Forget the Super Bowl. Forget the AFC Championship Game. Forget the AFC East crown. Forget all of it. At this point, the New England Patriots are going to be lucky to even make the playoffs.
We are three weeks into the season, and the Patriots are 1-2 and have looked abysmal. The playoffs look like a pipe dream right now, based on how things have gone for them so far.
The Patriots look like one of the worst teams in the NFL
Their offense has been atrocious so far.
Drake Maye looks like a mess (though fans shouldn't give up on him just yet). The running game has mostly been lifeless. Nobody besides Mack Hollins can seem to consistently get open or make any type of play. And their 12 points per game (which includes their defensive touchdown in Week 2 against the Pittsburgh Steelers) are tied for the fewest in the league with the Miami Dolphins, who have a nonzero chance of becoming the first team to go 0-17, especially with De’Von Achane set to miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL.
New England's defense (which is pretty much supposed to be its saving grace) also looked completely undisciplined during its 35-6 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3 (it had nine penalties for 68 yards).
This is a team that lost to a mostly Drew Lock-led team on opening night and just got embarrassed in Jacksonville. The Patriots were 1-2 to begin last season, too, but they didn't get humiliated to this extent, and they never looked this bad at any point throughout the entire year. They are getting outcoached, and their playcalling (particularly on offense) has been predictable and lackluster.
There is still a ton of time for them to figure things out, but right now, there aren't many reasons to believe they actually will.
The Patriots' outlook for the rest of the season isn't promising
The Patriots are dealing with injuries to key players in just about every area. Mike Onwenu is expected to miss the rest of the season after breaking his ankle. A.J. Brown is going to be out for at least another two weeks (but even his return won't fix New England's biggest problems). Dre'Mont Jones, who is the Patriots' best edge rusher, missed Week 3 due to a shoulder injury that he's still dealing with. Harold Landry III is on the PUP list due to a knee injury.
And that's just some of the injuries the Patriots are dealing with.
Combine all of that with the hole they have already dug themselves into and the rest of the competition (looking at the AFC teams exclusively, they are not better than the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans - I don't care what the record says - and apparently the Las Vegas Raiders), and it's tough to imagine that the Patriots will have a successful season.
Best-case scenario: they go on a little bit of a run when Brown comes back, they get healthy, and Maye finds his groove again. But even so, they would still probably be in line for no better than a 6-11 or 7-10 season.
Stick a fork in the Patriots; they are done. Fans should have very little faith that they can turn things around. This is not a team that looks like it is on the same page in any capacity, and it's not getting any better.
Last year was fun, and next year might be, too. But New England is not in the Super Bowl picture this season as things stand, and I don't see that changing at any point.
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