The New England Patriots’ streak of finishing seasons 12-4 or better couldn’t last forever, but few predicted it would end in 2018.
The Patriots lost their fifth game Sunday, the first time they’ve lost at least that many games since 2009.
That was Julian Edelman’s rookie season, and Rob Gronkowski wasn’t yet in the NFL. Just six current Patriots were on that 2009 squad, and only eight Patriots players were even in the league. It was a very, very long time ago.
The Patriots currently are in their second losing streak of the season. They’ve had multiple losing streaks in one season just twice since Tom Brady took over as starting quarterback in 2001. They had a four-game losing streak followed by a two-game losing streak in 2002. They had a two-game losing streak followed by another two-game losing streak in 2015.
Those aren’t exactly historically great Patriots seasons. The Patriots missed the playoffs in 2002, and they lost in the AFC Championship Game in 2015 after seemingly half their team hit injured reserve.
The Patriots have been so dependable and predictable over the last 18 seasons. They’re historically great after losses. They’ve had just 10 total losing streaks since 2001, and 20 percent of them came in the past four months.
There’s genuine reason to be pessimistic about the Patriots as they’re two weeks away from the postseason. They’re currently the No. 3 seed in the AFC, and a first-round bye is out of the picture without the Houston Texans stumbling over the final two weeks.
A No. 1 seed is almost out of the question at this point, barring shocking collapses from the Texans, Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, making it likely the Patriots will have to play on the road at some point come January.
That’s not great news for a team that’s struggled on the road. While the Patriots are 99-44 on the road since Brady took over, this season has been a step back across the board, as evidenced by the Patriots’ 3-5 road record.
There’s also reason to be optimistic. As unpredictable and undependable as the Patriots have been in 2018, they also probably have yet to play their best football. The Patriots have shown promise across the board, but they have yet to put it all together in one game.
And as disappointing as the Patriots have been over the last two weeks, it’s not as if the rest of the NFL is setting the world on fire. The Chiefs have lost two of their last four games. And they played it close before beating the Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. The Texans lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 14 and nearly fell to the New York Jets on Saturday. The Chargers might be the current hottest team in football, but they also lost to the Denver Broncos at home four short weeks ago. They beat the Cincinnati Bengals by five points last week.
The Patriots can still get hot over the last two weeks of the season when they face the lowly Buffalo Bills and New York Jets at home. But no matter what they do in those games, no one will believe the Patriots can beat anyone on the road until they show it in the postseason.
Confidence is usually sky high around New England in the early rounds of the playoffs. That rightfully will not be the case this winter.
