When Nothing Makes Sense

The Patriots are doomed.

Aaron Rodgers is hurt and the Packers are under water. Jimmy G has a blown ACL and the 49ers, well, they weren't going to make the playoffs in 2018. Le'Veon Bell is still holding out and Ben Roethlisberger may have done more than just go golfing with Donald J. Trump back in the day. At least one pigskin pundit is wondering if Dak Prescott is a bust. And the Oakland Raiders have proven that if you're going to get in a time machine to find a head coach, you should go forward, not backwards in time. Unless your plan is to steal Sean McVay from his crib.

After the "Did that just happen?" loss to the Lions, Bill Belichick used his practiced monotone to remind the microphones surrounding him that after three weeks no team has qualified for the playoffs and no team has been eliminated. That, as they say, is factually true. Also factually true: The Patriots are 1-2-0 and splitting the rent on the AFC East basement with the Jets and Bills.

We're on to Miami.

Playoff elimination mathematics aside, this Sunday's game against the 3-0-0 Dolphins qualifies as "must win." Yeah, sure, it's a long season. Plenty of football left to play. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. (Somebody, please, stop me before I aphorism again!) Let's face it; it isn't that the Patriots have lost two games in a row, it's the way they've lost those two games.

Desultory - adj., lacking a plan, purpose, or enthusiasm; half-hearted, unfocused.

Maybe this is the end that so many pigskin pundits and bobbleheads have predicted; that so many fans of the Other 31 have long hoped and prayed for. The defense can't stop the run, can't rush the passer, can't run with anyone else's wide receivers. The offense can't run the ball, the receivers can't get open. The Patriots are old and slow and worse, they're the opposite of whatever the "new football" is. It's all or some or none of those reasons. Whatever it is, there seem to be far too many problems for the return of Julian Edelman or the redemption of Josh Gordon to fix.

We're on to Miami.

Maybe it's rationalization but this doesn't feel all that different from Kansas City 2014.

No, I'm not predicting a Super Bowl turnaround for the 2018 Patriots.

Maybe it's just that it's the Patriots and everything that happens in Foxborough seems to auger an extinction level event. The dramas in Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Houston, and West Las Vegas have got real juice, but somehow, the sitrep from New England feels existential; it isn't just a couple of weeks of bad football, it's the end of days.

Except it isn't, of course. If the Patriots lose this Sunday they will still be contractually obligated to play 12 more games. If the Patriots lose this Sunday they could still finish 13-3-0. Or 1-15-0. Math can be so unforgiving sometimes. Let's pencil in 11-5-0 (and yes, I'll admit, right now that feels like wishful thinking on my part). We'll see how it goes but maybe it doesn't matter. They're still my boys, ride or die.

We're on to Miami.