Patriots Pessimism: Can New England Shake Worst Slump in 30 Years?

Expectations for this New England Patriots' season are at their lowest point since a 10-year playoff drought dating back to the 1980s.

The Celtics and Bruins both lost Game 7s at home in the playoffs. The Red Sox are attempting to rebound from a slow start, realistically pushing for only a Wild Card.

But if you really want a sobering - depressing? - glimpse of Boston sports, look no further than the once-proud New England Patriots. The franchise that produced an unprecedented 20-year dynasty highlighted by six Super Bowl championships is suddenly nothing but mediocre NFL fodder.

The Pats open training camp this week in Foxboro in the midst of their worst, longest drought in 30 years. They haven't won a playoff game in four consecutive seasons, longest such steak since the epic 10-year void from 1986-95. That dates back to the days of coaches such as Rod Rust and Dick MacPherson, and quarterback experiments ranging from Doug Flutie to Marc Wilson to Hugh Millen.

This season isn't expected to be much better.

The Patriots are 25-25 and have missed the playoffs in two of three seasons since iconic quarterback Tom Brady left town for Tampa. They have clearly fallen behind the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East, losing the last four meetings by a combined 139-71 including an embarrassing 30-point postseason loss in the 2021 season. The Miami Dolphins are considered a more talented team, led by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and new cornerback Jalen Ramsey. And even though New England has a 14-game winning streak over the New York Jets, none of those came with quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the helm.

Add to that one of the toughest schedules in football, with the Pats playing both of last year's Super Bowl teams - the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles - and road games at NFC playoff teams the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.

Oddsmakers clearly believe the Patriots have plunged to the bottom of the division. While the Bills (+800), Jets (+1,100) and Dolphins (+1,500) are given decent chances of winning Super Bowl LVIII in February in Las Vegas, the Pats are a distant fourth at a whopping +4,500.

The Patriots, of course, plan to surprise the naysayers. Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien is slated to help quarterback Mac Jones return to his Pro Bowl form. They believe JuJu Smith-Schuster will be an upgrade over Jakobi Meyers at No. 1 receiver. And in the draft they added projected star cornerback Christian Gonzalez and talented edge rusher Keion White, placing them on a defense that last season finished in the Top 10 and produced five touchdowns.

And, don't forget, although the Pats went 8-9 last season they were only two plays - the "Lunatic Lateral" in Las Vegas and Rhamondre Stevenson's uncharacteristic fumble inside Cincinnati's 5-yard line on Christmas Eve - from 10-7 and making the playoffs. 

Nonetheless, these are the grim realities as camp commences: Jones' career is at the crossroads, Belichick is on the hot seat and expectations for the Patriots are at their lowest point this millennium.

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