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The New England Patriots are sailing into uncharted — and potentially troubled — waters this season as they look to usher in a new era of success amid some big question marks and without a key mastermind.
After one of the most glorious runs in all of sport, the 2022 NFL season might be the wake-up call Patriots fans, players and staff hoped would never come.
New England were the undisputed kings of the AFC East for the better part of two decades, and won six Super Bowls too, but a cloud of uncertainty hangs over this campaign – and legendary coach Bill Belichick.
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While it’s true that experts and fans should be excited about the improvement shown last season, and the potential of Mac Jones, all it’s done is pile more pressure on Belichick.
Belichick, who is widely considered the greatest NFL coach of all time, has been doubted before, but each and every time he’s proven all the naysayers wrong.
But this feels different.
In many ways it’s the biggest season of his decorated career, as he looks to overcome major changes to prove his coaching credentials once again.
While Tom Brady’s performances in each of the Patriots championship victories will never be forgotten, offensive guru Josh McDaniels was there pulling the strings for many of them.
And just four years on from their last Super Bowl triumph together, both the star player and coach have left New England to pursue opportunities with rival NFL teams.
The departure of Brady to Tampa Bay sent the Patriots into an unfamiliar rebuild, as divisional rivals began to hit their stride, but the recent loss of McDaniels is arguably more of a concern.
McDaniels announced earlier this year that he was leaving the Patriots, more than 20 years after he initially joined the franchise, to take up a head coaching position with the Las Vegas Raiders.
That decision leaves the Patriots in a tough period, which could pile even more pressure on quarterback Mac Jones, who only has one season of NFL experience to his name.
Jones will turn to a new-look trio of coaches to guide him this season, which is sure to intensify the bright beam of scrutiny shining down on head coach Belichick.
New England is a franchise that’s used to winning, and expects it, but the Patriots, and the franchise’s key figures, could be in for a shock awakening this season if things don’t go to plan.
COACHING SHAKE-UP
After winning his first ring as a personnel assistant in the early 2000s, McDaniels was handed more responsibility with the emerging NFL powerhouse in 2004 as their quarterback coach.
Working closely with Brady, McDaniels went on to win another two Super Bowls with the Patriots in offensive roles before leaving to pursue opportunities with the Broncos and Rams.
But as the old adage goes, home is where the heart is, with McDaniels returning to Massachusetts in 2012 as both the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
McDaniels controversially backflipped on a head coaching position with the Colts to stay in New England, and went on to win his sixth and final championship with the famous franchise.
But where to from here?
As reported by ESPN, play caller Matt Patricia, head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback coach Joe Judge are set to share the offensive reigns this season.
With a new-look offence, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers believes the Patriots will be better for the “growing pains” that they’re experiencing at the moment.
“It’s definitely been something to get used to,” Meyers told NFL Network last month.
“But it’s like they say, with change at all, any change is kind of hard. There’s going to be growing pains, and I think we’re going through that stage.
“This is the kind of place where they want everything perfect, so it’s just – change and perfection are kind of a hard mix. So we’ve kind of been going through it.
“But at the same time, I think it’s a great learning experience, and the fact that we’re all doing it together is actually pretty for us.”
As the Patriots continue to adjust to the abrupt change to their offensive playbook, near unprecedented pressure will be placed onto the shoulders of Belichick this season.
One thing that owner Robert Kraft, fans, players and all the coaches all have in common is their hunger for this team to continue winning, as they have done over the last two decades.
The franchise has built its legacy on the slogan ‘do your job’, and Belichick will have to be at his best this season with no McDaniels to lean on for offensive guidance.
A losing season could also further define the legacies of both Belichick and Brady, the pair who parted ways in 2020 and have endured a sometimes-frosty relationship.
Brady won a Super Bowl in his first season in Tampa Bay, a franchise who hadn’t made the playoffs in more than a decade, while Belichick’s Patriots slumped to a 20-year low.
In their first season in the post-Brady era, the Patriots had their first losing season under Belichick since 2000, which was his first year as head coach in New England.
It was also just the fourth time that they’d missed the postseason under Coach Bill, but normality resumed in a sense last year as the Patriots secured a spot in the Wildcard round.
While pressure continues to mount on Belichick, the Boston Globedon’t believe that the 70-year-old is at risk of losing his job, suggesting that he shouldn’t worry about “getting fired”.
Pundits, fans and even players may have their own interpretation of what success means for the Patriots this season, and what markers Belichick has to hit to keep his job.
