The Patriots are regressing at every position, including coaching

How did we get to this point? For two decades, the Patriots have been a model of unprecedented continued excellence. They were the model franchise. They had the Midas touch. Everyone wanted to be the Patriots.

In a short period of time, they have gone from an 8-0 start as recently as 2019 to a team that may very well be the worst team in the NFL.  That 2019 team, even with Tom Brady, lost three of their last five games. The slide had begun.

There is not one a single position group on the team that is doing well. On almost every play there is a breakdown. It is almost comical - whether it isTrent Brown missing blocks in which he doesn’t even lay a finger on his defender, JC Jackson not willing to make contact with a runner, a botched fake “tush push,” Mac Jones throwing across the field, not once but twice in the same drive.

Let’s look at all the position groups:

Quarterback

Mac Jones has been benched the last two weeks. How many times have you seen a starting quarterback get benched in consecutive weeks and retain his starting job? The reason he is starting this week against the Raiders is the Patriots have no one better. Remember Jones was the only quarterback on the active roster when the final cuts were made after training camp. None of the other 31 teams wanted any of the other three QBs on the team - Bailey Zappe, Will Grier, or even Malik Cunningham. Mac Jones is damaged goods and he is done here in New England. He desperately needs a change of scenery to rejuvenate his career.

Running back

The Patriots passed on Dalvin Cook and signed Ezekiel Elliott just before the season. Rhamondre Stevenson was expected to have a break out season now that he wasn’t sharing snaps with Damien Harris. He, like everyone else on this team, has regressed. He is not breaking tackles and getting yards after contact like he used to. He is averaging only 1.7 yards after contact. Basically, if he were to just fall forward, he'd average more than that. Never mind not having rushed for 100 yards in any game this season, Stevenson is yet to break the 60 yard threshold. Blame the offensive line all you want, but Stevenson isn't hitting holes or defenders as hard as he did the last two years.

Wide Receiver

The Patriots chose to sign a damaged JuJu Smith-Schuster over re-signing Jakobi Myers. They gave DeVante Parker an extension. Both veterans should be put to pasture. Instead, both cashed in. They should be arrested for robbery, and Belichick as an accessory. Belichick also chose not to fully pursue Deandre Hopkins.

Kendrick Bourne was supposed to be utilized like a much, much, much poorer version of Deebo Samuel. That hasn't worked. Belichick’s penchant for not trusting rookies has buried the Patriots’ two most explosive receivers, Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte on the bench.

Tight Ends

Mike Geseki was viewed as the other big offseason acquisition, along with Smith-Schuster. He was supposed to be an upgrade as a red zone target. The Patriots haven’t been in the red zone often enough to test that theory. Hunter Henry continues to be the Patriots most reliable target, but, other than a great one-handed catch on fourth down against the Eagles, can you remember another big catch by him this year? Unknown Pharaoh Brown has the last touchdown scored for the Patriots - three weeks ago. Jonnu Smith, meanwhile, already has more yards receiving for the Atlanta Falcons than he did last year for the Patriots. Just saying.

Offensive Line

Last season’s controversial first round draft pick, Cole Strange, has been nowhere to be found this year. Mike Onwenu is supposed to be the Patriots’ best offensive lineman, but, guess what, he has regressed and is a shadow of his old self. Veteran center David Andrews has struggled at times. Trent Brown was given a raise during the season and played inspired football for one game before regressing into “I don’t care” mode. The two rookies Atonio Mafi and Sidy Sowe have not shown any improvement or development despite huge amounts of playing time. Belichick traded for Vederian Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley, Jr. Lowe has been starting and doing an amazing impersonation of a turnstile at right tackle. Wheatley hasn’t even seen the field despite how bad the offensive line has been, so how bad is he? Offensive line coach Adrian Klemm hasn’t been mentioned much, but he deserves criticism.

Defensive Line

Rookie Keon White showed tremendous promise during the exhibition season, but he has been overmatched during the regular season. Christian Barmore has regressed since a promising rookie season, two years ago. Devon Godchaux was called one of the best defensive linemen in football when Belichick gave him a $20 million contract extension two years ago. Lawrence Guy held out for a portion of camp. Both have done nothing. Deatrich Wise, Jr. was named a captain this year, but he has been nowhere near as much of a factor as he was last year.

