Week 15 preview: Can the Patriots do anything right this year?

The Patriots’ offense woke up, out of nowhere, in the first half last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bailey Zappe, who has been released by the Patriots just before the season started (and no other team claimed him), looked like the second coming of Brett Favre as he threw three touchdowns in the first half. He came back down to earth in the second half, but the lead was too much for the hapless Steelers’ offense to overcome.

Although no one will mention the “tank” word, the Patriots were solidly positioned to get either Caleb Williams or Drake May as their future franchise quarterback in next year’s draft. Then they beat Pittsburgh. In a season where everything that can go wrong has gone wrong in spectacular fashion, the Patriots need to continue to lose, but, of course, they didn’t. It is almost as if head coach Bill Belichick knows he is out the door after the season and is trying to sabotage the Patriots and Robert Kraft by trying to win as many of the last few games as he can.

Tom E. Curran had a much-talked about story this week stating that Robert Kraft decided, definitively, after the Indianapolis loss in Germany that the legendary coach would not be back next year with the Patriots. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to people. The surprise may be that it took that long for Kraft to come around.

A lot of the follow up conversation has been about how the split will happen. Will Belichick get fired? Will he resign? Will it be called a mutual parting of the ways? Might Belichick even be traded?

The point of the matter is that Belichick will be gone so the Patriots will be in search of, not only, a head coach, but also a general manager. There is little doubt that Belichick can still coach, especially on the defensive side. His team construction skills and outdated philosophy will be his downfall.

It is comforting to know that Belichick won’t be in charge of next year’s draft. We don’t have to see him trade down for two second-round picks and additional picks in future drafts. Throw that dumb draft trade algorithm chart away. Fans won’t have to worry about the Patriots reaching on draft picks or picking players from Division II schools that no one has ever heard of. The Cole Stranges and Marte Mapus of the world will be slotted where they belong.

But, first, the Patriots need to start losing again. Kansas City rolling into town should be the tonic this team needs. I understand the argument that tanking creates a bad culture for the team and in the locker room. You never want a team to accept losing. But I also have seen way too many teams suffer for years in mediocrity because they were never bad enough to have top of the draft picks. The worst thing a team can do is be a 7-10 or 9-8 team year in and year out.

Not only will the Patriots have a top five pick, but their second round pick will be like a first round pick. Quarterbacks may be the most difficult position to project. There have been so many failures at the very top of drafts. Look at Bryce Young, JaMarcus Russell, Ryan Leaf, Johnny Manziel, Tim Couch, Rick Mirer, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance. The list goes on and on. And then you have Tom Brady and Brock Purdy who were late, late, late round picks.

Patrick Mahomes went 10th overall in the 2017 draft. His team, the Chiefs, come to town slumping. They have won only two of their last six games. For the first time in Mahomes' career, he may be looking at a road playoff game. Mahomes blew up on the sidelines in last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills. This does not bode well for the Patriots. The Chiefs are angry.

Prediction: Kansas City 27, Patriots 6

The Chiefs will be looking to get back on track and prove to the NFL that they aren't going anywhere. The Patriots all season long have been viewed as the “get right” team on the schedule for their opponents. That is precisely how the Chiefs will be looking at this game.

Mahomes has been the victim of one of the worst receiving corps in the NFL. The team leads the league in dropped passes. Stop me if you have heard this before, but Mahomes has been the victim of a horrible supporting cast. Maybe Mahomes and Mac Jones can commiserate after the game.To make matters worse, the Chiefs will be without one of their top offensive weapons, running back Isiah Pacheco. But they still have Travis Kelcey, and that will be enough to matriculate the ball downfield and score a couple of touchdowns.

There is no love lost on the competitive side between the two most winningest active head coaches in the NFl, Belichick and Andy Reid. The two have coached against each other in Super Bowls and AFC Championship games. Reid has lived in the shadow of Belichick his entire career and this will be a chance to step out of his shadow in grand fashion.

Kansas City has never been known for their defense, but their defense is ranked far better than their offense this year. While the Chiefs’ offense ranks 12th in the NFL, the defense is third best. They will harass quarterback Bailey Zappe. They are very tall up front so look for a lot of batted balls which was a common deficiency of Zappe's last year, especially against the Chicago Bears.

The Patriots will again be without Rhamondre Stevenson who, for whatever reason, is still taking up a roster spot and hasn't been put on injured reserve. His season should be done. It makes no sense to risk further injury to the cornerstone of your offense. There is absolutely nothing to play for, but Belichick has always had the philosophy that if the doctors clear a player to play, they are getting paid to play. So expect another huge dose of Ezekiel Elliott who has had a bit of a resurgence since Stevenson went down.

The Patriots may be getting Demario Douglas back, but, again, in the spirit of tanking, but also in terms of his long term health, they should sit Douglas out for the rest of the season. He has now suffered two concussions this year which is, obviously, a cause for concern.

The defense keeps chugging away. They have been a top ten defense all season. I have said all along that this defense is playoff caliber which should give Patriots’ fans hope that this team isn’t too far away from getting things turned around. They just need two or three more dynamic pieces on offense and they will find themselves back near the top of the AFC. That just will not happen if Belichick remains in charge of personnel. And don’t get me started on Malik Cunningham.