET for the first game of the calendar year in 2022, on Sunday, January 2.