(Photo courtesy of Sporting News) “Colts celebrate game-winning drive”
Liam O’Keefe
Connector Editor
The Patriots Dynasty is officially over. After losing a heartbreaker to the Indianapolis Colts 25-24 in Week 13 the Patriots are officially eliminated from playoff contention and will have a losing record for the fourth time in five years. Another disastrous season for New England leaves fans upset and confused about how such a historically great franchise could have fallen to such depths.
Change hit the Patriots hard this offseason as long-time legendary head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots announced a “mutual parting of ways.” This change was shocking but not surprising as many Patriots reporters theorized Belichick could be on his way out during the 2023-24 season. In his place came first-time head coach and former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo. Mayo was the unofficial defensive coordinator under Belichick from 2019-2023. Elliot Wolf, son of former Packers GM Ron Wolf, was internally promoted to fill a general manager role where he was responsible for the NFL Draft and player personnel that was already on the team. The biggest of those moves was trading former first-round pick QB Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jones was drafted in the 2021 draft and after a promising rookie season, many thought he would be the Patriots quarterback of the future. That all came crashing down though as Jones regressed year after year until he was benched in his third year. To fill the hole at QB the Patriots took to the NFL draft and took UNC quarterback Drake Maye third overall as well as signing former Patriot Jacoby Brissett to mentor the rookie.
Expectations weren’t high for New England going into the 2024 season. Many analysts and reporters had the Patriots finishing as the worst team in their division. Despite this, the team got off to a strong start as Jacoby Brissett and company upset the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati to start the year 1-0. The luck unfortunately didn’t continue after that, and the team ended up losing their next 6 games in a row. Patriot fans were met with some hope during this time as Drake Maye was named the starting QB going into Week 6 against the Houston Texans. This turned out to be the right move as in the next eight games Maye has looked very impressive and is showing flashes of being the next great Patriots quarterback.
Even with the impressive play of Maye the Patriots still found it difficult to add some wins to their record. This struggle has come from a multitude of places. As of Week 13, the Patriots currently have the 20th-ranked total defense, and the worst-ranked offensive line, and have only had a pass catcher go over 100 yards in a game once this year. All these issues have limited Maye and the team’s ability to remain competitive in games and have many fans looking to the coaching staff for answers. While one year is a very short leash to determine how good a coach dropped into a bad situation, the Patriots have to be competitive next season, otherwise, there is a case to see if you can upgrade at head coach.
Despite the substandard record, there are cornerstone pieces on this roster that fans can get excited about, Drake Maye has looked like an elite playmaker at quarterback, and cornerback Christain Gonzalez is a lockdown corner who consistently goes toe to toe with the league’s best wide receivers. Young players like these are a good indicator that maybe someday the Patriots will return to the top of the NFL food chain but for now, fans are left to wait for another uninspiring season to come to a close.
