New England Patriots: It’s a long way back to the top for team

New England Patriots vapid performance in Buffalo makes it abundantly clear that the dynasty is history and it will be a long way back to the top.

The uninspired performance by the New England Patriots against perennial floor-mopped Buffalo Bills shows how far they have fallen.

AC/DC said, “It’s a long way to the top if you wanna Rock ‘n Roll” and that was no more evident than in the Patriots performance against the Bills today in Buffalo.

New England is a long way from the top and there ain’t no rockin’ and rollin’ goin’ on for the Patriots in 2020. The Patriots are on a steady slide to oblivion and even worse, irrelevance.

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And let’s make one thing perfectly clear, critics of Cam Newton who blame him for this team’s woes are full of baloney. They’re either not following or not understanding their personnel decisions in free agency, in the draft, in every respect.

This team is less talented than any good team they have or will face this season. Their recent drafts were lacking including this year and their free agency acquisitions basically didn’t exist. The problems are on both sides of the ball.

First, the offense. Newton again is not the issue here. When he has time to pass which is not too often, no one is usually open.

And if they somehow get open, they may very well drop the ball. The Patriots wide receivers are at bottom of the NFL pile.

With Julian Edelman out, there’s really no first-team quality go-to receiver on the squad. They signed Damiere Byrd in the off-season. He’s an OK receiver. Maybe a third or fourth receiver at best.

But without Edelman, there is no go-to receiver. This was evident last season as even the great Tom Brady couldn’t find anybody to throw to absent Edelman either. He’d fire the ball into the dirt often because of it.

The Patriots did basically nothing in the off-season in free agency other than the aforementioned Byrd to remedy that situation. As has been pointed out before, they drafted exactly no wide receivers even though they entered the draft with 12 or 13 picks with which to try to do at least something, somewhere. They did nothing.

New England Patriots still seeking a Gronk replacement

Next, tight end. Finally, they actually did attempt to try to find a tight end to replace the irreplaceable Rob Gronkowski. They traded up twice and sent away extra picks to draft two tight ends in the third round, Devin Asiasi, and Dalton Keene. At least they made an attempt, albeit a poor one.

To-date, Asiasi has a total of ZERO catches. And Keene has a whopping one catch in the one game played for the team. The scouting of these picks is, to say the least, lacking. Rather, it’s abominably bad.

When Ryan Izzo is your team’s best tight end, and the only one dressed for Buffalo, your team has issues at the position. Izzo had seven catches in the first six games and a few against Buffalo. Not exactly a like-for-like replacement for Gronk. But he looks like an All-Pro compared to the two rookies.

It reveals a lot when the head coach and offensive coordinator decide to go for a field goal on 3rd and 1 at the end of the first half when there are still 12 seconds left on the clock. That’s real confidence in your offense, for sure. What a truly pathetic statement.

Thanks to Cam Newton and Jakobi Meyers, the Patriots mounted an offensive push, and for once a running back, Damien Harris took one to the house on a nice touchdown run. But, talking about the running games, it was the Bills who smoked the Patriots defense for more than 200 yards on the ground.

The Bills  won the contest due to the New England Patriots inability to stop that aspect on defense, as they have not basically all season long. And that’s a problem for this overrated defense. A big problem.

Buffalo outlasted the Patriots for the win and a three-game lead in the AFC East. That may prove impossible for the Patriots to make up. Indeed, a playoff run looks increasingly improbable if not also downright unattainable. Lessons to be learned today? Nothing new.

The Patriots offense is listless. It possesses no big-play, 60-yard touchdown potential skill players. It has no go-to wide receivers at present with Edelman injured. It has no legitimate tight end options as pass catchers.

And their best runner is their quarterback. It’s not a prescription for big-time victories. Not at all. And, unfortunately, Newton’s late fumble while trying to do it all himself sealed the loss to Buffalo.

The loss to a fairly unimpressive Buffalo team is both an end and a beginning. It’s the end of the dynasty and any chance of playoff football for New England in 2020. Not a shock but after the great start with Newton, it actually seemed possible.

But, it’s also the possible beginning of the next chapter in Patriots history. 2020 is history. Decisions have to be made. Big decisions.

Sell players now for draft picks (though their drafting is basically pathetic)? Shed payroll by releasing big-money older players (there are a bunch) to free cash for free agency? Tank to get a higher draft pick that must be a quarterback?

Lots to consider. What to do? Stay tuned. Suggestions are on the way. We’re on to 2021. This season is history.