The Patriots looked like a virtual lock for Super Bowl LIV through the first half of the 2019 regular season.
The second half? Well, that was a much different story.
New England’s ascension back down to Earth was a sharp one, as Bill Belichick’s group quickly went from worldbeaters to a middle-of-the-road club. The Patriots never were able to employ the last-season “flip switch” like they have in campaigns past, which translated into their first wild-card round exit in a decade.
Colin Cowherd believes New England’s loss to the Tennessee Titans signaled more than just the end of a season, and he expressed as much while playing his “3-Word Game” Monday on “The Herd.”
“Patriots: Dynasty is over,” Cowherd said on FOX Sports 1. “Listen, you know after they started 8-0 they went 4-5? They lost three home games. They’re old. They looked old, they looked tired. Julian Edelman is just all beat up. They don’t have over-the-top players, 18th in rushing this season. We talk about (Tom) Brady, they just couldn’t run the football. Why? Because Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) was a great blocking tight end, he’s gone. They lost their center. They had a revolving door for the first two months at left tackle. They have got to get somebody over the top. They’ve got to address the tight end. They’ve got to get some depth on the offensive line. They just fell apart. They were 4-5 in their last nine games. Most of those were giving them home-field advantage and they still couldn’t win.”
Texans, Titans, Vikings & Seahawks are moving onto the Divisional Round. @ColinCowherd recaps Wild Card Weekend with his 3-word game: pic.twitter.com/OuRCeyu5Op
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 6, 2020
Only time will tell if New England’s remarkable run of success is truly over. It, of course, won’t entirely be up to the Patriots, though, as one has to imagine the likes of Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson only will improve with each passing year. So even if New England successfully retools in the offseason and concocts a competitive 53-man roster, its days of being a perennial Super Bowl contender still could be over.
