Following Sunday’s heartbreaking overtime loss to the Cowboys at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots fell to 2-4 on the season with an 0-4 record at home.
Is Bill Belichick’s team better than its record?
Could it or maybe even should it have won home games against the Dolphins, Bucs or Cowboys?
Possibly.
Coulda, shoulda, woulda…didn’t.
The reality is that the Patriots are 2-4 heading into Sunday’s battle with the rival Jets in Foxborough. Fall is very much in the air, and so is the need to get a win at One Patriot Place.
“I guess there is the element of urgency that we need to have. But we’re just flipping a new page. We’re 2-4. We know that we’re not a 2-4 team,” tight end Jonnu Smith said. “And I think we just have to continue to come in here with the work mindset, which we have. We’re workers. We just take that approach day in and day out, just try to improve and get better.”
In his first season as a free agent addition in New England, Smith has been in this spot before, back in his time in Tennessee. The Titans were a 2-4 team to open the 2019 season before winning six of its next seven games on the way to a Wild Card playoff berth.
“I think in any team sport the biggest element to have is short-term memory,” Smith said when asked how a team goes about turning things around. “I think just from being in situations in prior years and being on certain teams, I think we found the most success it was just turning that page quickly. I think that’s the mindset we have. I think that’s the mindset teams are supposed to have. Because it’s a new week.
“We can’t dwell, we can’t do anything about last week.
There is nothing we can do about last week. There is nothing we can even do about Sunday right now. All we have is today. That’s all that matters. We’re going to put ourselves in position to go out there today and be our best on Sunday.”
Patriots offensive lineman Mike Onwenu simplified things even further.
“We just have to do our jobs better,” Onwenu said. “That’s the only thing it comes down to. Our record is our record, but the next game is the most important game.”
Because right now the Patriots are indeed a 2-4 football team, one set to host the 1-4 Jets on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
