The Never Weres

They had us fooled. December 6th after the Patriots beat the Bills in Buffalo, a game where Mac Jones threw three total passes, we thought the Patriots were back. There was talk of the number 1 overall seed. I was convinced that they were the best team in the AFC unless Kansas City could figure it out. Well, one of those things happened. Kansas City figured it out. The Patriots got obliterated by the Bills 47-17. It was easily the worst game I remember watching the Patriots play in the playoffs. Not the worst loss, that title will always and forever be Super Bowl 42. When Josh Allen was strolling out of bounds and flicked a pass, which looked like he was throwing it away, to Dawson Knox to cap off their *FIRST* 11-play touchdown drive of the night things looked bleak. It was so much worse.

I’m not going to write about that game. I am going to bury the football and walk away from it. What is more upsetting is that it seems as if we were duped by this team, hoodwinked I tell you. They were a good team. They were a team that deserved the 6th seed. But, they were never that team they looked like in early December. All we have to do is look at the teams and quarterbacks that they played in their wins this year:

Week 2: Jets – Zach Wilson

Week 5: Texans – Davis Mills

Week 7: Jets – Mike White

Week 8: Chargers – Justin Herbert (The first good QB they beat)

Week 9: Panthers – Sam Darnold

Week 10: Browns – Baker Mayfield

Week 11: Falcons – Matt Ryan

Week 12: Titans – Ryan Tannehill

Week 13: Bills – Josh Allen (We’ve discussed this game was flukey)

Week 17: Jaguars – Trevor Lawrence

So the outliers here are the Titans, who won the top overall seed, the Chargers, and obviously the Bills. The win over the Titans was maybe their best win of the year. When we look a little closer though Derrick Henry, A.J. Brown, and Julio Jones were all out. The Titans still managed to rush for a cool 270 yards while the Patriots scored only 3 touchdowns. The Bills game in week 13 was a complete mirage because of 50 mph winds. Josh Allen was still throwing the ball and lost because his last-second pass got knocked down by someone he later torched throughout the next two games.

The season wasn’t a complete failure. The Patriots moved on from the Cam Newton debacle of 2020 and made the playoffs with a rookie QB. The offense wasn’t great Saturday night but it certainly wasn’t the problem. Falling behind by double digits for the 4th time in 5 weeks will cause you to change your game plan. If New England can figure out a way to get an explosive receiver to pair with Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers, and Hunter Henry the offense could really cook next year. The offensive line and the running backs are the strength of the team. They are close to being a legitimate offensive threat. I think we can talk about the defense when I am in a better place than the morning after a game they let up 7 touchdowns on 7 drives. 

Another silver lining about the Patriots making the playoffs is that even with a loss it shortens the time between the end of football and the start of spring training. So we have that going for us. *Checks the latest MLB news* Oh no…

Photo of Ju’Whaun Bentley by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images