FOXBOROUGH - Have the Patriots become the thing they mocked for nearly two decades? A team without a quarterback, without a plan, and without hope that this season will mean something, at least regarding the playoffs? It sure feels that way.
The Pats have been so bad over the last two weeks they look worse than teams that are deliberately tanking. Let that settle in for a minute. You are the Cardinals, just not as good. Are Caleb Williams or Drake Maye - the two prize QBs in college - within range? Foxborough, it seems, is burning.
Punting from the Saints' 40-yard line down 24-0 early in the third quarter was just a snapshot of an effort and performance that was sorely lacking, especially coming off what happened to Dallas the Sunday prior. But Bill Belichick capitulated, waving the white flag of surrender in a game with so much time remaining. He told you in that moment that his team, especially his offense, isn't mentally tough enough to handle more failure. And while that was happening, the head coach was up one side and down the other of rookie guard Atonio Mafi. Misplaced anger? Hold up the mirror and look how you, sir, put together this unit. While the rest of the league not only understands how the game is being played and embraces it, Belichick thought running back the same core group as last year - essentially - was the smart thing to do. How's that going? Stink. Stank. Stunk.
"We had three turnovers again," said a disconsolate Hunter Henry. "One of them is a score, and two are basically scores, putting them in the red zone. Can't play like that. It's not good enough. Not good enough at all."
As for the quarterback, Mac Jones, yes, he's been dealt a bad hand. At first blush, his tackles were poor, with more holes in pass protection than my favorite pair of jeans (and I can't wear them out anymore because I'm not that cool. Actually, I'm not cool at all.) His receivers are nondescript. The running game is just as likely to lose five yards as it is to gain two, and that, my friends, was supposed to be a big part of your identity. So yeah, it's tough sledding out there.
But it is becoming more apparent by the hour that Jones ain't the guy. He cannot elevate those around him and, even in the best circumstances, is still heavily reliant on others to make plays because he can't. I asked Belichick if they were moving forward with Mac at QB1.
"Yeah, there were a lot of problems," said Belichick, barely audible at points during his postgame press conference. "It certainly wasn't all him."
When Jones was asked if he felt he was fighting for his job, he talked in circles.
"Just trying to better as an offense," he responded. "We didn't score any points. That's the important part: scoring points and executing your job, and I just try to execute my job."
At one point, after his second interception, Deatrich Wise walked over to Jones and spoke with him. It was a short discussion, and Wise wouldn't get into what was said, only saying it was words of encouragement. As for his level of belief in the quarterback?
"It is still strong," said Wise.
I long believed that Belichick and this operation could win with a pocket passer with brains. That may still hold true with another signal caller who fits that bill. Still, when you look around and see Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and even Joe Burrow turns chicken poop into chicken salad with their legs - and those are the teams and QBs you have to beat in the AFC - maybe it's time to join the revolution instead of thinking you're smart enough to remain as you were. Is Cam Newton available? He couldn't be any worse.
Dating back to week two, the Patriots' offense has made one trip into the red zone and failed to score a touchdown on 34 straight drives. In a league where it's never been easier to play offense and to score points, you can't.
"Obviously, it wasn't very good,' said Jones. "Everyone is frustrated. We have to do things differently and better to put out a better product. Everyone is frustrated…at the end of the day, you have to turn that into action."
The Saints couldn't score either, until today. New Orleans hadn't managed 20 points in any game this season until they came to your neck of the woods and felled this supposed mighty defense that we thought could survive and possibly still thrive without their two best players (Matt Judon and Christian Gonzalez). Instead, they too fell flat on their face.
So, what are the Patriots? What do they want the rest of this year to be about? It's up to this locker room and coaching staff to figure this bleep out because this isn't working on all levels.
"We have to have the ability to remain unfazed and unbothered by what goes on around us, what goes on outside this locker room," said Wise when I asked him about what defines a good locker room and if this is one. As he was about to exit the podium, the defensive lineman added, "And belief. In ourselves and our teammates."
"It is frustrating," Adrian Phillips told me. "Okay, so like, 'what do you do?' Do you sit there and pout about it? Do that, and we'll lose three in a row. So, it's up to us to figure out the deal and go back to work, work harder, and work smarter. That's all we can do."
How this is going proves there are no easy answers, no Tom Brady walking through that door as he did in 2001 (he'd be old and gray or heavily botoxed). This team is all they have, which appears not nearly enough.