3 Patriots Whose Jobs Are on the Line in Week 3

Week 2 gave Patriots fans a major case of deja vu as the team lost another close game at home. For the second week in a row, New England fell behind early, made some costly mistakes and nearly came back, only to fall just short at the end.

With the Patriots off to their first 0-2 start since 2001, several players and members of the coaching staff are already on the hot seat. New England can’t afford to lose again in Week 3, especially with a highly winnable road game coming up against the Jets.

That said, here are three Patriots whose jobs are on the line in Week 3.

3 Patriots Whose Jobs Are on the Line Week 3

1. Bill Belichick

The Patriots haven’t been the same since Tom Brady left, and Bill Belichick’s coaching failures have been a major reason why.

Going back to December 2019, New England is 27-33 and hasn’t won a playoff game. That’s nearly four years of bad football now, with the exception of 2021.

As great as Belichick’s been over the last two decades and his six championships notwithstanding, most of the blame falls on his shoulders. He’s made numerous free-agent and draft mistakes during that time, failing to adequately rebuild around Mac Jones.

Belichick has had plenty of time to get the franchise back on track following Brady’s departure, but there haven’t been many signs of progress lately. A down period was to be expected, for sure, but four years is an eternity in the NFL — longer than most players’ careers.

At 71 years old, Belichick just doesn’t seem cut out for the job anymore. He hasn’t evolved to keep up with the modern NFL, especially on offense. His refusal or inability to acquire legitimate offensive weapons and playmakers is holding the team back, and the roster he assembled for 2023 is once again underwhelming.

Belichick may be the GOAT, but he’s outstaying his welcome and has lost his touch. The NFL is about results, and Belichick would be the first to tell you that. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been delivering them lately.

If he can’t beat the Jets — who haven’t beaten the Patriots since 2015 — then it might be time to part ways with Belichick and give someone else a chance.

2. Bill O’Brien

Bill O’Brien was brought in to fix the offense after last year’s disaster with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge running the show.

While the offense definitely looks smoother, the results still haven’t been there. Check out this year-over-year comparison of New England’s offense:

• 2022: 21.4 PPG (17th), 314.6 YPG (26th)
• 2023: 18.5 PPG (22nd), 335.0 YPG (14th)

More yards per game is nice, but the decrease in scoring is alarming. The Patriots still aren’t finishing drives and are leaving too many points on the table, often sabotaging themselves with penalties, mistakes and costly turnovers.

After scoring fewer than 21 points in both games so far, New England needs to step it up in Week 3 against the Jets. The Patriots can’t afford another weak offensive output in a divisional game, especially on the ground.

New England’s running game was supposed to be a strength this year with Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott leading the backfield, but both have been terrible thus far. The Patriots rank 26th in rushing yards and 20th in rushing touchdowns, which largely explains why their offense has been so ineffective.

O’Brien doesn’t have the best personnel to work with thanks to Belichick, but he needs to make do and figure out how to unlock the talent he does have. If not, he might find himself coaching college football again before long.

3. Mac Jones

If Mac Jones can’t get over the hump in Week 3, the calls for Bailey Zappe will only get louder.

In Week 1, he had multiple chances to put the Patriots ahead in the fourth quarter against the Eagles, but he couldn’t get it done. In Week 2, he had the ball in his hands with a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but once again he came up empty.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty sick of this. Jones is a fine game manager, sure, but it’s becoming abundantly clear that he doesn’t have what it takes to win in clutch situations. It’s been two years since he led a game-winning drive or fourth-quarter comeback, and he got blown out in his only playoff game.

Jones has often shirked accountability as well, throwing teammates and coaches under the bus when he doesn’t come through. That’s not what good leaders do, and his constant whining is getting tiresome.

With each week that goes by, I become more and more convinced that drafting Jones was a mistake. He may have a high floor, but he also has a low ceiling, and you can’t win the Super Bowl with a quarterback who doesn’t come through for you late in games.

Jones is still a better quarterback than Zach Wilson, fortunately, though that’s not saying much. It’s going to be incredibly embarrassing if he loses to Wilson this weekend, and it may cost him his starting job.

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