A Dynasty Fallen: What Happened to the 2023 Patriots

The New England Patriots Dynasty, also known as the Brady-Belichick Era, dominated the National Football League from 2001-2019, earning five Super Bowl titles in that span. However, it is no secret that after Tom Brady left, the Patriots fell, going 7-9, 10-7, 8-9, and 4-13 in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. From 2020 to 2022, the Patriots still maintained decent records, making the playoffs in 2021 with the help of then-rookie Mac Jones. However, their 15th overall draft pick in Jones, did not produce to the same extent as he has in recent years, leading to the Patriots benching him in Week 13 for Bailey Zappe, who, albeit not a star, did manage to pick up a few wins (two wins out of their four). The 4-13 season was Bill Belichick’s worst season as a head coach in his 29 years. So, what happened this season? How can the Patriots bounce back?

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The first notable aspect of this is Mac Jones’ struggles at quarterback. Jones had a stellar rookie year, but struggled immensely this year. One could try to point a finger at the lack of talent in the wide receiver core for the Patriots. However, to me, this was not at fault, as the only notable loss in that position was Jakobi Meyers. Meyers put up decently good numbers, accumulating around 800 years a season before he was signed by the Raiders. Although Meyers led the Patriots in receiving yards, the Patriots recovered for his loss by signing JuJu Smith-Schuster. However, Smith-Schuster severely underperformed this season by only gaining 260 yards. To put this into perspective, Ja’Marr Chase earned more yards in a single game in 2022. Luckily, the gold pot at the end of the rainbow was the rookie Demario Douglas, who accumulated 561 yards this season, leading the team. So, although the wide receiver core may seem like the crux of the problem, I personally believe that it was ultimately Jones’ struggles that caused the overall lack of offensive production for this team.

The other key aspect was the injuries to the team early in the season. The best player on the defense, and arguably on the team, is Matthew Judon, who suffered from a torn biceps. Judon had 12.5 sacks in his debut year with the Patriots back in 2021, and succeeded that number in 2022 with 15.5 sacks. Judon had 4.0 sacks through 3 games this past season, but his injury in week 4 sidelined him for the remainder of 2023. Judon was even ranked 33rd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2023 list before the start of this season. Losing a player like Judon to an injury was a big loss and certainly left a hole in the defense. Y

Yet, the defensive curse did not stop there, as the Patriots’ first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2023 draft, Christian Gonzalez, suffered a torn labrum in the game as Judon against the Dallas Cowboys. (Clearly, the Cowboys did not bring the Patriots good luck.) Throughout the limited time Gonzalez played, he looked amazing and showed what it meant to be a first-round pick, being voted 2023 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month. Who knows, he may have ended up a front-runner for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, but now we will never know… 

It is no surprise that the Patriots have not had a good offense since Tom Brady left, but the defense was always the solid part of the team, and the way the defense had looked those first few games gave some hope to lost Patriots fans, like myself. So, imagine this: your two top defensive players get injured in the same game, in the same week, one shortly after the other. Crazy, right?!

The Patriots season has been nothing short of crazy, with offensive troubles and injuries plaguing the team. Not to mention everything happening in the front office between former head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Now, the Patriots enter the 2024 NFL season with the 3rd overall pick, Drake Maye, in their pocket, the youngest head coach in the league in Jered Mayo, a healthy team, and a new string of hope. Who knows what the 2024 season will bring… will the Patriots be contenders, or will they still slump at the bottom of the rankings? These questions are all on the minds of fans around the league. All we can do is trust that the front office will do the right thing, which is frankly difficult, all things considered. As the 2024 season gets underway, it will be interesting to see whether the Patriots can start fresh and build a season with more than four wins.