The New England Patriots have an assortment of problems, and one of them might be Bill Belichick. I am writing this just days after their embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
After having some time to think on this, it feels like this is all essentially just the Spiderman meme. You should know exactly which one I am referring to (the one where they are all standing in a circle and pointing at each other).
What I mean by this is that there isn’t just one problem with this Patriots team – rather, there’s an assortment of them. So what exactly is wrong with New England these days?
The Bill Belichick problem
For years Belichick received a ton of praise for the rosters that he put together. It felt like he was cutting corners at times back then, but you can get away with that with Tom Brady under center.
Today it feels like he has taken a more conservative approach on both sides of the ball. The offense’s main goal is to milk as much of the clock as possible, while the defense stands strong.
In theory that could work, but it isn’t really working at all. It’s hard not to think a big part of that is the poor job that Belichick has done in bringing in the proper personnel. It has felt like Bill’s mantra in recent years has been all about patchwork.
The last game-changing signing was back in 2021 with the addition of Matt Judon. Since then it has been nothing but short term solutions and damaged goods.
Belichick and co. failed to do their due diligence on JuJu Smith Schuster, who has contributed just 80 yards in his first four games. They signed him to a contract similar to Jakobi Meyers, whom they let walk and sign with the Raiders in the offseason.
There was no sense here of New England looking to improve their receiving corps to compete in a strong division. Instead it just felt like they were filling a void. It’s still early, but so far this signing has already aged very poorly. Smith-Schuster is averaging just 1.6 yards of separation per Next Gen Stats, far below the NFL average of 2.9. This doesn’t all fall on Bill, but at the end of the day this is the team he built.
The Mac Jones problem
Outside of Jakobi Meyers and Rhamondre Stevenson, the New England Patriots have failed to develop any offensive talent in recent years. This trend looks set to continue as they seem to have ruined a promising rookie quarterback in Mac Jones.
In his rookie season Jones was confident, navigated the pocket well, and finished as an alternate in the Pro Bowl. He also led all rookies in every major passing category.
Jones seemed primed for a great sophomore year in 2022, but he was failed. The lack of surrounding talent was very apparent, and the staff behind him was terrible. Joe Judge and Matt Patricia were hired simply because of their relationship with Belichick. Neither had any real background as offensive coaches.
This led to Mac Jones turning to his old Alabama coaching staff during the season and asking them for help. This, combined with an assortment of injuries and competition with rookie Bailey Zappe clearly took a mental toll on Jones. Zappe should have never been a threat to Jones’ job, but mismanagement created unnecessary controversy.
The former No. 15 pick out of Alabama looks like a shell of his former self at this point. The confidence is nowhere to be seen. For a player once praised for his football intelligence he now regularly makes questionable decisions. It doesn’t help that his receivers do him zero favors, but at the end of the day a player can only have so many excuses. The Mac Jones experiment is looking to be ending much sooner than expected in New England. And it is nobody’s fault but their own.
A lack of “game breakers”
The New England Patriots current roster just isn’t all that talented, and that was before the injuries. Based on names alone the only ones that really stand out are Matthew Judon, Jon Jones, David Andrews, and Matthew Slater. The fact that I am mentioning Slater, who is purely a special teamer, as a standout talent should tell you everything about this roster.
The offensive line depth is shallow. Andrews is still good but is an aging center. Trent Brown has found his stride again as one of the best tackles in football, but Michael Ownenu has seemingly regressed due to injuries. Last year’s first round pick Cole Strange still hasn’t lived up to that billing.
The rest isn’t great either. During the offseason the team brought in Calvin Anderson and Riley Reiff, neither of whom really move the needle. Sidy Sow has also had a very rough start to his rookie season and isn’t up to speed this early on. As for the receiving corps, the team still lacks a true blue chip talent that they can build their passing attack around.
Finding a source of optimism
If that all sounds fairly bleak, that’s because it is. Question marks at quarterback and head coach is never a good thing, especially when your head coach is also your GM. If you look hard enough there might be some sources of optimism though.
If there is one saving grace it’s the defense. This is your typical Belichick defense and seems to be as solid as ever. When healthy your secondary should consist of Jon Jones, Jack Jones, Christian Gonzalez, and Marcus Jones. Before being shut down for the year, Christian Gonzalez was on pace for being in the running of Defensive Rookie of the Year.
They also recently re-acquired J.C. Jackson in a trade with the Chargers. Hopefully a return to New England will be good for a player who earned All-Pro honours last time he was a Patriot.
Rookie second round edge rusher Keion White also flashed in the preseason and has looked good in limited playing time through the first four weeks of the season.
The Patriots are projected to have over $80 million in cap space next offsesaon according to Spotrac, enough to potentially make waves in free agency. They have already locked in playmakers like Matthew Judon, Ja’Whaun Bentley, DeVante Parker, and J.C. Jackson for years to come. Hopefully they can use this cap space to build an offense to match the defense.
They can also expect a pretty good pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Left tackle Joe Alt out of Notre Dame is a popular name among fans thus far. I’d personally prefer North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye, but I would not be mad at adding an offensive lineman if it means our quarterback isn’t being ran over 50% of the time like in 2023.
