The Patriots haven’t given up.
While that might sound like a “no bleep, Sherlock” type of view after their 21-18 win against the Steelers in Pittsburgh Thursday night, it’s not. Plenty of players/teams have been known to subtly pack it in if the season is over early.
And it’s definitely over for the 3-10 Patriots, who were officially eliminated from the playoffs Sunday.
Judging by the inspired effort against the Steelers, however, the Patriots are still putting up a fight. While the notion of trying hard should be automatic given all the money the players make, not to mention jobs on the line, it’s still notable given the circumstances.
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Watching running back Ezekiel Elliott make a potential touchdown-saving tackle after a Bailey Zappe pick; seeing cornerback Jonathan Jones play one of his best games in helping neutralize the Steelers fleet of receivers; and marveling at David Andrews literally dealing with three oncoming rushers on one play was outstanding.
“We ain’t here just to give games up,” defensive tackle Christian Barmore said Monday via video call. “We’re here to play football.”
The players aren’t giving games up, and they’re still playing for Bill Belichick, and that shouldn’t get lost in all the speculation about the head coach’s future, along with their draft standing.
Belichick, in turn, appreciates their efforts.
“I have a lot of respect for what the team has done,” the Patriots coach said during his Monday appearance on WEEI. “They come in every day, prepare, work hard. We’ve lost some close games, and we won one Thursday night, which is great. Hopefully we can stay on that track and keep finding ways to win those close games.”
Obviously, the problem with all of this is that winning is at cross purposes for the big picture goal of landing the best possible draft pick in the 2024 draft.
But what does that really mean?
That they won’t get one of the top two “franchise” quarterbacks if they wind up picking third overall, or below?
Not necessarily.
What it means is if they target either USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye as the can’t-miss quarterback to take them into the future, they’ll have to hand over some assets and move up the board to land him.
While it would be better if they didn’t have to give up anything, that’s still fine. It’s still doable. And the Patriots should be motivated to make that kind of move.
Sitting as the worst team in the AFC, the Patriots have reached the point where they have to go get the players they need, whatever the cost.
Whether it’s surrendering future draft capital to move up the board, or outbidding others for free agents they covet, that’s where it’s at for the Patriots, who have missed the postseason three of the last four years.
Like it or not, they need to be aggressive. They can’t just give up if they perceive the cost to be too high – hello DeAndre Hopkins.
If the Patriots want to get back to relevance, that mindset is pretty much non-negotiable whether Belichick is retained or not.
So what happens from here on out, whether the players are engaged or not, shouldn’t be an issue.
As it is, they’re going to have a tough time trying to take down an angry Chiefs team, losers of two straight, not to mention the Bills in Buffalo, and the resurgent Broncos in Denver.
There’s no question the Steelers win was good for morale. As special teams captain Matthew Slater said Monday, the team was “starving for a win” after five straight losses.
“Everybody has been working really hard. We just haven’t had the results we’ve been looking for, so it means a lot to win,” he said during his media availability. “After going through this season, we all just appreciate what it means to win in this league a little more … look, I know everybody feels different about the way our season is going. But for us, as competitors, we want to go out, and we want to perform well regardless of the circumstances. So it gives us some confidence and hopefully it gives us a little spark, and we’re going to need every bit of spark this week against the Chiefs.”
Indeed they will.
The Patriots going all out to win isn’t likely to change the narrative against more talented teams who need to win to either maintain their playoff standing (Chiefs), or punch a ticket to the postseason (Bills, Broncos).
The Jets are another story, but going 1-3 down the stretch certainly won’t be a draft killer no matter which way you slice it.
When the time comes, the Patriots are going to have to pull out all the stops to change the narrative regardless of where they end up in the draft order.
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