Times are tough in Foxboro, Mass., at the moment.
The New England Patriots, fresh off a 17-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field, now have lost back-to-back December games for the first time since 2002 and sit in third place in the AFC with a 9-5 record.
This Patriots team has drawn comparisons to the 2009 team that went 2-6 on the road and was bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Baltimore Ravens.
Former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich, who played on the 2009 team, believes New England must have the right mindset if it plans to right the ship.
“You can’t just get it in a week. It’s an attitude. It’s a demeanor,” Ninkovich said on the “Ex-Pats Podcast,” as transcribed by NBC Sports Boston’s Darren Hartwell. “When you are kind of backed up into that corner, are you just going to kind of accept the fact that you’re there or are you going to jump out and try to claw someone’s face?”
Ninkovich wonders if these Patriots have the leadership needed to turn things around.
“Are you going to just sit there and let it happen to you or are you going to do something about it? I don’t know,” Ninkovich said. “There might need to be somebody in that locker room on that team that gets in people’s faces. I don’t know. Is there somebody in there that’s saying, like, ‘What are we doing?’
New England also will need Tom Brady to rediscover his old form. Whether it’s due to New England’s offensive scheme or an injury, Brady hasn’t looked like himself over the past few weeks, including during the Patriots’ final drive against the Steelers.
The Pats will close the season with home games against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets before heading into the playoffs to mount another charge at the sixth ring of the Brady-Bill Belichick era.
