Bill Belichick was listening to a question after the Patriots lost to the Saints on Oct. 8. (Charles Krupa – Associated Press)
Rob Mady
Bill Belichick is lost without Tom Brady. Sean Payton’s return to the sidelines has been off to a disastrous start.
Two of the NFL’s most accomplished coaches had another rough Sunday.
The New England Patriots (1-4) followed up the worst loss of Belichick’s coaching career with the largest home shutout in franchise history. Quarterback Mac Jones and the rest of the offense performed poorly in a 34-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The Denver Broncos (1-4) did not have their coach’s support in a grudge game against the New York Jets. Russell Wilson’s fumble in the final minute helped the Jets beat the Broncos 31-21, and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett beat Payton in satisfying fashion.
The Patriots and Broncos met three times in the playoffs between 2011 and 2015, including several AFC Championship Games.
Now, both teams appear to be vying for the No. 1 pick.
Since Brady left New England after the 2019 season, the Patriots are 26-30, including one playoff loss. Brady went on to win his seventh Super Bowl with Tampa Bay and has since retired. Belichick and the Patriots are different.
Over his coaching career, Belichick has an 81-94 record in games where Brady doesn’t start. It’s hard to imagine him struggling, but the Patriots are no longer competitive. Their past two games are 72-3.
“Obviously, it was a bad day here today,” Belichick said. “So, simply put, we have to find a way to play and coach better than this. So that’s what we’re going to do, start over and get back on a better track than we are now.”
Jones led the Patriots to a 10-7 record during a promising rookie year, but the team’s record has been going downhill since the 2021 first-round pick. Bailey Zappe replaced him for the final two games, although Belichick gave no indication he would make a change in the starting job.
“Go back to the basics, keep it simple,” said Patriots center David Andrews, who beat Brady in two Super Bowl victories. “It’s so hard. We put in so much every week and to not give our best on Sunday is hard. We have to come back to work. That’s all I know to do. We can’t let go, we can’t give up. This is It’s been a long year. “We’re going to get back to work. “
Hard work may not be enough for this team. They lack talent and are poorly coached.
The Patriots play in Las Vegas next week before tough games against Buffalo and Miami. At this point, 2-6 is probably optimistic.
The schedule doesn’t help the Broncos either. They face the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in their next three games, including Thursday night in Kansas City. They also have to face Green Bay and Buffalo in their next four games.
Payton, who led the Saints to one Super Bowl title in 16 years but retired after the 2021 season, may wish he had stayed retired. After Hackett had a dismal season with Wilson in Denver, Payton left the broadcast job to try to save the Broncos.
In training camp, Payton said Hackett’s year was “probably one of the worst coaching jobs in NFL history.”
Hackett made the final decision.
“I’ve got to do better. It starts with me,” Payton said after Zach Wilson led Hackett’s offense to 407 yards.
The Nuggets had a chance to win two other close losses in the first two weeks, a 17-16 loss to the Raiders and a 35-33 loss to the Commanders.
“We really should and can be 4-1,” Wilson said. “But ‘could, should, would’ is not good enough. The good thing about it and the perspective of it all is that it’s a journey as we continue through the season. There’s a lot of good things ahead. We really believe that. We showed a lot of energy today. We did a lot of good things. We just couldn’t hurt ourselves. That’s the most important thing. Those three or four games we lost, we hurt ourselves in some form or fashion. . The best thing we can do is continue to learn, continue to get better, focus on the next step, and that’s the path we’re going to take.”
It’s hard to imagine a road trip to Arrowhead leading to better results.