This past Sunday, the New England Patriots lost to the Las Vegas Raiders, falling to 1-5 on the season. New England's 34-0 loss the week prior to the New Orleans Saints was a monumental one to the organization that continues to move in the wrong direction.
That loss in Foxborough was the 22nd home loss since the departure of Tom Brady — surpassing the total 21 losses that Brady endured during his 18-year stand with New England.
But this doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone around the league, because of the slow decline in recent years. Since the departure of Brady in 2020, the Patriots have finished two of the three seasons under .500, missing the playoffs.
During the Brady era in New England, 2001-2019, the New England Patriots were the NFL’s most dominant dynasty, winning six Super Bowls, only missing the playoffs twice and zero seasons with a losing record.
But it’s apparent Mac Jones and the New England Patriots aren’t nearly close to where they once were. For years upon end, the Patriots had the luxury of reloading around the greatest player to play the game. But now, the franchise is staring at a rebuild in the mirror.
With the Patriots kicking off the season at 1-5, it isn’t necessarily time to panic, but maybe it should be. It’s almost certain that Jones isn’t going to be the next franchise quarterback moving forward. Head coach Bill Belichick has proved his lack of faith in Jones after multiple instances of benching him for backup QB Bailey Zappe. So the question is, where does New England turn to once again become competitive?
Traditionally in the NFL, there are one of three places to turn to first in order to rebuild your team and get the organization back on track: offensive line, edge rushers or quarterback. Luckily for the Patriots, these are all areas of concern that need to be addressed.
In last year's draft, New England took cornerback Christian Gonzalez with the 17th pick, drafting mainly for talent rather than positional need. But on day two, Belichick and company honed in on those positional concerns, taking Keion White (DE), Marte Mapu (ILB) and Jake Andrews (C).
If the season ended today, New England would have a top five overall pick in the upcoming draft. And while the Patriots haven’t become accustomed to losing in the past two decades, it’s what is needed in order to bring in and develop the talent necessary. And once again, luckily for the Patriots, next year’s draft is extremely top heavy in the positions most needed for their current structure.
Obviously, if New England loses enough games this year, it can put itself in prime position for the most highly touted prospect since Andrew Luck: Caleb Williams. But even if the Patriots can’t win the tank-a-thon, players such as Dallas Turner (LB), Jared Verse (DL), Olumuyiwa Fashanu (OT) or Amarius Mims (OT) could become cornerstone pieces for the rebuild in New England.
After years of barely keeping their head of the water, it seems as though the Patriots are slowly sinking. With multiple concerns about the offense, don’t be surprised if this Patriots team finishes with a top-five draft pick at the end of this season and quickly addresses either the quarterback or offensive line.
