The unthinkable has happened. The Patriots have lost. In fact, not only did they lose, they were blown out by the Jaguars. The loss comes with the inevitable headlines: Brady has lost a step and is about to fall off the cliff. The defense is slow and lacks any significant play makers. The offense doesn’t have enough weapons to compete at a high level all season. This is finally the year that the rest of the league catches up with the Patriots.
Let’s all pump the brakes. The Patriots played a terrible game on both sides of the ball, and the coaching also wasn’t great. But that doesn’t mean this is going to be a lost season. Remember what the Patriots looked like opening night last year? They were run off the field by the Chiefs. They looked as though they would be noncompetitive all season. They finished the season 12-4 and lost in the Super Bowl.
The offense has some things to figure out. Edelman coming back week 5 will certainly help, but they need to find ways to get their players open in different ways if they’re going to score points this year. Does anyone doubt that they’ll figure it out? They always have, and they have some talent on offense this year, so they’ll be fine.
The defense looked slow and couldn’t generate any pressure against the Jags, but they looked fast and were able to push the pocket and cause lots of pressure against Watson last week. They will figure out exactly where guys will fit and play moving forward and their defense will be fine. Will it be top 10 like some thought before the season, who knows, but it’ll keep the team in games and be fine moving forward. Again, there’s way too much talent on that side of the ball to think otherwise.
I understand the headlines and panic. People that hate the Patriots can’t wait for the day the Patriots don’t dominate basically every other team in the NFL. And Patriots fans are deathly afraid of this run ending. It will have to end one day, and when you look around the league at some of the teams, it’s impossible to not know how lucky we are. Having the potential of ending up as one of those middling teams is terrifying for Patriots fans.
We must do what we’ve been doing for years, trust that Bill and Tom will figure it out. They haven’t let us down yet, and there’s no reason to think they will this year either.
Pat is the host of the Weekend Warrior Podcast
Interact with him on Twitter @wtplane