Looking at the post-Brady Patriots, we know about 2020 and the Cam experiment gone awry yet they still salvaged a respectable 7-9 with good wins over the Raiders/Cardinals/Ravens (all .500 or better)
Last year had the Patricia/Judge offensive disaster, and we're seeing how things are playing out this year.
But in between, the 2021 team was flirting with the AFC #1 seed. The team started 2-4 but 3 of those games were winnable (OT vs Dallas, a redzone fumble vs MIA, Brady vs Belichick where Mac played well but a doinked FG did them in)
Then came a 7 game win streak including impressive wins vs the Chargers, Browns, Titans. The latter games saw Mac Jones thrown 3 TD's twice and the CLE game featured Jakobi Meyers finally catching a TD pass (he had previously thrown 2 TD's and caught 2 2PC's)
The peak for those Pats was that famous MNF wind game at Buffalo where Mac Jones didn't throw a lot but they got a long TD run and clutch late goal line stand got them to 9-4.
At that point, they were also the AFC #1 seed and there was talk of a possible TB/NE Brady vs Belichick SB.
But after that, it all went downhill.
Even off a bye and with a 2 game lead in the AFCE, they got dominated on a Saturday night in Indy by Jonathan Taylor- I mean the Colts- and then lost the Buffalo rematch where Josh Allen went Super Saiyan. Mac Jones also went from the OROY favorite to losing the award when those losses coincided with Ja'Marr Chase going bonkers vs KC/BAL
Then, in a playoff rematch in arctic cold weather that seemingly favored the Pats, Josh Allen went Ultimate Super Saiyan in the famous 'every drive was a TD except for kneeldowns at the end of each half' game.
Since that MNF Wind Game, New England is 11-21.
How did NE go from looking like they had their guy post-Brady to Mac basically being on the outs?
Was it REALLY as simple as McDaniels leaving? Or is there more to it?
Like Mac going from Brady heir apparent to barely better than Zach Wilson is something none of us would have guessed as recently as 2 years ago at this time.
Go check what the Colts did to Mac in his rookie year. They were the first team to basically say you can’t throw outside the numbers and loaded DBs in the middle to force him into making those throws. The NFL being a copycat league, everyone eventually played the same way against the new NE offense, and Mac’s latter part of 2021 was pretty weak in comparison, except for the Cleveland game.
Coming into 2022 with all teams following this blueprint, Mac had less than zero support from the offensive coaches, who not only dismissed his input but also benched his favorite receiver basically all year. He was visibly at odds with the offense game plan, which is hard to blame him for since it was at times indefensibly amateur. Tensions between Mac’s camp and the Patriots were pretty high.
Going into 2023 - Mac was praised by Belichick for putting in work and improving in camp, and it seemed the team would maybe return to some level of function offensively with an actual coordinator. A couple of early games against very good teams didn’t quite pan out due mostly to mediocre play and personnel that everyone predicted would be insufficient to score in this league. And again, the Patriots decided to get rid of Mac’s new favorite target in Jakobi Meyers. Then the Dallas game happened and Mac totally lost his confidence and has been playing mostly like a scared, humiliated, and disrespected QB. On top of that the Patriots lost their best two players overall to injury.
So now we have a probably broken QB that was already kind of limited, and frankly below average offensive skill players, and a severely injured and underperforming offensive line. Mac has been figured out, hasn’t been able to overcome his limitations, and has very little support on the field to cover for him. In the NFL I think your 2nd and 3rd years are what make your career, and Mac’s is looking like if he doesn’t get to go somewhere that has a lot of talent and support (like Geno to SEA) his career is near over.