The New England Patriots officially hit rock bottom last night in an embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Bills are the first AFC East team to sweep the Patriots since 1999. The 38-9 loss is now the largest home loss in the Bill Belichick era.
I tried to warn people that this would be the new normal for the Patriots, and I think people are starting to realize that the Patriots are finished. The Patriots have lost their edge, and teams no longer fear them. The times of teams coming into Gillette and absolutely crapping themselves are over because the Patriot mystique is gone.
Last night the Bills disrespected the Patriots because they wanted to send a message. The Bills exposed the Patriots as they ran a fake punt where nobody covered the gunner, and they went for it on 4th down multiple times. The 4th down attempts were eye-opening because most of them were on their side of the field. Teams this season have been unafraid to go for it on 4th down on their side of the field because they don’t fear the Patriots’ offense.
The Patriots have looked dysfunctional all season, including the coaching staff, which is worrisome. The decision to challenge an obvious catch was not typical of the Patriots, and the frustration from Belichick told it all. The team looks like a bottom of the league team and they have a long way to go in their rebuild.
The Patriots have also hit rock bottom at the quarterback position. Belichick thought he could win with any piece of trash he could find on the street, or otherwise known as Cam Newton, but in reality, you can’t win with bottom five quarterback play. To make matters worse, Jarrett Stidham has not shown any signs of being a true starter, so the Patriots are back at square one. The Patriots have to have a completely new quarterback room next season because none of their options are the answer.
The Patriots are about to embark on a rebuild that won’t be done overnight. The Patriots have too many holes on their roster, which will make this a multiple-year rebuild. The team will have over 50 million in cap space and a top 15 pick to work with. The Patriots need to improve their run defense, they need a coverage linebacker, a foundational wide receiver, and a solid tight end. Even if the Patriots solve some of these issues and sign a guy like Matthew Stafford, it still won’t be enough to challenge the Buffalo Bills.
The sad thing is that we still have to watch this team for another week before we can get to free agency and the draft.
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