Patriots analyst terms Bill Belichick’s final season “a disaster of epic proportions”
Bill Belichick finally followed Tom Brady out the door in New England. It took roughly half a decade, but the head coach's luck ran out.
Or rather, Robert Kraft was forced to make a move after a painful experience in 2023. Writing in an article for Patriots Wire, analyst Jordy McElroy summed up what went wrong, refusing to mince words:
"It was a disaster of epic proportions. Unfortunately, Belichick’s solution was adding more defensive talent at the top of the draft board and throwing darts at offensive linemen and receivers late. There was no sense of urgency to fix the offense and surround Jones with the necessary talent to succeed," he wrote.
Local writers rarely opt to speak so bluntly about the teams they cover, but in this case, McElroy decided to call it exactly like he saw it. Belichick's team went 4-13, continuing a decline for a third straight season.
In 2020, the team posted a 10-7 record, striking fear into the league that another Tom Brady-esque era was dawning.
Instead, the team took a step back to finish 8-9 in 2022. Then, in 2023, the Mac Jones experiment hit a brick wall, creating the catalyst for a 4-13 finish and the first organic top-five pick of Bill Belichick's time with the team.
Jerod Mayo stares down a massive climb to bring Patriots back from the brink
With Bill Belichick out the door, his successor finds himself at the bottom. Some transitions occur after, at least, a roughly .500 season with a bridge quarterback left over to help float the team for a year as the new quarterback takes over. However, the Patriots' top signal callers for 2024 are both new additions.
While Jacoby Brissett was with the team in his formative years during the Belichick era, his ability to produce on the team is still essentially unknown.
Meanwhile, Drake Maye is also a complete unknown. Learning the ins and outs of his own responsibilities, Mayo will be forced to figure his way through one of the most important moments of the franchise this century.
How Maye develops will be a massive indicator of his ability to return the Patriots to the top of the AFC. However, it will be a juggling act for Mayo's first training camp to feature such an important and delicate situation.
Even if it goes well, the New England Patriots are tasked with going from worst to first in the AFC East. It is rare for teams to do this by default, but doing so with a rookie head coach and quarterback is even rarer.
How much of the mountain climb will Bill Belichick's successor accomplish in 2024?