Belichick trading down throughout the draft repeatedly generated extra picks, giving the Patriots added capital even as they picked at the bottom of each round. Throughout the majority of the Brady era, Belichick and the Patriots thrived by restocking the roster with draft picks. What should the Patriots do now? It starts with the personnel And while it might be simple to cast their decline around the departure of Tom Brady, the problems afflicting this organization began while Brady was still winning Super Bowls there. To understand what team owner Robert Kraft should do, you have to understand how this team got here. Let's have a thoughtful conversation about the Patriots before answering those questions. Should the Patriots really plan to fire or otherwise move on from Belichick - who has won six Super Bowl titles for the organization - either now or after the season? Should they permanently bench Jones, who is off the franchise quarterback track after excelling as a rookie? Everything feels up in the air. With New England in the middle of a lost season, five seasons removed from its most recent playoff victory, and about to hit its bye week, there are going to be some tough conversations happening over the next several days. Belichick's mercurial decisions with personnel usage from week to week are growing harder to understand, and they go over much better when his teams are winning than they do when they look lost. New England's once-dominant defense has been a league-average unit, in part because of injuries. Jones has been struggling for the better part of two seasons. Now, having replaced them with Bill O'Brien, Belichick is in a thornier situation. The Pats look utterly broken on offense, and their quarterback looks to be getting worse each week.Ī year ago, there was an easy solution: Move on from the ill-advised decision to hire Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to run the offense. The poise Jones showed as a rookie then has turned to flop sweat. They are running out Jones, who looked like a franchise signal-caller during the 2021 season. They've been outscored by 97 points, a figure topped by only the Giants, who are starting their third-string quarterback. Coach Bill Belichick then benched Jones for Bailey Zappe, but the backup threw a brutal pick of his own after a fake spike attempt to end the game.Īt 2-8, the once-proud Patriots have the worst record in the AFC. After Mac Jones drove them into the red zone in the fourth quarter, though, the embattled quarterback tossed an inexplicable interception to Julian Blackmon at the 1-yard line, costing his team a chance at a go-ahead touchdown. Facing a Colts team in the middle of its own rebuild, the Patriots appeared to be in position to pull out a victory. The blowouts were bad, but this might have been worse. Instead, the Pats have lost three straight since their home win over Buffalo, including an ugly 10-6 loss to the Colts on Sunday morning in Germany. Things were bad after consecutive 30-point losses to the Cowboys and Saints, but an upset victory over the Bills was supposed to right the ship. The New England Patriots would like to know when they can stop hitting rock-bottom. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserįire Bill Belichick? Bench Mac Jones? What's next for Patriots
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