A record seventh Super Bowl seems unlikely, and the Buffalo Bills are odds on favourites to take out the AFC East for a third consecutive season.
While the New York Jets will likely be easy-beats again this season, the Miami Dolphins are a genuine threat to New England’s chances at a playoff berth – and could that end Belichick’s reign? Or should it?
Miami beat the Patriots at either end of their 2021 campaign, beating them by one point at Gillette Stadium in Week 1, and at Hard Rock Stadium in January too.
After rising to a 10-7 record last season, the main thing for the Patriots is making sure that they just don’t go backwards.
A Belichick coaching masterclass is needed – especially without McDaniels to support him on offence.
Change may not be a bad thing for the six-time Super Bowl champions, however.
Boston sports journalist Brian Barrett believes the Patriots may even be better off without the “overrated” McDaniels.
“It’s been the number one storyline all off-season and it was illuminated or highlighted even more this week because the Patriots are in Las Vegas and they’re having these joint practices with Josh McDaniels and his Raiders… Josh would’ve considered staying here if the Patriots tried to keep him,” Barrett said on a Off the Pike podcast episode released last month.
“There has got to be a reason that the Patriots didn’t even try to keep Josh McDaniels.
“The Patriots scheme that they’ve been running for so long, with Tom Brady those 20 years, and the personnel that the Patriots have right now, it doesn’t really make sense to keep the McDaniels scheme and it doesn’t really work for Mac Jones.
“Josh to me, I’ve always felt like he was overrated… Even if you credit McDaniels, and I will, for a decent season last year with Mac Jones, that’s two out of six years without Tom that he’s actually had a good offence.
“From my perspective the system change was necessary.”
McDaniels, who was the longest serving offensive coordinator in the league, also took three assistants with him from the Patriots to the Raiders.
Mick Lombardi, Carmen Bricillo and Bo Hadegree have also headed west to Las Vegas.
“I have great respect for Bill and that process,” McDaniels said at the NFL Combine.
“I spoke to him directly multiple times about any interest I had in people that were there… Never want to do the wrong things.”
JONES TO TAKE CHARGE
The man under the most pressure for the Patriots this season might just be 24-year-old quarterback Jones.
Heralded as an emerging star when he came out of the illustrious collegiate program with Alabama, Jones had a reasonably solid first season in blue and red.
While nobody expected him to be the second coming of Brady right away, Jones was included in the NFL top 100 players list ahead of his second season as a professional.
But all Patriots fans care about are wins, and they’re ranked outsiders going into their season opener against the Dolphins.
As reported by Sports Illustrated, it’s more than likely that Miami will go into the week one crunch clash as the favourites – the first time they’ve been awarded that label in this matchup since December 2013.
While they won just one of their pre-season matches last month, Jones is embracing the opportunity to lead New England’s offence this season.
“The pre-season, it is what it is. We’re kind of past that,” Jones said. “We’re kind of on to just this week and trying to run better plays, and do things better so that we can put more points on the board.
“It is a long game. Every game is a long game and that’s a good thing because there are a lot of plays to be had and a lot of plays to be made.
“I feel confident in what we’re doing. We just have to go out there and do it for 60 minutes, and that’s just play-by-play.
“I feel like we have a good group of guys that’s really close-knit. We just have to keep coming together. WE have everything we need so we just have to go out there and do it.”
While Jones certainly has his doubters, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman has heaped praise on the quarterback. Aikman believes that Jones has “everything” that a quarterback needs to be successful in the NFL.
“I like Mac Jones, I really do. I think he possesses everything you need to win in the NFL. He’s a lot like Tom (Brady) that way, which has not been a surprise as to why he ended up in New England,” Aikman said.
“He does an excellent job for a young player of getting through his progressions,” he said during a Fox broadcast of last November’s Patriots-Falcon game.24
“A lot of times, you can fool a young quarterback and give some different looks and when you watch a young guy, there’s more than once in a ball game where you say ‘I don’t know about that throw’, but not with Mac Jones. I mean, he sees it very well.”
‘QUESTIONABLE’ DRAFT
The annual NFL Draft can almost make or break a team’s season before it’s even begun.
For franchises such as the Patriots, who are looking to both rebuild and chase future glory, the three-day event is an opportunity to add emerging collegiate talents in key positions ahead of the new campaign.
But the Patriots failed to make their mark.
Out of every team in the league, New England had one of the worst drafts in the league, with the Boston Globecalling the franchise a “laughing stock” in April.
