FOXBOROUGH — It was sloppy. It was disjointed. It was frustrating and hard to watch.
But in the end, Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Commanders was probably a good long-term result for the New England Patriots as wrong as that feels.
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After last week’s loss to Miami, the playoffs, for all practical purposes, moved out of reach. There are two things the Patriots can get from what’s left of another lost year. Good draft position and a chance to evaluate their players, including Mac Jones to determine who should or shouldn’t be part of the future.
The Patriots aren’t tanking. Bill Belichick is likely coaching for his job. His frustration at losing is making him somehow mumblier and grumpier in postgame press conferences. Even obvious questions are getting terse answers. He’s certainly not trying to go through this.
Jones is trying to remain an NFL starter and earn a fifth-year extension. Several other players are playing for contracts. They’re trying to win as they should be. They’re just not very good at it.
Losing to Washington was valuable for keeping the Patriots in position for a top-five pick. The Commanders waved the white flag on their own season when they traded away their top two pass rushers earlier this week for future draft capital. New England missed out on a similar opportunity.
The Patriots are where they are because they don’t have enough talent. It’s fair to blame coaching the past two seasons for some of the issues too, but the talent gap between New England and good teams who are contending for playoff spots is wide.
They can get more talent through free agency and through the draft. The Patriots have the salary cap space to spend and a record that has them projected to pick high… as long as they keep losing.
The Patriots have several games left on the schedule against below .500 teams:
- Sunday vs. the Colts (4-5) in Germany
- Nov. 25 at New York Giants (2-7)
- Dec. 3 vs. Chargers (3-4 going into Monday night’s game vs. Jets)
- Dec. 24 at Denver (3-5)
How they fare in those games could determine whether the Patriots are drafting a generational talent or not. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a quarterback either. They could take Ohio State stud wide receiver Marvin Harrison or foundational tackle and try to find some other answer under center.
So bad game days are actually good as unfun as that is. Patriots fans should be rooting for other bad teams to win, especially those without franchise quarterbacks.
Rooting for the home team to lose doesn’t always deliver the long-term hoped-for results as anyone who ever dreamed of owning a Tim Duncan, Celtics jersey knows. But there is no lottery in the NFL and no value to winning for a team that won’t make the playoffs.
Still, it’s hard to watch happen. Matthew Slater, David Andrews, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Deatrich Wise and others deserve better for their efforts. But too many of the guys around them simply aren’t good enough. Finding that out is valuable too.
Tyquan Thornton deserves a longer look before being written off, but the injury and mistake-prone receiver didn’t impress Sunday. His chances are waning, especially if it’s preventing Kayshon Boutte from getting an audition of his own.
Jack Jones, who should be playing and behaving like a guy who is trying to put his off-the-field issues further behind him, did something to cause him to be benched early. So did J.C. Jackson. Belichick angrily said playing Shaun Wade over Jones and Jackson wasn’t punishment. But nobody uses Wade ahead of either of them unless it’s for discipline or Belichick actually is tanking, (he’s not). It’s worth determining if any of those guys are worth bringing back in 2024.
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It’s going to be a head vs. heart tug of war for fans the rest of the way. It’s no fun to see their team lose on Sunday, but the prospect of not improving enough next year isn’t appealing either.
It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
