Does the sign at the entry to 1 Patriot Place really read "Abandon hope all ye who enter here?" Yeah. I suppose the comedy hasn't been all that divine for the New England Patriots, lately, has it?
Wait! That "ye" isn't a reference to Kanye, is it?
Remembering the heady days of "on to Cincinnati" as the Patriots are, well, on to Cincinnati once again. You know, back in the day, when Tom Brady was poised at the edge of the cliff? The QB controversy - should Jimmy G start? - that lasted all of about twelve minutes? To this day, every pigskin bobblehead in New England does a Bill Belichick impression with "We're on to Cincinnati… On to Cincinnati… Uh, on to Cincinnati." We can laugh now but the existential pigskin dread then was real. Palpable. Tangible. No fillers or substitutes. Everything good in my pigskin universe was ending. Over. Finito. Done and dusted.
Then it wasn't.
Now?
People are saying the quiet part out loud again, using the F-word in connection with Bill Belichick. As in fired. (There's more than one F-word, people.) Yes, this has been a disastrous year by New England's recent standards but the Patriots are still at .500 and mathematically alive in the playoff race. Some teams (Hello, Detroit!) would feel pretty good about that. The point of view of the observer is everything. I've also seen speculation that Belichick could be traded after the season ends to a franchise desperately seeking relevance (I'm looking at you, Carolina Panthers.)
Once again, the existential pigskin dread is real.
They say everything ends badly or else it wouldn't end, and things could end very, very badly for the 2022 New England Patriots. They will not be favorites in any of their remaining three games - Bengals, Dolphins, Bills - and I wouldn't bet on the Pats to cover in any of those games, let alone win outright.
Caveat: If you're taking gambling advice from me you should probably take a good hard look at the life choices that took you here.
Is it ever too soon to look ahead? To rationalize the past as prologue? (Yes, obviously, the answer is yes but just roll with me here, okay?)
Maybe a 7-10 finish nets New England a Top 10 pick in the 2023 draft and maybe they convert that into three picks that sets them up to rebuild the offensive line.
Maybe the worst thing they could do is somehow finish 9-8-0, miss the playoffs, and land outside the Top 20 in the draft. (This does seem like a very Belichick thing to do, of course. An improbable win over Cincinnati thanks to multiple scores on defense and special teams; a tough, psychologically scarring loss to Miami; a last second Nick Folk field goal for the win over a Buffalo team that had already clinched the #1 seed and didn't even play Josh Allen in the finale.)
Maybe they hire Frank Reich to be the offensive coordinator and heir apparent to Belichick. (Reich would be the right guy to help Mac Jones return to form in 2023.)
Maybe they convert their considerable cap space into 2023 free agents who can make plays in the red zone.
Maybe 2022 was a step back so the Patriots would be in a position to take two steps forward in 2023.
Maybe Belichick was playing the long game, all along.
Maybe.
Maybe I'm an idiot. (There is evidence to support that.)
I do know one thing, though.
It ain't over till it's over.
And 2022 ain't over yet.
So…
Go Pats!
No comments:
Post a Comment