9 takeaways as Patriots venture into great unknown

FOXBOROUGH — As the Patriots season skidded to a snowy 4-13 halt at Gillette Stadium, there was plenty to be gleaned.

Bill Belichick lost to the Jets, 17-3, for the first time since 2015 and now his future is wholly uncertain. What is certain is that the Patriots finished with the worst record of Robert Kraft’s tenure as owner and all eyes will be on Foxborough this week.

Here are nine takeaways from a wintry afternoon Gillette Stadium:

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1. Who knows what comes next?

Following the loss, Belichick wasn’t willing to discuss the road ahead at all.

“I’ll address some questions on the game. As far as the future goes, I’ll sit down with Robert as I do every year at some point at the end of the season and we’ll talk about things as we always do,” Belichick said. “I’m sure that will happen. But that’s really about all I have to say about that right now because there isn’t anything else to talk about.”

As discussed at length in this week’s mailbag, there are a few different ways this meeting could shake out, and the ball is more in Belichick’s court than most realize. By this time next week, the Patriots could be in the market for a new coach, a new general manager, or both. We’re into uncharted territory.

Belichick was asked whether he wants to be back in 2024 and answered predictably.

“I just finished the game with the Jets,” Belichick replied. “It was a very – I put everything I had into it this week and tried to prepare our team the best I could to play in it.”

2. Great draft pick

Whoever is making Kraft’s selection in the 2024 NFL Draft will have a great pick to kick things off.

With the loss, the Patriots will pick at No. 3 overall, their highest selection since drafting Drew Bledsoe at No. 1 in 1993. With the third pick, the Patriots will be able to take a potentially game-changing offensive weapon, whether that’s Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, or Marvin Harrison Jr.

3. Worst season of Belichick Era

With Sunday’s loss, the Patriots finished dead last in the AFC, and Belichick lost 13 games for the first time in his head coaching career. Between Cleveland and New England, he’d never finished worse than 5-11 in a season.

“It’s a disappointing year for all of us, players, coaches, staff,” Belichick said. “Entire organization. Not anything that any of us are in any way content with, but it is what it is.”

4. Fitting finish for offense

As was the case all year, the Patriots offense simply wasn’t good enough.

They’ll finish tied for dead last in scoring at 13.9 points per game. Given a whopping 15 possessions, Bailey Zappe and company picked up just six first downs and 119 yards of total offense. They went 1-for-14 (7%) on third down and 0-for-3 on fourth down — and it was every bit as ugly as the box score makes it out to be.

5. Zappe not a long-term answer

He was sacked seven times behind a porous offensive line, but after a couple gutsy wins, it’s evident that Zappe isn’t any sort of long-term solution at quarterback. He’s a serviceable backup and will likely get a chance to compete at training camp next summer, but his limitations have become clear once again. On Sunday, he finished 12-of-30 for 88 yards with two interceptions.

“There’s a lot of things that I feel like I improved on,” Zappe said. “There’s a lot of things that going into this off-season, talking with the coaches, I’m sure this week, there’s some things that I’m going to have to fix and get right before next year, of course. Turnovers is one of them.”

6. Bizarre ending for Mac Jones

After opening the season as a face of the franchise, Mac Jones wasn’t even the backup quarterback to close it out.

The 2021 first-rounder was relegated to emergency third-string duty for the season finale, as Nathan Rourke leapfrogged Jones to serve as the backup. It was an unexpected end to a trying season for Jones. The quarterback is expected to address the media on Monday, so perhaps some clarity will come there.

7. Defense did its job

As was the case for most of the season, the Patriots defense played well enough to win. They held the Jets to 254 yards of total offense and the 17-3 final was inflated by a late touchdown Breece Hall scored as the Patriots were selling out to try to get the offense the ball back. They’ll finish Top 10 in total defense, but were consistently let down by poor play in the other two phases.

8. Barmore finishes strong

Christian Barmore’s breakout season ended appropriately, as the third-year defensive lineman led the team with a career-high 10 tackles — two for a loss — and registered a quarterback hit on Trevor Siemian. It may have been a lost season in the standings, but it wasn’t for Barmore’s development.

9. Big personnel decisions ahead, too

The Patriots will look drastically different on the field next season, as they have 21 players slated to hit free agency. The biggest names on the list are Trent Brown — who is almost certainly gone — Hunter Henry, Zeke Elliott, Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche, and Mike Onwenu. Whether Belichick or a new personnel evaluator, major decisions are looming.