For months, this doomed to fail season for the Patriots needed to end and finally, it all came crashing down on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, NY as they fell 35-23 to the Bills (13-3). They would have made the playoffs if they had beaten Buffalo, something which they can't do anymore without the help of a biblical storm. Besides having very little free time to write these days (haha who knew that a baby was so much work?), this version of the Pats gave me few reasons to bother mentioning them during this utterly pathetic campaign. I never openly rooted against them (although it was close more than a few times in 2022-2023) but I am truly happy that we can move on with our lives now until free agency and the NFL Draft this spring. Head coach/GM Bill Belichick gave us no reason to believe in this team from the start and hopefully finishing with a regular season record two games worse than last year and missing the postseason for the second time in three seasons brings about some real changes that they so desperately need.
You don't have to be a football genius to know that having two complete bozos (say hi Matt Patricia and Joe Judge) take on roles that they have never had before-after each guy flamed out as head coaches in other places-would not go well. Second-year quarterback Mac Jones regressed big time this season but how much of that can you blame on him since he had a quarterbacks coach (Judge) who is best suited as a special teams coach while his offensive coordinator (Patricia) had only ever worked with defenses and offensive lines before this? It is also tough to objectively evaluate Jones when Bill's drafting history in recent years has been mostly terrible and his free agent moves have also been spotty. Did I mention that New England's offensive line was awful-one of the worst in the NFL-and their skill position guys were average at best?
This is now three years post-Tom Brady and it has not been a pretty picture for Belichick who has been seriously exposed without the greatest quarterback in NFL history by his side. Being the second oldest head coach in the league probably doesn't help either along with surrounding himself with nothing but yes men, his sons and his friends. The gap between the Bills and Patriots is scary-like it used to be in the opposite direction. With quarterback Josh Allen leading them, Buffalo has won three AFC East titles and they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Thanks to the Pats' loss and Miami's win in the regular season finale, the Dolphins snuck into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs (where they will have the honor of getting blown out by the Bills next weekend). New England swept their two games with the Jets this season as usual but if New York can just get steadier quarterback play, they will be right there with the Patriots if not ahead of them.
This is all pretty grim if you are a Pats fan. Granted, we had an unprecidented run of success with Brady here that will never be duplicated again in our lifetimes. Still, is it too much to ask to be competitive year after year? Patriots owner Robert Kraft is not dumb at all and he is also not young so you wonder how much longer he will stand for this (being a middling team in the NFL)? I'm not suggesting that Belichick will be fired this week nor that he should be but if they simply run it back with the same flawed set of coaches and incomplete roster, why should we expect different results anytime soon? Without saying it after Sunday's loss, it seemed like two of the few remaining leaders from their glory days (safety Devin McCourty and special teams ace Matthew Slater) are both about to retire thus leaving a huge void in the locker room if that is the case. The 2023 offseason is upon us for the Patriots and they are due for some serious housekeeping if they want to get back to relevance leaguewide.
