Pigskin Feels

I am, as they say, all in my feels today. So many pigskin feels.

Let me start with this:

The New England Patriots are broken, literally and figuratively.

Did I actually think the Patriots could win this game? Yes. Yes I did. I actually was wishfully thinking New England could be 4-2-0 when Buffalo came to Foxborough.

After watching the worst defeat in Bill Belichick's coaching career I find myself feeling something I haven't felt about the Patriots in a long, long time. 

Hopeless.

To make it worse, the Jets looked better against the Chiefs than the Pats did against the Cowboys.

To make it even worse, I watched highlights from some of the other games played Sunday and I don't think the Patriots have the talent of the Houston Texans, let alone the San Francisco 49ers.

I've been a Mac Jones stan up till now but I just can't shrug this off as one bad game. Did the "dirty player" narrative sap him of his mojo? Is he too much in his own head? Where's Angry Mac? I miss him.

No, it isn't just McCorkle to blame for the Patriots woes, but it is the nature of the QB position. There's an ineffable it to the great NFL quarterbacks. You think Tom Brady could win with the skill position players on this New England roster? Of course you do! But if you ain't Pigskin Jesus then you are most assuredly Pigskin Judas. Jones may still have a future in the NFL but I don't think it's in New England. A break up would be better for both parties at this point.

The injuries to Gonzo and Judon, on top of the injury to Jon Jones, were too much to overcome in Dallas and may have ended any hopes that a strong New England defense could somehow carry the Pats to the playoffs. That was feeling like wishful thinking even before the Dallas game.

This one was hard to watch. 

I don't know that I've ever seen such a desultory effort from a Belichick-coached team. It wasn't so much that they quit as that they never seemed to get started. They played in Dallas like it was simply a contractual obligation (which, technically, it is), rather than with the emotional commitment necessary to win an NFL game. 

Game day roster bonus? Check.

It's hard to root for a team that doesn't appear to care as much about the outcome as you, the fan, does. I know that's not really fair; I know the players do care. At least, I hope they do.

And I know this loss hurt the players more than it hurt me.

At least, I hope it did.

I'm already thinking about 2024. 

I'm thinking that I'm trading everyone that anyone else will take.

And I mean everyone.

Trent Brown, Hunter Henry, Kendrick Bourne, Rhamondre Stevenson, Lawrence Guy, Dietrich Wise, Jr., Jalen Mills, Jabrill Peppers, et al. I don't care. I'll take as many 6th round picks as I can get.

I don't see a single player on this roster I could credibly think of building a team around.

I'm playing the kids. 

I'm starting Malik Cunningham at QB and giving some run to Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte at WR. No, I'm not expecting that lineup to start an improbable run to the Super Bowl, but it might, at least, be entertaining. 

Whatever.

It is what it is.

And whatever it is, I'll be there for it; for every disappointing, desultory, desperate, near-pigskin-death experience, for every pigskin-soul-crushing minute of it.

And if somehow the Patriots are 3-3-0 when the Bills roll into Gillette?

Yeah. 

I'll be the guy in a gray Patriots hoodie saying I never stopped believing in my pigskin heroes.

Go Pats!