Sloppy, undisciplined and completely unorganized—this hasn’t looked anything like the same New England Patriots team people remember. Some are preaching patience, while others are calling it exactly what it is with less than two weeks away from the regular season-opener: a complete mess.
Count three-time Super Bowl champion and former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson among the latter.
Johnson was there when the “Patriot Way” was built and assembled from the ground up. He saw the pieces come together to form the greatest dynasty in NFL history.
But after seeing what they’ve suddenly morphed into, more than two years after Tom Brady announced he was taking his talents to Tampa Bay, is something unrecognizable.
“I think there is a feeling for people who’ve covered the Patriots for a long time, that they can’t believe what they are seeing from them so far,” Johnson posted on Twitter. “The way things played out in the last preseason game vs the Raiders, just confirmed what we’ve all been thinking and in some cases saying. It’s taking us all by surprise the Patriots would be so complicit in their own demise. In his first yr as HC Josh McDaniels team looks more like the Patriots than the Patriots do….unreal.”
McDaniels and his Las Vegas Raiders were by far the superior football team in the joint practices and preseason finale. They manhandled the Patriots on the field without playing many of their key starters.
Meanwhile, the Patriots put quarterback Mac Jones and the starting offense on the field and couldn’t get anything going. Well, they did have a potential passing touchdown to DeVante Parker that was ultimately negated by an offensive pass interference penalty.
Undisciplined.
It doesn’t help matters that there’s still no official offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator for the team ahead of its Week 1 matchup against the Miami Dolphins. It all runs through one man: Bill Belichick.
The 70-year-old de facto head coach, general manager, defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator has more roles than Eddie Murphy in “The Nutty Professor.”
And perhaps, nothing is nuttier right now than what one of the greatest franchises in all of sports might trot out on the field on September 11.
