FOXBOROUGH – January 7, 2024 may forever be remembered as Bill Belichick’s final game as head coach of the New England Patriots, and it won’t be a pleasant memory.
The offense had one final dud left in a year full of them, putting up just 119 yards and six first downs in an ugly 17-3 loss to the Jets to finish off a disastrous 4-13 season, the worst for the franchise since 1992. The loss also ended a 15-game winning streak against the hated rival.
With multiple holes at important positions and questions about who will be leading the Patriots into 2024 and beyond, Sunday’s snowy, icy ending was extremely fitting.
“Disappointing finish there today,” said Belichick postgame. “I have a lot of respect for the way the players competed all year…it was a disappointing year for all of us. Players, coaches, staff, the entire organization. Not anything any of us are in any way content with, but it is what it is.”
This one was about as ugly as you’d expect with two bad offenses and snow pounding down on Gillette Stadium throughout the day.
By the end of the first half it was near whiteout conditions and the Jets led 6-3. In the first quarter, the Patriots ran 12 plays, didn’t have a first down and had -7 yards of total offense while punting four times. The NY offense wasn’t much better, punting twice, but they did get a Greg Zurlein 21 yard field goal after the Kets recorded the game’s first first down with just 5:40 left in the quarter.
The Pats’ offense finally put a drive together in the second quarter and got their first first down when Jalen Reagor hauled in a 33 yard pass down the sideline. The 10-play, 50 yard possession nearly ended in a Mike Gesicki TD, but it was broken up at the last second in the end zone. Ultimately, New England settled for a 30 yard field goal from Chad Ryland with 9:32 left in the half.
Another Zurlein field goal from 40 yards out put the Jets up 6-3 with 6:07 left. In the final 30 seconds, Zurlein came up short and wide left on a 49 yarder.
New York had eight first downs to the Patriots’ two in the first 30 minutes, while the Pats only mustered 69 total yards to the Jets’ 133.
“Can’t sit up here and say the weather screwed us, both teams had to play in it,” said Zappe, who threw for just 88 yards at a 12-30 clip.
Things stayed ugly in the third quarter as the Pats punted three times and had just 27 yards of offense, still trailing 6-3 heading into the final 15 minutes of the season and most likely the Belichick era as the snow continued to whip around and cover the field.
New York made it 9-3 with 8:08 to play on a 32 yard field goal. After a Patriots punt, New England forced a turnover on downs at its own 40 with 3:37 remaining. On the second snap, Zappe was picked off, but Mike Gesicki stripped the ball and Vederian Lowe fell on it at the Pats’ 41. Just two snaps later though, Zappe was picked off again. Two plays after that, Breece Hall ripped off a 50 yard TD run to put the game away. One final turnover on downs for New England officially ended the mind numbingly bad season and maybe, the Bill Belichick era.
While there is uncertainty surrounding the future of the team, there is little uncertainty surrounding Matt Slater and his impending retirement. Although he wouldn’t completely confirm it postgame, his teammates all had hoodies on pregame in his honor, and there was an emotional hug between Slater and his parents pregame. Following the postgame press conferences, the Slater family also enjoyed some time out on the frozen tundra at Gillette Stadium.
“Let’s talk about that another day. I just want to express my thanks to those guys in that locker room today,” Slater said postgame when asked if this was in fact the end. “All the love and support I received this whole season, but certainly today and this week…I’m just proud to be a part of that group. Even though the season was what it was, to come in and be able to work with those guys really meant a lot to me.”
One other guy who was quite emotional as well postgame was David Andrews. Sunday may have been his last game in a Patriots uniform too, but he wasn’t ready to call it a career just yet while holding back tears.
“I still think I’ve got something left in the tank, you know?,” he said. “But, we’ll see. I’m tired. I’m sore. It’s been a long year. I’m going to go home, go back to Georgia. I’m gonna’ sit on my tractor with my son, take him deer hunting and I’m going to get back to work and see where it goes from there.”
Whatever happens next for the Patriots, we won’t be getting any an answers just yet as Belichcik alluded to in his postgame comments. But, if you’ve watched or been around the team this year, you know that change in some shape or fashion is now inevitable and a new era is most likely on the horizon.
“As far as the future goes, I’ll sit down with Robert as I do every year at some point at the end of the season and we’ll talk about things as we always do,” Belichick added. “I’m sure that’ll happen, but that’s really about all I have to say about that right now because there isn’t anything else to talk about.”