Jones and the Patriots will need to gradually rebuild in order to reach the top of the NFL.
Mac Jones had a successful first season with the New England Patriots, but the team as a whole had a disappointing season. By returning to the playoffs after a less successful year, the players under Bill Belichick ensured that their 2020 season would be an outlier in terms of not making the postseason.
The Patriots finished the season with a 10-7 record, which was aided by a seven-game winning streak in the middle of the season. The Patriots’ season, however, ended on a low note, as they lost three of their final four games. As a result, New England was unable to secure the AFC Conference’s top seed or the title of AFC East champion, and they were forced to play their Wildcard Round game against the Buffalo Bills away from home.
Belichick’s team was thoroughly defeated by Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills’ offense, falling 47-17. This score reflected the Patriots’ inability to either keep up with Buffalo or prevent the Bills from scoring points. Jones demonstrated that he still has a long way to go to match Allen, but there is hope for the future given that Allen struggled early in his career before blossoming into one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks. Despite the fact that Jones’ exploits during the previous season were not deserving of a Pro Bowl berth, the fact that he received one demonstrates that his performances did strike an agreement with fans and players across the league, which provides a platform to take into account when planning the Patriots’ 2022 schedule.
Re-establishing the Brand
Because Tom Brady is no longer the Patriots’ starting quarterback, Bill Belichick no longer has the overwhelming advantage he had with Tom Brady for the previous 20 years. His club will need to return to the side that started their historic run in 2001, which was characterized by a strong defense and football played in a clinical manner on offense. The next generation of the Patriots will not be the dominant team that Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have created in the past.
They became the most successful team, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers, with six Super Bowl victories, and moved into second place in terms of outright value, trailing only the Dallas Cowboys. Their brand was built around success. With players like Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on the cover of Madden NFL, the Patriots became the team that everyone wanted to play as, and everyone wanted to play as the Patriots. It is safe to say that the New England Patriots are the most famous team in the National Football League, especially in the current era, because the franchise’s reach has extended far and wide across the globe.
Although both the US and the NFL have recently softened their stances on online gambling, the NFL has yet to enter the casino gaming or slot machine market. The popularity of themed slot games extends all the way around the world, from the thriving gaming scene in the United Kingdom to South African online casinos such as casinos.co.za. This phenomenon has been recognized by a number of the industry’s most prominent companies and brands, which have granted permission for their likenesses to be used and adapted by these games in order to entertain millions of people. Another potential revenue source for the NFL to consider in the future, and a franchise as clever and recognizable as the Patriots would undoubtedly fit the bill as a potential option for an NFL-themed slot game if such a game were to be developed.
Putting the Defense on the Defensive
Nonetheless, this would be contingent on Belichick and Jones’ ability to restore the Patriots to their former status as the best team in the NFL. Jones had highs and lows as a quarterback throughout the season, which was to be expected given that he was a rookie playing in his first season. There were times when the Patriots’ offense played as well as it did under Brady, putting the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars to shame with fifty-burgers. These were fantastic moments. They performed admirably in both games against the Cleveland Browns and the Tennessee Titans.
When running backs Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson were at their most productive, Jones was able to locate Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne. This freed up Jones’ passing game. Both Henry and Bourne were excellent free-agent additions, and they will almost certainly continue to play important roles in the offense well into 2022. The issues began when Jones was required to compete with the league’s top offenses, and that will be a motivating factor for both the quarterback and Belichick this offseason. New England has no players named Cooper Kupp, Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, or JaMarr Chase. Jones lacks a top-tier target with whom he can align when the stakes are high, or with whom defenses must adjust their game plans to account for in order to stop.
According to nbcsports.com, now that New England has a quarterback who can run the offense as Belichick sees fit, they can start putting the pieces around him together. This is possible because the quarterback is capable of running the offense as Belichick sees fit. Jones must now cultivate his top targets in order to restore New England’s success and all of the acclaim and grandeur that comes with it. Brady relied on Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, and Rob Gronkowski to help him win championships.
