A snowy Jets loss at home felt appropriate and other leftover Patriots thoughts

BOSTON -- Honestly, I was relieved more than anything. When the mostly expected 1-3 start slipped to a 1-5 start for the 2023 Patriots, I figured, well, at least everyone will see that the way things are going is actually bad. That reality had been obscured a bit by passable mediocrity in recent years, covered up with the logic of "if this happened" or "if that didn't happen," and the pathway as laid for it to continue for perpetuity.

Now, at least, the state of affairs will be too obvious to be denied. And surely, a 4-13 final record accentuated by a home loss in the snow in which the Patriots managed just three points on an utterly dreadful afternoon of football delivered that message like a metal folding chair being smashed into your head.

The 2023 Patriots were bad. Really bad. And there's really no way around it.

In a way, even with the record being what it was, we all may have temporarily lost sight of that. They lost to the Commanders? At home? Blown out by the Saints? Scored just six points against the Colts? Shut out by the Chargers? It all happened.

And then they lost to the Jets.

Sunday's game was ... a little awkward. Somewhat embarrassing. But also pretty appropriate, given the way the season has gone. They couldn't move the ball on offense, gaining just 119 yards while going 1-for-14 on third down and 0-for-3 on fourth down. They were good defensively, but not great, and they didn't force any turnovers. They were the more-penalized team. Their special teams had some ups and downs.

And in the end, they lost to the Jets. Seventeen to three. The devoted fans who spent their afternoon braving the elements were rewarded with nothing, and now we'll all have to wait to see what the team -- and the sideline -- will look like the next time the Patriots take the field at Gillette Stadium. Whatever that may entail, it's beyond clear that wholesale changes are needed. A repeat of any of the past few years? Those could be tolerated. But this season? This one was simply too egregiously bad to be ignored or written off or excused or glanced over. So the ending -- a loss at home in the snow to the Jets, in case you had missed that -- was appropriate. 

Leftover thoughts for one more time this season? Sure.

--In terms of analyzing the why and how of that 4-13 season, a lot of people will immediately point to quarterback play. And, well, yes. With you there. But! I wouldn't list it first. I'd look at offensive tackle and wide receiver before even bothering to get to the quarterback, because while Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe had terrible seasons, I truly do wonder how many living men could have actually had a good season at quarterback on this team.

At tackle, the Patriots got a half-in season from Trent Brown, and they got nothing out of offseason acquisitions Riley Reiff and Calvin Anderson. Mike Onwenu ended up playing well when he was finally put back in at right tackle, but relying on the likes of Conor McDermott, Vederian Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley Jr. to play arguably the second-most important position in the sport was always a plan doomed for failure. 

And while I do believe Kendrick Bourne was in the midst of having the best season of his career before getting injured, he wasn't going to be enough by himself to really be a difference-maker in the win-loss department. How many times this year were you watching a Patriots game when the network cut in with a highlight from another game, showing A.J. Brown making a spinning catch at the pylon, or showing Tyreek Hill exploding for a 70-yard touchdown, or any of a handful of truly elite pass catchers making game-changing (and, cumulatively, season-changing) plays for their teams? Then they'd cut back to the Patriots game, and you'd see Mac Jones throw a wide receiver screen to DeVante Parker for a loss of a yard.

With full health and full investment, the Patriots probably could have won a couple of more games. But they never had the talent at those critical spots to ever make the season even close to worthwhile.

--You have to respect Bailey Zappe and Trevor Siemian for setting the tone with their first throws of the day.

Zappe's:

Siemian's:

They weren't mincing words out there. This game was going to be pain. Prepare your eyeballs. It's going to get ugly.

Anyways. 

Zappe finished 12-for-30 for 88 yards with no touchdowns and two picks while taking seven sacks. He had a rating of 20.1. 

Siemian was 8-for-20 for 70 yards with no touchdowns or picks and just one sack, with a rating of an even 50.

Wow.

--A common refrain in the region is that Bill Belichick is still an outstanding game-day coach. And, well, yeah, I get it. He's arguably the best coach of all time. His worst day will be better than a lot of coach's best days. But some of the mistakes we've seen over the past few years have ... just kept happening. For example, they had 10 players on the field for a third down in the first quarter, forcing them to burn a timeout after Jalen Mills hurried onto the field with two seconds left on the play clock.

