Fans may want the Patriots to tank, but players want to keep on winning

FOXBORO -- While watching your team lose over and over again is frustrating and at times, rather boring, most Patriots fans would like to see their team lose as many games as possible the rest of the season. With the Pats officially eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday, fans are in favor of the team tanking away the rest of the 2023 season in order to improve the franchise's draft pick in 2024.

That's all well and good for fans to feel. They're fans and can feel however they want. That is not, however, how professional football players operate. And that is not how the 3-10 Patriots will be approaching the rest of the season.

"We ain't here just to give games up," defensive lineman Christian Barmore said Monday. "We're here to play football."

The vibe surrounding the team has been much more upbeat since the Patriots beat the Steelers, 21-18, in Pittsburgh last Thursday night. For the first time in months, the Patriots looked like a capable football team as they snapped a five-game losing streak.

Or as veteran captain Matthew Slater explained on Monday, the Pats were "starving for a win" heading into Thursday's tilt. So getting a victory provided a much needed breath of fresh air for all of New England, and they all want to keep feeding the win column over the final month of the season.

"It means a lot to win. After going through this season, we all appreciate what it means to win in this league a little more," said Slater. "We were very grateful for that."

Thursday's win actually worked out well for both parties. (For now, at least.) Chances are the Patriots weren't going to catch the one-win Carolina Panthers, who currently own the No. 1 overall pick in April (which they'll pass along to the Chicago Bears at season's end). Even in winning their third game of the season, the Pats are still ahead of the Arizona Cardinals for the No. 2 overall pick thanks to the strength of schedule tiebreaker. A top-two pick would give the Pats the ability to snag one of the top quarterbacks available, or possibly maneuver the board as they see fit.

But another win this season could knock the Patriots down a few picks, and out of a spot to land Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. Hence, fans are now rooting for their team to lose.

But players will never take that approach.

"I know everyone feels different. For us, as competitors, we want to go out and perform well regardless of the circumstances," said Slater. "We want to have success. [Thursday's win] gives us some confidence and hopefully a little bit of a spark. Because we're going to need every spark we can get playing against the Chiefs."

The Patriots have gotten a spark at quarterback since making the move from Mac Jones to Bailey Zappe. Against Pittsburgh, Zappe threw three first-half touchdowns to build a 21-3 lead. His second half against the Steelers left a lot to be desired, and Zappe is eager to learn throughout the week and put that all on the field against Kansas City.

Zappe may be playing to keep his job as the team's starter, but that is not his main goal.

"The most important thing, of course, is to win," Zappe told WEEI during his Monday afternoon interview. "And that's the thing that I try to do every week is to try to do my job the best I can, to put the team in the best possible situation to win games."

The Patriots are in rare territory as they'll look to play spoiler the rest of the way. Three of their final four games are against teams either in the playoff picture or in contention.