A week after losing what Cam Newton called a “must win” trip to Buffalo, the New England quarterback says the Patriots “have to win” Monday night’s trek to New York to take on the Jets.
The problem – beyond the fact that Bill Belichick’s squad is piling up losses in gotta-have-it games at a record rate that totally devalues and undermines such proclamations – is that the Patriots really can’t win against the Jets. No matter what they do.
If Newton builds on the pre-fumble-the-game-away second half offensive output against the Bills that has some feeling optimistic and leads New England to its first victory in more than a month what does it really prove?
That they can beat the worst team in football? That they aren’t the worst team in football themselves? That they aren’t in Tank for Trevor mode?
Great, first it was moral victories. Now this.
The reality is that the Patriots have indeed been a bad football team over the last month of action and a four-game losing streak that was nearly two decades in the making. With a 2-5 record they are lumped in with a large handful of other bad football teams near the bottom of the NFL standings. They obviously don’t measure up to the dynastic standard for success that has been established in Foxborough or any of the true Super Bowl contenders in the game today.
But the Jets? The Jets are historically bad. 0-8. They aren’t near the bottom of the NFL standings, Adam Gase’s squad IS the bottom of the NFL standings. They’re such a joke that they’re now apparently a hidden-camera comedy show.
Right now the Jets are one of just two teams – you read that correctly, TWO! – that have fewer wins than the now-lowly Patriots.
In the world of the old Bill Parcells quote -- “You are what your record says you are” – New York is one of just two teams – you read that correctly, TWO! – that the Patriots are actually supposed to beat these days.
Tonight in New York (New Jersey, actually) moral victory for New England could be replaced by a hollow one.
Even if the Patriots are taking some type of Kevin Millar 2004 postseason Red Sox approach of “don’t let us win tonight,” the reality is that New England’s season has pretty much already declared itself. The Patriots are looking way up at the Bills (7-2) and Dolphins (5-3) in the AFC East and very much down on the Jets. A dream road to a comeback postseason run is pitted with potholes across the conference, even with a seventh and possibly eighth playoff bid up for grabs.
The only thing that might be less gratifying than bullying the helpless Jets, would be barely beating them or…gasp… losing.
A close win in New York might as well be a moral loss.
And a loss, well, at least that would have the silver lining of improving the Patriots draft positioning come next April when Belichick might be ready to sell out again and invest fully in his football team the way he used to, back when winning was the norm in New England.
Of course that would also involve swallowing quite a bit of rivalry, Border War pride. And might have some wondering if the theoretical loss was a tank job or simply reflective of how far the once-mighty Patriots have fallen.
So tune in to ESPN tonight to see the Patriots play another must-win, have-to-win-game against the “rival” Jets in a Monday Night Football battle that probably couldn’t be less enticing to a national TV audience.
Newton still has a job to do and the players will continue to say all the right things about turning the season around, needing to string together good practices and getting back on the winning track somehow, someway.
But “must win” and “have to win” talk have pretty much lost all value at this point.
And victories over the Jets are worth even less.
