The NFL is far more popular than other sports, which plays a huge role here. I’m not saying we’re going back to the Rod Rust days but the other teams have an opportunity to claw back some of the attention. We’ll see what happens as the dynasty gets further and further in the rear view mirror and especially once BB leaves.
Curious why 'running it back with BB' seems to be the default assumption of so many observers. If we and the Krafts have learned anything from Bill over these years, it's that the coach ruthlessly believes that nobody should be paid or retained based primarily on past performance. I fully believe that Bob Kraft put Belichick 'on notice' as much as he could this offseason and directed him to fix last year's mess, as illustrated by the hiring of Bill O'Brien (and more importantly, Belichick's demeanor when O'Brien was hired). I'm sure Belichick offered his boss assurances that this year's team had an excellent chance to make the playoffs. Given the shitshow that has ensued, I'm not sure that Kraft should have the same confidence going forward that Bill can truly turn things around on an acceptable timetable. Now, I fully acknowledge that any replacement coach/GM combo is unlikely to execute an immediate turnaround either, but they will have the benefit of some amount of goodwill and patience from the fanbase. Belichick has exhausted his reservoir of goodwill with a large segment of the Patriots faithful, as unfair as that may be given his accomplishments for their team.
I was going to challenge the "afterthought" framing, but I agree with this. Boston was one of the last markets to be absorbed by the NFL borg, but that happened in 1994. The biggest opportunity now is for the Sox, IMO. They can reclaim some buzz this offseason, and build some genuine excitement heading into April 2024, if they make a splash in the FA market. That's been lacking for a long time.
Yes, "afterthought" was a poor choice of words on my end - a little too harsh so that pushback makes sense. The last 20 years will prevent the Patriots from ever truly being an afterthought but I think the Boston sports pecking order is constantly evolving and remains fluid. The Celtics have the best chance at a title and are, objectively, a top 3 team in the league. And they're likely to play an exciting brand of basketball on top of it. The Red Sox are a bit of a mess right now but things could change quickly next year if they bring in guys like Yamamoto or even Ohtani and see some of the kids start to arrive and make a difference. The Bruins play more of a niche sport so I don't think they'll ever approach the Patriots broader following but this is a team that was very exciting during last year's regular season.
The irony here is that as much as interest may be down, you could argue the situation they are in is the most interesting in the last 20 years, maybe aside from Brady leaving. There is just much more to think about and discuss than when they were dominating.
Absolutely. I grew up in Foxboro, and I remember many of my classmates being fans of other NFL teams -- not the franchise that literally played in our hometown -- because the Pats were such a joke of an organization. Of course, they all came around over the past 30 years. But I know the shameful secret of their youth.
Yeah, I'm 41 and went to a few games in the late 80s/early 90s with my dad before we moved out of state. I was obviously quite young then so this really is my first go round as an adult with the Patriots being a true laughing stock. I'm constantly on the receiving end of texts every week of fans of other teams looking to send it back to me after all the gloating I did at their expense. Fortunately, my experience as a BC fan has given me some laughing stock experience to pull from.Absolutely. I grew up in Foxboro, and I remember many of my classmates being fans of other NFL teams -- not the franchise that literally played in our hometown -- because the Pats were such a joke of an organization. Of course, they all came around over the past 30 years. But I know the shameful secret of their youth.
During the game yesterday I had a conversation with my teenage son and told him he's now getting the same experience I had when I was his age (1989). except of course that he got to enjoy 2014/16/18.
I hear ya. For as much as people like to talk about how "awful" the Pats were back in the day, that's not entirely true. Save for one horrible season in 1981 -- which so happened to be the year I remember first following the team (I was 8) -- the Pats were anywhere from average to pretty good from 1976 to 1988. I think people remember what a joke the ownership of the franchise was back then, and all of the calamities that occurred, and forget that the team on the field was very competitive.
I would trade never having to watch the terrible "football" that was "played" yesterday in Foxboro for years of boring talk radio.
I'm also wracking my brain to recall a time since 2001 that Pats talk was considered "boring".
