FOXBOROUGH- Losing stinks. Unless you are in position to finish with a top three pick in the NFL Draft. Then it is ok.

It is why Sunday’s game was a win, win for the Patriots. They played hard but came up short in 27-17 loss to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift and the Chiefs.

With the loss, the Patriots are now 3-11 and are one step closer to securing the number two pick in April’s draft. Heck. Let’s aim higher. They still have a good shot at landing the number one pick, especially after Carolina’s win yesterday. 

The 2023 season has been lost for weeks. However, the Patriots are not tanking. They have been competitive in all of their games except the Dallas and New Orleans games. The problem, they are simply not good enough to win close games. 

In order to change that, the Patriots need to draft at the top of each round. The Patriots roster has a lot of holes. No one ever wants to hit rock bottom but if you are going to upgrade the roster, you might as lose and position yourself to take the best players. 

Starting over of course could mean moving on from Bill Belichick but that is o.k. Depending on who you talk to, it is time to make a change at the top and move the franchise in a new direction. 

Regardless of what happens with Belichick, the perfect scenario is playing out. The team is not tanking, playing hard for their coach and giving the fans enough of an effort to keep them interesting. If you are going to be bad, at least be competitive. The Patriots are both.

New England’s chance at landing the second pick in the draft currently stand at 65% Their chances of keeping the pick dropped to 39% after beating Pittsburgh last week but yesterday’s loss solidified their position.

Moving forward, the Patriots need to do what they did yesterday. Play hard but come up short. If they do that, it will be a win, win. For both the organization and the fan base who is hoping that this trip to the bottom of the NFL standings is a short lived stay.