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The Patriots are not a good football team and with each passing week, they are starting to resemble the Rod Rust Patriots of 1990.
If you remember that team, they went 1-15. Their only win ironically enough was a 16-14 win at Indianapolis in Week 2. The 1990 Patriots were built similar to this year’s Patriots They had a rookie quarterback in Tommy Hodson, a talented running back in John Stephens that ran behind a mediocre offensive line and a first year head coach in Rust. It is worth pointing out that Rust was way more experienced than Jerod Mayo. The biggest differences between the teams are the 1990 Patriots had veteran skill group and a defense that was not as talented as the 2024 defense.
The pattern of play between the teams is similar so far. The 1990 Patriots were routinely beaten by two scores or more. The 2024 team appears to be headed in the same direction.
Case in point. The loss to the Jaguars. The Patriots got off to a good start on Sunday, jumping out to an early 10-0 lead before getting outscored 32-6 the rest of the way. Drake Maye did his part in his second start, completing 26-of-37 for 276 yards and two touchdown passes. Outside of Maye and Hunter Henry, the rest of the offense had a day to forget. The Patriots only rushed for 38 yards and the wide receivers were paced by Kayshon Boutte who had 1 catch for 33 yards.
The defense was even worse getting shredded by a Jacksonville offense that has struggled all season. The Jaguars had 363 yards of total offense, including 171 yards rushing. The Patriots run defense has been abhorrent all season long which is surprising because the team led the league in run defense a year ago. Terrible run fits and pursuit angles have plagued this unit all season long, continued.
The Patriots looked listless. Once they fell behind, they did not seem too interested in overcoming the deficit and coming from behind. It is too early to say they have quit but whatever the level before quitting is, that is where this team is right now.
Mayo was asked if the team is playing “soft”. It is an honest question given the team’s recent performances. Mayo really could not answer the question.
“I’m not sure. I mean, that’s something that I have to think about. We have a long flight back. ‘m not sure. It’s not like all of a sudden. we did something ditterent and now we’re a soft football team. It’s just the mentality that we got to get back in the guys.”
You can debate whether or not the Patriots are playing soft. What you cannot debate is, the Patriots are a young team that lacks talent at certain positions with an inexperienced head coach. It is a bad combination when you are rebuilding. We knew there were going to be growing pains but I am not sure anyone thought it would be this bad.
The Patriots are not remotely competitive right now, even against bad teams. I am not sure they could beat the Carolina Panthers and they are the only other team in the NFL with one win.
It is one thing to get beat on the field, but it is even worse when your culture is bad and players are starting to question themselves and the direction of the franchise. Once the locker room structure collapses, it is over. The Patriots are on the brink of collapsing.
Most older Patriots fans would tell you that they never thought they would be relive 1990 again. Well, welcome to 2024. A season that is on track to be the worst in team history.