In 2021, the Patriots had 10 players on the field on defense for a game-sealing Saints touchdown. At the time, you could say it was highly uncharacteristic for a team with such great attention to detail to make a mistake like that. Can you really say that anymore? It also happened again last year in Minnesota.

--The first thing I wanted to do after the game was rewatch Chad Ryland's corkscrew of a field goal. It did not disappoint. Look at this thing!

That puppy hung a left. Missed the net. But somehow crossed through the uprights first. Incredible. 

The Patriots were that close to not scoring at all on this day. Frightening.

Ryland finished his rookie season going 16-for-25 on field goals. He led the league with nine misses, which is pretty incredible, given his low attempt number. Matt Gay missed eight, but he also had 41 attempts, while the trio of Brandon McManus, Jason Myers and Blake Grupe all missed seven while attempting at least 37 field goals. Not really what you're looking for when you trade up to draft a kicker. 

--Could the football gods have not just delivered a Keion White pick-six in the snow? It would not have been difficult for them to have done so.

It was right there.

--Bailey Zappe had an all-time not-making-excuses comment after the game regarding the weather.

"Yeah I mean this was probably my first time in weather like this, this bad," Zappe said. "As far as throwing the ball, I mean, you've got to think about it. I mean, the wind is blowing a little bit. If it's snowing hard enough, then that affects how the ball spins. If [snow] hits the ball, things like that just come into effect. But the biggest thing is just when the snow like starts building up on the field, receivers getting in and out of the breaks, it's hard. Your foot, half your foot is stuck in snow. I mean, it's hard. I mean, that all kind of goes in together. I mean, there's no excuses. Both teams have to play in it. You can't sit up here and say, 'weather screwed us.' I mean, both teams had to play in it."

Good recovery! Almost made an excuse.

--Zappe underthrew Pharaoh Brown on what should have been a big fourth-down conversion:

He also threw two interceptions on the same drive, thanks to an extremely dumb fumble by Ashtyn Davis. He also took a 16-yard sack immediately after the Patriots' defense had come up with a fourth-and-1 stop, just before that two-interceptions-in-three-plays sequence. 

Zappe's 20.1 rating was the second-worst mark of any quarterback with at least eight pass attempts in a game this season. (Sam Howell had an incredible 1.7 passer rating for his 6-for-22, two-INT performance, also against the Jets.)

Mac Jones finished the season with 10 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Bailey Zappe finished the season with six touchdowns and nine interceptions. As previously stated, no quarterback could have thrived in this environment. But those two didn't do a whole lot to make the most of a bad situation.

--I felt bad for Vederian Lowe. He went all-out to recover the fumble after the interception. It was a big play in a small game, and he really paid a price for it. That's a tough way for a season to end. Same with Garrett Wilson, who got his head/neck jarred by Jabrill Peppers and left the game.

--This was a lot:

--Mike Gesicki has ups:

I'd bet five dollars he did some slam-dunking in his basketball days.

--No need to belabor the point, so I'll just add this: For as much as might have joked about the comedy playing out on the field, and for as much as some fans locked in on the chase for a high draft pick, let's not lose sight of how bad things have gotten. I know a lot of that is self-evident, but in my experience (getting yelled at on Twitter by a lot of angry people), not everyone is fully aware.

The 4-13 record is, quite obviously, terrible. But really, a best-case scenario for the Patriots as they were constructed this season was, what, eight wins? Maybe nine if they caught a few breaks?

That's ultimately what the Patriots have to figure out. That's what Robert and Jonathan Kraft have to look at before they talk to Bill Belichick about why this team has faded further and further away from Super Bowl contention with each year that passes. Maybe Belichick has an answer. Maybe he doesn't. But for all the hubbub about the head coach/de facto GM who won six Super Bowls here, that question -- and whatever the answer may be -- is at the crux of everything the franchise needs to decide this week. No NFL team would willingly continue along this particular path, and either with Belichick or without him, a whole new direction is sorely needed.

Because, yes, they lost to the Jets.