The weren't. You had Brady-Manning, Brady-Giselle, Moss, a near undefeated season, 6 Super Bowl Wins, Gronk, AB, Deflategate and on and on if storylines are your thing.
The bad thing is we might be in 1989, not 1992. We won't know until the end of the season, management changes and the draft. To be honest this would all be easier to stomach if it was happening without BB. Losing abysmally is one thing, but having to compare it to 20 years of brilliance under the same HC is somehow worse.
Is he still spending the offseaon learning from college coaches? You don't hear those stories anymore.
Offseason stuff like that had seemed to drop off before getting revitalized last year. For example, Patriots coaches involved with both the Senior Bowl and the East-West Shrine Bowl (including BB).
Belichick is good friends with Jimmy Johnson. Unless Johnson and Jones make up, I can’t see Bill going there. Maybe Bill would broker the peace?
He doesn't have time left to shop for groceries. He needs to go somewhere where the pantry is already full of gourmet food.
It's certainly been a while, but he did just this with both the Browns and Pats. Maybe he can't recapture that past ability, but it's not like he's a stranger to the methods.
He also sets the specific agenda for that personnel person so they are in sync.
This is basically how he's always done things. He initially hired Weis and Crennel, dudes he worked with in New York. Then he hired entry-level guys and brought them up: McDaniels, Patricia, O'Brien, Flores, Daboll, Joe Judge, none of these guys had much if any NFL experience before they joined NE. He does the same on the personnel side. A lot of the new hires are via referral (all the John Carroll guys) but he finds off-the-wall dudes sometimes too.
I think the coaches knew too; it was a major red flag when they put him on IR even though he was already back at practice.
Really, they needed two tackles, with Brown clearly not getting it done since returning in 2021. With Wynn's departure, that freed up $10M to play with. They then drafted...no tackles at all, depending on free agency. How'd that go?
Losing two games by a combined score of 72-3 is unprecedented in Patriots' history.
Thank God that they only still count as 2 losses, and not like 10. Because it sure feels like they lost 10 games in the last two weeks.
I'd prefer we just get the 10 losses out of the way, rip the band-aid off and move onto the draft. At least there will be some intrigue in the season as we scoreboard watch to see which teams suck worse than NE and risk our draft position. In a way it will be better than the Cam season when we had no hope but also no shot at a top 3 draft pick.
Thanks for breaking down the penny wise pound foolishness. You can do the same for letting Shaq Mason go, the bird in hand, to save money. 12m vs 3m is significant but we’re still wondering if Strange can play and it’s been pretty rough even when healthy.
Nothing is as painful as watching Thune open up holes for Isiah Pacheco, and our injured or sucky guards get no push at all. Plus in a pinch, Thune can play any position on the line.
It's still early and getting back to .500 this season may be unlikely but is possible. I'm having a hard time trying to decide whether that is even a desirable outcome. I think it is because I want the team to be competitive and I root for them to win each week. Furthermore building something out of this low point would feel like a step in the right direction and this team could use some silver linings. I can't root for the team to lose and hope to get a winning lottery ticket with an early pick in the draft. I'm not wired that way. I may change my mind if they continue to get throttled every week but the more likely outcome is I just tune the team out.
I am actively rooting for them but I want them to suck. They are devoid of top-end talent. Who is the best non-injured player on this team right now? Dugger, Bentley, Barmore, Uche? Compare the rosters in the AFC East at what position do the Pats have the best player at his position? I honestly cannot think of one.
It does feel somewhat hopeless and I agree the roster is devoid of bright spots however they may have really bottomed out with nowhere to go but up. A lot can change over the course of 12 weeks and I am interested to see how it plays out.
Today I had my son watch a 30 minute YouTube video of every Pats game highlight package from NFL PrimeTime in 1990.
BB will get another coaching gig if he and the Pats part ways, but no one will offer control over personnel like he has now. I don’t know if that would interest him.
He’s 71 so he might just prefer going to Nantucket at this point. I’m not convinced he’s overly motivated by the Shula thing.
