What has happened to us?
No, I’m not talking about many of us looking like mask-wearing homemade haircut zombies thanks to socially distancing this year. I’m talking about the growing din of people, media and fans alike, clamoring for the Patriots to throw away the rest of the season in favor of a better 2021 draft slot. In years past this is what we’ve seen other teams do, lose to enhance their draft status, punting on the now in hope of someone else improving their tomorrow. Mostly because the Pats were on top and now they were not. And suddenly this is the way in Foxboro?
To quote the great Vizzini in The Princess Bride, “Inconceivable!”
Hard times have fallen on New England. It’s all relative after you were an automatic squad and the team to beat for nearly twenty years. These Pats, sitting currently at 3-5, are not nearly as talented as most years past. They struggled to beat the Jets, have intermittently stayed competitive with division opponents while getting throttled by others commensurate to their talent level. A few final plays break their way and 3-5 could be 4-4 or 5-3 easily. But we’re not here for “Moral Victory” grab-ass.
It is what it is. And it is, halfway through the season, perhaps the most unpredictable NFL season to date. And yet the answer for most is throw it away in hopes of a rookie savior QB?
You’ve all gone S-A-W-F-T. In the head. In morale. All over.
Why not just have Belichick and the coaches come out and say to the team, “Hey guys, I’ll let you play, but you’re not good enough to win it all, maybe tonight even. So go ahead and try but it doesn’t matter to these fans because you’re not the best, nor do you have any chance of competing with the best. Obviously we’re not good enough to scheme you to victory either. Hopefully next year someone better than you will help turn things around for the future, for all of us. Depending on who’s here. But to review we suck. Good luck.”
Are you kidding me?
Spoiler Alert: There’s a 50/50 chance said rookie QB might not be the answer. For every Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow there’s a JaMarcus Russell or Marcus Mariotta. (New draft plan for Pats: don’t draft anyone with a Marcus in their name.) Sometimes a Jimmy Garoppolo pans out in the second round, while a Josh Rosen or Mitch Trubisky burns you in the first where you thought you were getting a franchise quarterback, and instead you set your franchise back a few years.
Losing, for whatever reason, is for losers. Plain and simple.
The idea that this region, that Patriots fans, blessed with premier play and two decades of dominance, now suddenly can’t stomach a rebuild without certain guarantee or imminent excellence is nauseating. Seems people would rather bank their hopes on uncertainty and potential than watch a team try to win with who and what they’ve got. For me, and for other fans, there’s joy in watching a mod squad fight, scratch and claw their way to competitive relevance again, efforting to develop young players while establishing a new culture. I, for one, was thrilled they found a way to beat the Jets. Yes, I typed that. It’s 2020. There are no more surprises. Deal with it.
Losing in hopes of a better draft pick, or just losing in general, is the antithesis of The Patriot Way. Of everything we’ve all come to believe, would teach our kids or how I’d like to think we approach any challenge in this life. And it kinda makes me sick.
There is no tank, no acceptance of defeat, no will to lose in hope of a brighter tomorrow for Belichick. No pro player with any sense of professionalism or pride will take an L, or as some would want, several L’s for the team. People are playing for pride, for contracts, for their future, for the sake of the game and the joy of winning. I watch for all those reasons, and also because I can’t do much more these days. Pats fans were privy to so many wins for so long seems many have lost sight of the idea that each victory is precious and should be appreciated as much.
(Warning: expected “Star Wars” analogy coming): We were the Empire for a long time, but now we are more a Rebellion. Sorry, it’s a culture change, And rebellions are built on hope. And while hope may come in the form of a future long-term quarterback or stud prospect in the draft, it also comes each and every Sunday with the chance to play to win. Not just phoning it in because it’s not the same or the odds are stacked against you. You know to never tell me the odds!
Any coach or competitor will tell you losing begets losing. Losing makes it easier ... to lose. It establishes a culture ... of losing. Plain and simple. I’ll spare the rah-rah speech, Herm Edwards quote and other famous lines about playing a game to win. There’ll be no obstacle is the way stoicism. Those values and beliefs are inherent in any competitor, especially those playing for the greatest coach ever.
Want a recent example of a team that lost and lost a lot, but decided to reverse course and history by trying to win to as to establish a culture of winning for the future? The 2019 Miami Dolphins. They stunk. No team opened a season worse than Brian Flores in his first two games as coach. But by the halfway point of the season they got their act together and played their asses off the rest of the season, finishing at 5-11. Whoopee, right? Except they finished their season by beating the Patriots, and Tom Brady in his final Pats regular season game, as memorable a meaningless win as ever. The Dolphins drafted well and carried that winning mentality over to the 2020 season, where they now sit at 5-3, a potential playoff sleeper, with young talent aplenty. That they have a potential franchise QB in Tua is icing on the cake.
I really hope the Patriots tank ngl craving a rookie draft pick to be hype about
— Ayo? (@washedjean) November 7, 2020
In order to see if there are people who can help this team you play to ... you got it. We’ve already seen players like Michael Onwenu, Jakobi Meyers and Damien Harris blossom this season, in victory and more frequently defeat. How are you supposed to find out what Chase Winovich, Kyle Dugger and Josh Uche, among many, are made of if you don’t do everything to put them in a position to succeed? If they lose because they’re not good enough yet, or the team. is undermanned or overpowered so be it! You find out how players respond to adversity by best preparing them to face it, at their best, not their worst.
Imagine if all of our dads and grandfathers who suffered through all those years of truly terrible Pats teams and cherished every second of greatness in recent year could see these tweets, watch these takes, hear these voices on the radio. Or you ran the total team tank by a Boston sports legend who gave his heart, body and soul night in and night out just because. With hat tipped to the late great Tommy Heinsohn there would be NO TOMMY POINTS FOR ANY OF YOU.
Tank, you absolute C*WARDS @Patriots
— Turkey Brycen 🦃 (@BradyyNFL) November 9, 2020
I’M BEGGING
I’m a fan. I always want what’s best for my team. I also enjoy watching football and, despite the team’s talent level, odds to win or immediate prospects for a championship, rooting for them to win. Which, as Cam has told you, they’re so close to doing. And whether the QB of the future in Foxboro is Zach Wilson, Kyle Trask, Mac Jones, or someone unknown in 2021 or beyond, there are still eight games to play. And the QB of the now and his ragtag squad of veterans, standouts, undrafted randoms and developing role players will be sure to give it their all. Of course the goal is the Super Bowl. That’s the ultimate goal. The immediate goal is try to win one game at a time.
Sunday night. No fans in attendance. Big bad Baltimore is coming to town. The Ravens are seven point favorites. Many believe the Pats “blew it” last Monday by coming back to beat the Jets, but to that sorry lot this game represents as good a chance as they’ll get to resume Operation: Tank 2020 or whatever they call it. The rest of us will be home, together while apart, looking like pale-faced bearded weirdos, rooting for the Pats to upset the Ravens, playing hard, trying to win a football game. And I love it. Because winning cures all, and is always what’s best for any team.
Go Pats.
