For 20 years, Patriots fans lived the high life ... and not just with the winning.
Year after year, like a machine, New England routinely did everything better than its opponents. Even when they took about a month to get into fighting form, the Patriots were still the Patriots. They' would, for the most part, score plenty of touchdowns, play good defense ... have an overall edge.
Even after Sunday's 25-6 victory over the Jets, there will likely be more questions than satisfaction.
The other QB gifts you four interceptions, you only score 25 points and it was still a game for most of the fourth quarter?
How the heck do you score two touchdowns in seven red-zone trips (28.6 percent) in the first two games?
(Mind you, the Patriots were 6 of 9 on red-zone trips the first two games of last season with Cam Newton.)
Could we at least try to score a red-zone touchdown by, you know, actually throwing into the end zone maybe once ... ever?
Is run defense optional this year?
Why'd we spend money on receivers and tight ends if we're only going to run screen passes?
Josh McDaniels does know he's the offensive coordinator here ... not the completion percentage coordinator, right?
It probably doesn't help things that The Guy In Tampa, who will be visiting in two weeks, threw five touchdowns by himself on Sunday and has nine TDs in two games.
The New Guy hasn't even thrown a ball into the end zone yet.
The victory will placate most of the fanbase, and a win is a win, even against the Jets with a rookie QB, rookie head coach and a total rebuild effort. Many will also say things like, 'Well, if Harris didn't fumble we'd be 2-0 just like Tommy and leading the division.' I mean, that's almost factual.
But even Bill Belichick knows this isn't good enough. He didn't even stray into his default mode ... 'Again, like I said you morons, we need to get better at everything.' Belichick actually was, for him, critical of the offense.
"Overall we’ve just got to probably do a little better job taking advantage of our scoring opportunities," he said. "We’ve got to do a little better on a few third-down conversions and we had a little pressure. So, it all comes down to good team offense, it’s not just all about one guy. We’ve got to block, we’ve got to throw, catch, get open, run the ball, string good plays together. Offensively we’ve just got to string more good plays together. A little bit of the same thing last week, we had good plays we just didn’t have enough of them. We could have used a few more of them today."
For Belichick, after a game ... that's pretty damning.
Translation: Let's score from frigging points, huh?
But this is new for Belichick and the fans collectively. It's completely foreign to them, but the rest of the league has lived it for years ...
This is what happens when you are forced to make wholesale personnel changes in one offseason because your talent fell off the map.
It takes time for things to come together on offense ... a lot of frigging time. So stop asking questions and just surrender because this is the way it's going to be for a while.
Don't believe me?
Four games into last season, the Patriots with Newton basically had better offensive stats than Brady and the Bucs. And the Tampa Boys were floundering at 7-5 after back-to-back losses to the Rams and Chiefs before December rolled around.
That was, really, only changing out the quarterback. That was the equivalent of changing out the steering wheel in a car renovation. The Patriots did that (Mac Jones for Newton), changed all four tires and rims (receivers), installed a new brake system (new LG, RT ... and the latter hasn't been reliable), and changed the aerodynamics of the body (tight ends).
If you jumped into that car, it'd take you a few thousand miles to really get used to it, especially if you're only driving it in traffic once a week.
That's the Patriots' offense. It needs a lot more road time under stress to figure out exactly what they are capable of. They know it too.
"I think everybody, including anybody that’s watching the game can agree that the offense can play better, and we will," said Jones. "The defense did a great job creating the turnovers. We talk about it all the time, playing together, complimenting one another, offense, defense and special teams. On offense, I think we definitely feel blessed to win but at the same time you got to take it for what it’s worth and move on and try to correct the things that we need to work on."
Most fans would say the crew chief in the pits, McDaniels, could stand to lift the governor on the vehicle. Most are convinced that he's not taking enough chances to push the ball down the field.
Trust me, almost every Patriots pass play has a deep element, and Jones admitted some of that is on him.
"I think it was just me. I can push the ball down the field more," Jones said. "They did kind of what we expected them to do. They obviously have a good defensive line like we said, and I can definitely just hold the ball in a good way, and maybe just move and try to make a better throw down the field on a lot of plays. I just have to watch it and see, but when you’re out there you can see it, talk about it with Josh and Brian (Hoyer) and then kind of move from there. We’ll watch it and we’ll find ways to improve on that."
Jones also has to feel confident to stick with the play. Has the offensive line given anyone any confidence? Don't also forget that the Patriots system preaches taken any and all easy money given by the defense, which is why the Dolphins pressured Jones into throwing early short.
Jones also spent most of his summer throwing passes to receivers and tight ends no longer here as he split time with Newton. Trust and timing take time. McDaniels isn't exactly sure how Nelson Agoholor, Kendrick Bourne, Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry (he was barely in camp) are going to react to certain coverages or stress. Add in Jones' inexperience against NFL defenses, and you start the see the reason for a slow pace (or just look at what Zach Wilson did on Sunday, virtually unforced).
"It’s tough being a rookie quarterback, there’s a lot is being thrown at you," said veteran James White.
In other words, have patience. The Patriots did not just bring in one new receiver or tight end to a veteran group this offseason, which is how it went here for many years. They formed an entirely new group with a new quarterback.
The Patriots' offense (or front seven, mind you) has not been pretty to this point. In fact, it's been hard to watch, especially with what has happened in Tampa since Thanksgiving. But there's nothing wrong with where they are. The Patriots are not building an offense for Week 2 or Week 4. They are building to an offense that will be efficient and tough to stop for the balance of the season.
That takes time. That takes pain. That takes patience.
Relax, they'll get there. It just won't look like anything you've seen for over 20 years.