New England Patriots: Clobbering by 49ers a sign of things to come

Terrible personnel decisions are finally catching up to the Brady-less New England Patriots.

The clobbering at the hands of the Jimmy Garoppolo-led San Francisco 49ers today, 33-6, presages more of the same to come for the New England Patriots as they showed nothing against another good NFL team.

Bad personnel decision-making is finally catching up to the Patriots. Poor drafting, almost non-existent successful free agency moves, and basically in total, just head-scratching decisions on personnel generally have finally caught up to Bill Belichick and company.

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Absent major trades before the early November trade deadline, this team will be battling Miami to beat the Jets for third in the AFC East. Maybe.

Forget any playoffs for this club, folks. They don’t have the talent to compete for trophies. They are just not good anymore.

The question about who was more important, a certain No. 12 or the majordomo of football operations is quickly being answered by the pitful play of the post-Tom Brady New England team.

Frankly, they look like losers. Not that that should be a surprise.

All great dynasties come to an end. The Packers, the 49ers, the Cowboys, and now the Patriots have all had their days and all are now history. The Patriots deliberately jettisoned the most important player in the dynasty before it was time. A dubious decision indeed.

The chickens are certainly coming home to roost after that foolhardy decision to mistreat the franchise’s all-time best player and to dispose of him like an old hat. It was a bad decision then and it has delivered a bad season and likely more of the same as a result.

So what has happened? It’s clear as it can be for anyone paying attention. The Patriots don’t have a clue in personnel matters.

For years, the team’s personnel operation has deluded itself into thinking they had all the answers. And the head of that operation ostensibly is Belichick.

They couldn’t see what perceptive writers, fans and anyone else paying attention could see, that it was Brady who made the difference and bailed them out of their poor decision-making season after season. Their awful personnel decision notwithstanding. They didn’t want to admit it.

Now it’s evident to everybody. The Patriots personnel operation is clueless. They treated Brady like a clown, disrespected him, and allowed him to leave by their inattention and just plain lack of appreciation.

And Robert Kraft is as much or more to blame than Belichick. It was clear (have a look at Tampa Bay this season) that Brady still had a lot of petrol in the tank. Yet, Kraft allowed Belichick to let this happen, but these geniuses knew better, and probably still think they know better.

But just look at the record. How are their free agency signings doing? Not much there at all. How about the draft? Basically, a sixth-round guard and that’s it.

What have they done to help out Cam Newton? Nothing. Absent major trade additions before the deadline, stick a fork in this team. It’s on to oblivion for this new version of the Patriots.

Maybe they’ll beat the pitiful Jets for third in the AFC East. But they have to beat them twice to ensure that. Don’t bet the farm on it. Hunker down Patriots fans. It’s going to be a long, cold winter.

Next. Bill Belichick needs his own George Kittle. dark

And, it may just continue for years. It’s not too early to say, Brady was the reason. Not too early at all.

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