The 1-4 Patriots have collapsed the past two games, outscored 72-3.
For as bad as last week’s 38-3 loss to the Cowboys was, today’s 34-0 loss at home felt worse — because the Saints are not yet among the NFL’s elite teams.
Coach Bill Belichick, who has brought us past mantras like “day-to-day,” “it’s already been addressed,” and “we’re on to Cincinnati,” had a new pull-string phrase on Sunday.
The Patriots are starting over.
“Obviously it was a poor performance today here,” Belichick told reporters after the game. “So just plain and simply, we’ve got to find a way to play and coach better than that. So that’s what we are going to do, start all over and get back on a better track than we’re on right now. Slow start. And then just couldn’t ever really get the game under control.”
With so many things wrong, where does starting over start? What is prioritized?
“It’s what I just said,” Belichick said. “Start over again.”
He was asked about starting over after five games into a season. Not surprisingly, Belichick did not elaborate.
“Yeah,” Belichick said, “I’ve done it before.”
So what does starting over entail?
“Starting over,” he said.
It’s fitting. Because that’s starting to feel exactly like what the Patriots will be doing after the season ends.
