The New England Patriots may be a division rival of Aaron Rodgers now, but that hasn’t prevented the New York Jets star from calling out the early critics against Mac Jones and Bill Belichick. Following a slow start to the 2023 NFL season, both the third-year quarterback and the veteran head coach were under heavy fire.
The doubts surrounding the team are still there, but the narrative has been quite different since it beat the Buffalo Bills last week. The Patriots arrived in the divisional game as clear underdogs, yet they managed to hand Josh Allen and company their third loss of the year. In his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, Rodgers pointed out how exaggerated the early criticism had been.
“The narrative can change so quickly in this league,” Rodgers said, via PatriotsWire. “It’s overreaction Mondays every single week. It’s overreaction for the entire week. I mean, look at what’s going on in New England. I mean, ‘Mac Jones and Bill’s going to be out. Mac’s the problem.’ And then Mac goes out and balls out.“
Jones and company did much better than predicted in Week 7, with the Alabama product completing 25 of his 30 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns. Rodgers then mentioned how quickly the way Jones is portrayed has changed: “He played incredible and led them on a last-second drive, and now, it’s ‘Mac was never the problem’. You have to be able to laugh at some of this [expletive] because it’s so ridiculous, right? The overreactions and the blanket statements are crazy.”
The Patriots still have a mountain to climb
While the Patriots made a statement by taking down the Bills, they still have plenty of work to do. Their recent win means they’re still alive, warning the rest of the league not to write them off. But they’ll probably have to extend this momentum to really silence their doubters.
Before their win over Buffalo, New England had failed to score more than 20 points in each of its first six games. It also suffered blowout losses in the process, conceding 38 points against Dallas and 34 against New Orleans.
The Patriots have already suffered five defeats this year, which is why they have little to no margin for error if they want to save the season. The AFC East is one of the toughest divisions right now, so the Patriots must improve their 2-5 record to have chances to succeed.
Their upcoming clash against division leaders Dolphins doesn’t look easy, but then they’ll have opportunities to prove what they’re capable of. The games against the Commanders, Colts, and Giants could be very telling for their aspirations.
Belichick would not leave Foxborough in the foreseeable
Even though Bill Belichick’s job security has been a talking point this year, it looks like the 71-year-old is not going anywhere anytime soon. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the longtime Patriots head coach secretly agreed to a lucrative, long-term extension with the team during the offseason.
Even though he led the franchise to six Super Bowl championships, Belichick started to be questioned since Tom Brady left in 2020. The Patriots have only made one playoff appearance in the last three years, which was a blowout loss to the Bills in the Wild Card in 2022.
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Belichick has mostly been questioned for his decisions on the roster scheme, as the Patriots seem to lack quality or depth in crucial positions. The recent win has certainly silenced the critics for a while, but it’s safe to say Belichick and the Patriots will continue to be under the microscope the rest of the year.
