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“The Bears are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook!”
Remember those famous words from the late Dennis Green after his Arizona Cardinals blew a late lead against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football? Now replace Bears with Patriots and you will know exactly how Patriots fans feel this morning. After last night, the Patriots are who we thought they were. A rebuilding football team.
We were fooled into thinking that this season was going to turn out better than expected after they beat the Bengals on opening weekend. After Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks, we were talking about how the Patriots let one get away and they could easily be 2-0. After last night, we were reminded that many of the players on last season’s 4-13 team are still here and the 2024 Patriots look like they are going to go 4-13 again.
Patriots Pulse Post Game Show: Jets 24 Patriots 3 https://t.co/dzGEQeJodx
— New England Football Journal ® (@newftbj) September 20, 2024
Many of the issues that plaugued the Patriots under Bill Belichick are still an issue. Bad offensive line play, a wide receiver corp lacking big play ability and no quarterback. At least under Belichick, the Patriots played fundamentally good defense. After the last two games, the fundamentals are lacking and the same defense which kept the team in games last season is now a liability. Belichick took the fall ultimately for last season. Who is going to take the blame this time around if this team is bad again?
Will it fall on Mayo? A rookie head coach who is experiencing his own growing pains or will it fall on Executive Vice President of Football Ops Eliot Wolf for not adquetely addressing some of the team’s glaring needs this off-season? Regardless of who bears the responsibility, last night was a reminder that the Patriots are rebuilding and they have a long way to go.
If you took the cheese after week one, I am sorry. You should have known better. It is hard to win consistently in the regular season if all you can do is run the ball, protect your quarterback and offensive line and rely on your defense to win you the game. You have to be able to throw the ball and make big plays offensively. The Patriots can do neither. They can only play one style.
It is going to be a long season, as expected. It is hard to grin and bear seasons like this, especially in back to back years but when you are rebuilding in any sport, it is a fact of life. The Patriots have enough talent to be competitive but they will not win many games and they certainly won’t be entertaining. It is the NFL, we will always watch but we will also be looking to next season when we hope things get better.
It is important to keep things in perspective. It was a bad loss, but it is also only week three. Many things could change in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, I would not get my hopes up. Between the lack of talent in certain areas and injuries, it is going to be hard for this team to bounce back with their upcoming schedule. The only thing we have to look forward to is when Drake Maye will play? If he should even play at all given how bad the offensive line is right now. Regardless of that, at some point he will play and you have to hope he develops and brings some excitement to this offense.
Until then, we are reliving the nightmare that was the 2023 season. A season that we all wanted to forgot about. After last night, the Patriots are not much different than last season’s team. By seasons end, they may actually be worse.