FOXBOROUGH — Don't say that I didn't warn you.
Pretty much everything we saw today in the Patriots' disappointing 20-13 loss to the Raiders has been there for weeks — dating back to the second joint practice with the Vikings. That's when Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores decided "this not effing around thing is about to go both ways" after the Patriots had their fun on the first day.
The Vikings unleashed a lot more scheme on both sides of the ball for the second practice, and that's when it appeared like reality slapped Mike Vrabel square in the face.
The Patriots were not going to be an overnight makeover.
We should have all seen this coming, really. I was slow on the uptake as well. The fact of the matter is, the Patriots now have a roster where 33 of the 53 players are new to the team. That's 63% of the roster. They even made a move before this game, booting another holdover, Jeremiah Pharms, in favor of newcomer Corey Durden at defensive tackle.
The Patriots will be churning and burning the bottom of the roster.
It's just a fact that unless you have a great quarterback, if you turn over 63% of the roster and import an entirely new coaching staff with two new schemes, it's going to take time for things to come together.
Not that the Patriots weren't complicit in their own opening demise.
We wondered if Vrabel, who had dropped his last three season openers with the Titans, would have the Patriots ready for Week 1 after the softest training camp I had seen (it did get better after I initially said that). The Patriots were pretty inept in the second half in all three phases. Maybe a few (any?) hill runs might have helped the legs finish a little stronger. A year ago, Jerod Mayo's Patriots — after a harder camp than Bill Belichick ran — imposed their will in the second half on the road in Cincinnati. On Sunday, Vrabel's Patriots fell on their faces.
Didn't exactly win the second half, huh?
"Sure didn’t," Vrabel said. "Again, it’s frustrating."
There's also the issue of Drake Maye, who looked like the same guy who scuffled in his two preseason appearances against the Commanders and Vikings. Not seeing open receivers. Missing a handful of layup throws. Another killer turnover on a promising drive to start the second half. Leaving the pocket when it wasn't needed.
The kid has talent, but at some point, he needs to grow up and mature into a real NFL quarterback. He's still got time, but does it feel like that's going to happen anytime soon? That was a Raiders defense that not many think highly of. And they basically got blanked in the second half.
Oh, and Vrabel's defense certainly made a few plays, but holy cow there were some burn marks left on the Gillette Stadium turn thanks to the nine pass plays of 20-plus yards (and another was 19).
So, yeah, there's your doom and gloom about Sunday.
I'm still not doom and gloom about this season.
Why?
First of all, I have them going 0-3 and still reaching 9-8. And Week 2 against the Dolphins now looks like a much better opportunity after Miami bombed out in Indianapolis.
Secondly, I think there's a lot of fixable stuff on this team - and some aspects that were better than what I expected.
I thought the offensive line did a solid job, although I'm puzzled why they couldn't run the ball better (need the film). Yeah, Will Campbell had a couple of false starts, but I thought he was good overall. Jared Wilson had some mental errors. Garrett Bradbury was way better in pass pro than I expected. Mike Onwenu and Morgan Moses were good (Maxx Crosby is going to get every player a handful of times).
Kayshon Boutte was really good, as was Hunter Henry. That's about what you'll get out of Stefon Diggs for a while as he rounds into game shape. Not sure what happened to Demario Douglas and Mack Hollins. That's a concern.
Despite the big plays, the front seven (minus Christian Elliss) was a lot better than I expected and they generated a ton of pressure. Geno Smith is one of the best QBs at making you pay, and standing in against pressure. He has games like this against even good defenses. I think the coverage issues are fixable through film study, and will be even better when Christian Gonzalez gets back.
Basically, this coaching staff just needs time to work with these players and get things cleaned up. Josh McDaniels will start understanding Maye better, and what the line is capable of blocking. Terrell Williams will better understand the stress points of his defense. Hopefully Jeremy Springer can do something with the special teams because, woof, that was a bad performance out of them. They should be good.
Some of this was Vrabel's doing, but I think we're back to dealing with the first four games as an extension of the preseason. There is a lot these coaches don't know about all these new players, and that's going to take some time. Mayo started fast and we know how that ended. Maybe Vrabel did things the way he did, so there would be a slow build to the season.
I know most of you had grand visions for a fast start with this new era of Patriots football. I certainly did when the schedule came out, but I got a dose of reality.
I think everyone got that today.
This is going to be a process that requires a lot of patience. But if these coaches are as good as I think they are, they'll figure it out, and the team we see on Oct. 1 will be better than the one on Sept. 7. Hopefully the one on Nov. 1 will be better and so on and so forth (if there aren't major injuries on this thin roster).
Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither will these Patriots, apparently.