After impressing in their first three games of the 2020 season, the New England Patriots have begun to slide.
Some football fans and media members alike aren't overly concerned by the Patriots' current slide. We're not even at the halfway point of the campaign, and few teams historically have been better at making adjustments than New England.
That said, these aren't the Patriots of old and Emmanuel Acho isn't sure Bill Belichick and Co. will be able to right the ship. The linebacker-turned-analyst on Monday explained why he's worried about New England.
"The Patriots' way and their style of play is not sustainable," Acho said on FS1's "Speak For Yourself." "What I realize with New England is that they don't give themselves much room for error. In the game of football you can have two different approaches. We are going to go win or we are going to let you beat yourself. What the Patriots do and the Patriots' way under Cam Newton is very simple. We're not necessarily going to beat you, we're going to let you beat yourself.
"...Week 1 it worked against the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots roll. Cam didn't dominate, he completed 15 passes. But what happened? The Miami Dolphins threw three interceptions. They beat themselves with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Then against the Seahawks, the Patriots had to go win. They didn't do that. They looked good offensively, but they couldn't go win. Against the Raiders, the Raiders beat themselves. Derek Carr, I believe he threw an interception, had a couple turnovers. Against the Chiefs, it almost worked. We saw the game on primetime. The Chiefs were about to beat themselves, the Patriots' way was going to be perfectly executed. But what happened? Brian Hoyer takes a sack before half and then another red-zone turnover.
"I'm worried about New England because rather than saying, 'Ok, we're going to beat you,' what they say is, 'We're going to hope that you beat yourself.' They don't say, 'Who wants to win the game?' anymore. They say, 'Who's going to lose the game less?' and that, to me, isn't sustainable."
The Patriots already find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Their Week 6 loss to the Denver Broncos dropped their record to 2-3, marking the first time the franchise held a sub-.500 record in October or later since 2002. A loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday would saddle New England with its first three-game losing streak since that same campaign.
It's probably too early to write off the Patriots completely, but concern certainly is warranted.
