Bedard's Daily Briefing 12.17.18: The aftermath from Pittsburgh; Bruins fall to Sabres, face Montreal

PITTSBURGH — It's the morning, it's not good after a Patriots loss, especially their second-straight in December with playoff positioning on the line.

A few random thoughts before we get ready to make the trek back to New England ...

• I still can't believe how many chances the Patriots had to take that game from the Steelers and ... they ... just ... couldn't ... do ... it.


• I don't think Tom Brady was trying to throw that ball away. I think he was trying to give Rob Gronkowski and/or Julian Edelman a chance to make a play and Brady thought there was next to no chance the Steelers would wind up with it. Then Joe Haden happened.


• I think the film will show that the offensive line, besides all the penalties (which looked pretty legit), had a pretty poor game. David Andrews, a captain, declined to speak after the game, as did more than a few Patriots. Andrews slammed his towel down in front of his stall. He's been really good this season but he came up a pressure on the final play. The Patriots had a hard time blocking Stephon Tuitt.


• Like I said in training camp ... J.C. Jackson is an emerging star. That kid gets better every time he takes the field.


• The defense definitely played well enough to win and the offense was responsible for this loss.


• Patrick Chung and Julian Edelman may be two of the toughest players I've ever covered. Both are just toughing it out at this point. Chung's left arm looks like it's hanging on by a string.


• It was Pittsburgh's day on a Pittsburgh day: it was cold, muddy and gray ... exactly the way you picture Western Pennsylvania during football season.


• Patriots fans will be big Eagles/Nick Foles fans next weekend. Quite a role reversal but New England needs Philly to knock off the Texans to get the bye back.


• Why can I just picture the Patriots winning convincingly (at home, of course) in the final two games against the Bills and the Jets, the Texans blowing the bye and all of New England jumping back on the bandwagon hardcore?


• I mean, no one in the AFC will be blowing anybody's doors off but that also includes these Patriots. They might catch fire and make it to the Super Bowl, but it's not because they turn into THE PATRIOTS. It will be because they just cleaned a lot of bad stuff up ... finally.


• Bruins lost to the new-look Sabres and now head to Montreal after falling to the Penguins on Friday night. Tough little stretch here.


• ATTENTION BSJ MEMBERS: Your gift special is now operational. Thanks for spreading the word!