Linebackers

Matt Judon was off to his typical fast start before getting injured in garbage time against the Cowboys. Belichick deserves criticism for having him on the field with the game out of hand. For whatever reason, Judon remains on the active roster despite having a biceps injury which will sideline him for multiple months. Veteran Ja’Whaun Bentley hasn’t been the tackling machine he has been in the past. Josh Uche had 11.5 sacks last year, but only has six tackles and two sacks this year. Jahlani Tavai, like Godchaux, was another who received a surprise extension a couple of years ago. To his credit, he is one of the few who has shown some improvement, but he had the bar set low. Anfernee Jennings has been better by the mere fact that he has been on the field this year.

Cornerbacks

This unit looked deep going into the season, but injuries have decimated this unit. Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Jonathan Jones, and Jack Jones have either missed most of the season or are out for the season. I’ve never been a Myles Bryant fan, but add him to the short list of slightly improved players (Tavai, Jennings). It remains to be seen if newly acquired J.C. Jackson is fully healthy and anywhere near as good as he was the first time around with the Patriots.

Safeties

I’ll admit that I may have underestimated the effect the loss of Devin McCourty would have on this unit. They have been unable to replace his leadership and communication. Kyle Duggar has been a disappointment. I figured he’d have a huge year as he is a pending free agent. Jabrill Peppers looked like he was willing to assume the vocal leadership role in the preseason but he hasn’t been able to back it up with his play. Jalen Mills and Adrian Phillips haven’t played much.

Special Teams

Belichick values special teams probably more than every other coach and GM in the NFL combined. He gave Chris Board over $3 million per year because he viewed him as the best special teams player in the NFL. I haven’t heard his name once. Belichick drafted a kicker and punter in the mid rounds. He drafted two special teams specialists, Ameer Speed and Isaiah Bolden, in the final round. Speed made the team and Bolden would have too if he didn’t get injured. Belichick made Joe Cardona the highest paid long snapper at the time this offseason.

Cardona has been abysmal snapping this year, on punts and field goals. Kicker Chad Ryland has connected on only 4 of 8 kicks this year, but a couple of his misses can be attributed to Cardona's bad snaps ruining his timing. Punter Bryce Baringer has shanked a handful of punts and ranks in the bottom five in the NFL in both gross and net punting. Jabrill Peppers fair caught a punt at the 6-yard line against the Saints and muffed another punt along the sidelines. Myles Bryant is still called upon to return some punts, for whatever reason. Ty Montgomery continues to occupy a roster spot despite only touching the ball four times on kickoffs and barely being used on offense.

Coaching

Now we get to the biggest problem the Patriots have. The Patriots have shown an unwillingness to spend money on players, but they have no problem spending on their coaches. Bill Belichick, reportedly, makes $20 million per year and O’Brien and Klemm make upwards of a million dollars each, as coordinators. The returns have not warranted their paychecks. The team is 1-4. They have been outscored 72-3 in the last two games. They, very easily, could be looking at 1-7. Belichick is to blame for the team not having talent on offense. He is guilty of malpractice for not addressing the offensive line and wide receiver corps in free agency or the draft. He is to blame for benching Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte for making rookie mistakes. He is to blame for some of the horrible fourth down decisions this year. He is to blame for the team coming out flat and digging themselves huge deficits in four out of five games.

Bill O’Brien has been such a disappointment this year that the media and fans are questioning if Matt Patricia was so bad last year. That is pretty bad. Granted O'Brien doesn’t have any weapons, but that is why he is getting paid the big bucks. His play-calling has been questionable such as the first drive against the Saints – passing on second and third down after gaining eight yards on the first play on a Stevenson run. Wasting a second-and-one by doing a quarterback sneak against the Jets is a sign of desperation. He has been unable to scheme ways to get receivers open quickly.

As Bill Parcells once said, you are what your record says you are. This Patriots team may be worse than that. These Patriots may finish with three or four wins this year without trying to tank. Changes need to be made. There are no answers to get this thing turned around for future years except for one. Robert Kraft will have a difficult decision to make at the end of the year – maybe sooner.