The Patriots selected guard Cole Strange in the first round with the 29th overall pick, which was the first in a series of surprise decisions.
As the Boston Herald remarked, New England had the “right idea” but made some “questionable” decisions as they chased some offensive talent.
Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton was selected out of Baylor in the second round, before they turned their attention to defence with cornerback Marcus Jones 35 picks later.
Thornton has since been placed on the injured reserve after fracturing his clavicle.
While super coach Belichick has come under fire in the past after some interesting decisions in the draft, and he’s proven everyone wrong almost every time, this felt like something different.
Genuine concern was felt across multiple platforms, with ESPN giving the franchise a generous draft grade of a C+.
“Cole Strange is a nice guard, but I didn’t see a first-round pick on tape. He likely would have been on the board when the Pats picked in the middle of Round 2,” veteran football analyst Mel Kiper Jr wrote.
“Value matters in the draft, and Strange needs to play at a Pro Bowl level for years to come to justify this selection.
“In Round 2, there were several better wide receivers available when New England took Tyquan Thornton, who didn’t even make my list of the top 25 wideouts in this class… It’s another selection without value.”
Even without their offensive mastermind at the helm, the Patriots appear hellbent on making sure that they improve this season – and they’ll need to.
The Buffalo Bills, who have won the AFC East in back-to-back seasons to end New England’s reign, were given a B by Kiper Jr.
But the Patriots, who focused on the offensive side of the ball during the draft, have some big holes to fill in defence as well.
Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler was taken off the injured reserve last month, and was later cut.
Although he didn’t play a game last season, this is still definitely a big loss.
Two-time Pro Bowler Dont’a Hightower was also declared a free agent last month, and has left the Patriots after almost a decade with the franchise.
Other linebackers Cam McGrone and Harvey Langi were also released.
AFC East rivals: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets
Key players: Mac Jones (quarterback), Matt Judon (outside linebacker), Trent Brown (offensive tackle), Hunter Henry (tight end)
THE PLAYOFF RACE
The Patriots showed last season they are still a very good team, and can compete with the best, but the 2022 season will be a completely different challenge.
New England won seven games in a row last season, including a win over emerging giants Buffalo, to secure a spot in the playoffs.
The Bills are expected to take their game to a whole new level this season, with AS USA reinforcing the idea that they could be the number one contenders for the Super Bowl.
“There was a time when the New England Patriots were undisputed rulers of the division but the Bills are seeking their third straight AFC East title in 2022,” Ariel Velazquez wrote.
“Josh Allen is going into his fifth season in the NFL, no longer a new kid on the block.
“The quarterback’s laser-precision arm, in addition to his ability to get out of the pocket with his athletic qualities, has made the Wyoming alum number one candidate for the MVP award.
“Belichick has declared that his quarterback, Mac Jones, reported for training camp much better-prepared than for his rookie year. The difference is not only perceptible in his physique but also in his reading of plays.
“Jones will no longer have Josh McDaniels as his offensive coordinator after he departed for the Raiders… Still, New England has enough talent on both sides of the ball to go toe-to-toe with Buffalo and aim for a postseason tilt.”
The are many big questions for the Patriots and how they are answered by the likes of Belichick and Jones, will determine whether the Patriots are on the decline, or capable of being great again.
WHAT THEY’VE SAID
Bill Belichick: “We have a lot of people on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively, everyone contributes,” Belichick said. “I have responsibility for everything that happens on the field. In the end, I’ll take responsibility for that”.
Josh McDaniels: “I really don’t know exactly what everybody’s doing over there (in New England). I just know that they’ve got a lot of really good coaches,” McDaniels said. “I was in a position once where I was on the defensive side of the ball for a couple years, then I moved over and coached quarterbacks for one year, and then all of a sudden the next thing I’m doing is being ready to call the offence”.
Mac Jones on McDaniels leaving: “Josh is not only a great coach but a great person,” he said. “He taught me a lot about football, a lot about life, a lot about the NFL. That’s really important to me… We’ll just have to figure out a game plan and move forward and try and be explosive on offence and can get something going again like we did with Josh”.
Mac Jones on speaking with Tom Brady: “(Brady) just told me to keep my head up and keep working,” Jones said after last seasons loss to the Bucs.
Former NFL cornerback Ty Law: “I’ll give the Patriots nine wins,” Law said. “I’ll give them nine, and on a good coaching day they might get 10”.
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