Moral victories will never count in the win column, and it’s hard to argue the Patriots’ record shouldn’t be exactly what it is: 1-2.
That’s what the Patriots deserved to be last season after dropping the season opener to Miami (deja vu, anyone?) and falling to the New Orleans Saints in an ugly Week 3 loss, and that’s what they ought to be now after failing to take advantage of their chances to upset the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday afternoon.
If you ask Davon Godchaux, though, not all 1-2 records are exactly alike.
"You never want to start the season 1-2, with a losing record. But I like how it stands this early on in the season [compared to] last year," he said after Sunday's loss to the Ravens. "I see the team progressing. I see the steps being made. We just gotta keep going, keep fighting."
Weirdly enough, Godchaux might just be onto something.
One disclaimer: I expected the Patriots to be 1-2 to start this season. In fact, I think they’ll be 1-3 when Week 4 is over. Mac Jones’ injury might make stealing some of those mid-season wins a bit more difficult than previously thought, of course. But for now, New England is playing more or less like what they were expected to be: a team in transition without elite talent.
On the other hand, I thought that 2021 squad should’ve had two wins coming out of the Saints game, and the thoroughly sloppy and uninspired loss they endured in Week 3 last year simply felt un-Patriots-like.
Sure, they “had their chances” in that game, too, which also featured three Jones picks — those weren’t all his fault, though. But this performance, as Godchaux suggests, seems like it offers more upside in comparison.
The Patriots led twice in a contest they entered as 3.5-point underdogs, making life tough on Lamar Jackson for a half. The offense continued to take steps forward, with DeVante Parker (five catches for 156 yards) breaking out in a hugely necessary way. The defense got pressure all afternoon — something they couldn’t say against the Saints last year.
Bottom line: there are reasons to think the arrow for these 1-2 Patriots is, in fact, pointing up on the whole. I mean, the offense we all expected to be an absolute abomination scored 26 points. That’s progress (despite Matt Patricia and the offensive coaching staff making the occasional befuddling play call)!
Of course, Jones’ injury is now about to throw a wrench into that positivity.
Though he hasn’t been particularly good, you’d still take him over Brian Hoyer or Bailey Zappe at this point. Also, if you can push the interceptions to the side a moment, his aggressiveness is starting to consistently yield big plays. His legs have also been more useful this year than last.
Unfortunately, Jones’ momentum is about to be derailed with a suspected high ankle sprain likely to keep him out a few weeks and possibly land him on IR. Assuming that’s the case, none of the “easy” wins projected in the middle of the schedule are gimmes anymore. On top of that, he will have to knock off rust while ironing out his early-season interception woes when he returns.
Honestly, the Patriots’ season wasn’t really going to be in the balance if they lost to the Packers next week. They’ve come back from a 1-3 record to have a good season before — literally last year — and were set up to do so again.
Losing Mac Jones for any amount of time does put them in trouble, though, and might muddy the waters about his future outlook if his growth is stunted.
Godchaux's not wrong: this Patriots team does have the makings of a better unit than a 1-2 record would tell you right now. They'll have to prove every bit of it in the weeks to come if they don't want to get left behind.
