I’ll admit it. Like a decent chunk of you, I felt pretty encouraged after the Patriots overtime loss in Green Bay on Sunday. Not only were the Pats right there with a chance to win in overtime but to do so in a tough environment on the road at storied Lambeau Field, is noteworthy for sure. Moreover, to do so first, with their backup quarterback, then with their third-string, rookie quarterback! I left the couch feeling, well, not so bad. Given the situation and the narrative surrounding team, that’s been batted around endlessly since the spring, that feeling seems more than justified.
Candidly, during most points of this season’s games, I’ve left the Sunday aftermath of the Patriots' 1-3 start a little more encouraged then I ever thought I would be. That’s despite the strip sack for a touchdown in Miami, the Anna Nicole-Smith level decline of Isaiah Wynn and the ghastly timed, game-losing Mac Jones interceptions versus Baltimore. That however is based purely on the otherworldly weirdness and the tsunami-level reporting of the Patriots' ineptitude all summer long. Unanswered questions regarding the Patriots coaching choices, scheme changes and communication breakdowns have left many Pats fans with sore heads that have been scratched at so much, that we need new areas of our collective bodies to itch.
All that said, everything changed at about midday Wednesday for me. I just can’t hear the phrase “Moral victory Monday” anymore. I just can’t. At least not for another seven weeks. It’s time to start stringing together some wins. Remember that feeling?
Starting this Sunday, the Pats face six opponents in a row that the Patriots we used to know, would mop the floor with.
Enter the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts and then yes, the Jets again. I know this Patriots team is not the team we knew and loved from 2001-2018, I get it. However, let’s not forget that last year’s Belichick/Mac Jones-led squad ripped off seven wins in a row themselves. So even while Mac is out, I’ve got to say that when comparing the sum of the parts of the full 53-man roster this year versus last, 2022 actually looks a little better from top to bottom. So guess what? I’m calling for a winning streak. Give me five wins anyway.
Five wins during this ‘old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like you’ part of the schedule, would get the Pats to 6-4 at the bye and that would be ok. Dare I say, a moral victory for the season? Sorry.
Seriously though, if there have been enough positive signs to pull out of the first quarter of this losing season thus far to continuously declare moral victories, then there is enough there to start winning games versus the dredges of NFL society. Belichick can scheme it up and keep it close. Hoyer if healthy and called upon, can run it effectively enough to compete. And Bailey Zappe? Yes. Yes, I want him playing while Mac is recovering from injury and yes I think he’s talented enough to win with this Patriots team and this coach versus these opponents. Yes and here’s the rationale.
Mac Jones is a good player, he’s also a thinker. We know that. His visible frustration since the summer with all of the changes in coaching, communication, scheme, play design, play-calling et al, has been well chronicled and I supportively say well deserved. It’s also been pretty clear to see publicly. It’s been a series of year two gut punches for the Pats' hopeful quarterback of not only now but the future and those punches and his reactions to them publicly aren’t very healthy. Like his ankle.
So while Mac sits, watches, absorbs and thinks while his high ankle sprain heals, maybe it’s not such a bad thing to have a foot soldier on the battlefield who will just take orders. Zappe has the arm talent and more importantly, looked pretty comfortable in what could have been a very uncomfortable first NFL game situation. But he wasn’t. He did his job as his new mentor asked of him and the result was pretty good for a first rep. Now, as the Pats' offensive design and play-calling evolve it remains a work in progress. Better than summer, better than week one and so on down the line. Right now with the soft part of the schedule staring the Pats in the face, I’m thinking this is a perfect time for everything to develop. Maybe just maybe, this isn’t the time for questioning, it’s time to take the orders, read and react; something Mac did so well most of the 2021 season.
So I say, take advantage of the schedule ahead of you the next six weeks, play the kid and let it fly. If it doesn’t work there will be no moral victories against this lot of competition and your Patriots will officially stink. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. I saw enough on Sunday in Green Bay to make me think five to six wins over the next six weeks is possible. Now it’s on Belichick and Patricia to make it work with what they have and there will never be a better opportunity this season than right now to show it. The time for moral victories is over and the time for real victories is now.