The last time the Patriots were 0-2 the creators of this site were in 10th, 7th and 4th grade. Fans weren’t sure about head coach Bill Belichick and the franchise quarterback had a ruptured lung. That season ended in disaster as Tom Brady and the Patriots took John Madden’s advice and played for overtime against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The NFL blocked the YouTube clip of Tom Brady’s final drive to end Super Bowl XXXVI that I wanted to post so instead I added 10 minutes of Mo Vaughn obliterating baseballs.
Anyway, this Pats team is looking an awful lot like last year’s team. Drive-ending penalties, throwing short of the first down marker on critical downs and stalling in or around the red zone. There was cautious optimism heading into the season. They missed the playoffs by a game last year with the worst offensive play-calling you can get. So insert a new OC this year, add Juju Smith-Schuster, a really defense and you could have playoff team.
Yet, here we are. The numbers are bad for teams making the playoffs after starting 0-2. Teams are 1-23 when starting 0-2 (The 2022 Bengals represent that 1) since moving to 14 playoff teams. The Patriots are in a good spot to pick up their first win of the season against the Jets but then they face Dallas and what might be the best defense in football.
I don’t expect the Patriots to make the Super Bowl this year, I never did. But, I did think they would be a playoff team. I agree with Matthew Judon that they are a good team even though it hasn’t looked like it. But, good team or not, it is very hard to overcome the mental mistakes this team continues to make. They have to right the ship now or the season will be over before it’s time to trick-or-treat.
Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
The Never Weres 
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