Tanking is a Waste For Everyone InvolvedGeorge Leness10/19/2023Issue #3Teaser: Although the Patr

Although the Patriots recent games look nothing like the Patriots team New England fans have become accustomed to, there is still hope.

The Patriots are in serious trouble. They’re off to their worst start in over twenty years. They can’t score on offense. They no longer can stop scores on defense. Their special teams is pathetic. The quarterback play has been dreadful. Elite edge rusher Matthew Judon has a torn bicep, and first round phenom Christian Gonzalez is done for the year with a torn labrum. Going into Week 7, their injury report is twenty players deep. Everything that could possibly go wrong, certainly has gone wrong. And it’s easy to say that the season should be a wash- hang it up, tank for draft position, start over in the spring. I firmly believe that isn’t the answer. 

Before anything else, I really think this team can still compete. And that isn’t ridiculous to say. The Patriots have played the toughest schedule in the league through six games. They’ve occasionally shown a decent competition level, and while it hasn’t been apparent recently, it could reappear at any time. Bill Belichick, no matter what anyone may think currently, knows how to get the most out of the people in his room. And, may I add, that process sometimes took some time, even at the height of their domination. The Patriots will get healthy, and they will find a rhythm at some point. They’re still just two games off the playoff line. The schedule softens up in a few weeks and will ease the pressure the Patriots have been under. This group, and Mac Jones specifically, as we’ve seen throughout his professional career, can find their rhythm at any time. An in-sync Bill Belichick team is a frightening sight for opposing teams, and many pundits don’t seem to understand how close we could be to our past supremacy. 

This leads me to the larger point. The Patriots could easily lose the next four games. They could lose all 11 games to close the season (they could also win all 11, by the way). No matter what scenario plays out, though, tanking has just never made any sense to me. Winning cultures are created by winning games. I don’t care what player you draft or free agent you sign or what trade you make in the offseason, no amount of players can surmount a losing culture. And that type of culture is created through the smallest moments. Tanking inherently removes the ability for any of those moments to take place. It basically steals time away from the development of a team. Football is played to win. Players play to win. Players want to come to teams that win. No amount of “potential” or “rebuilding” can replace that.

The other major aspect is the enormity of what tanking would mean for this Patriots team. First consider the resources that have been invested in Mac Jones since he arrived. Not only a 15th overall draft choice, but major organizational decisions made in order to put Jones in the best position to succeed (including, but not limited to the hiring of Billy O’Brien). Has Jones really played poorly enough to throw that all away? If so, what really is there to gain from pulling the plug midseason? Isn’t there value in letting the Mac Jones era play out fully, in order to ensure it’s the right decision? Next up is Bill Belichick, which is obviously a much larger decision. Bill Belichick unequivocally is the Patriots. He will forever embody everything that makes this organization great. In what world, I ask, would anyone want for Belichick’s final season to end in the manner of tanking? Allow Belichick to work it out, to fight, to make it all work. Write the final chapter the right way, allow him to walk into the sunset the right way. It’s vitally important because it dictates where the franchise goes after his departure. Allow Belichick to leave on his own terms, squeeze the most wins he can out of a poor football team, and pass the baton on to whoever will lead New England into the future, and back to prominence. 

Winning is the reason everyone invests in the sport: the fans, the players, the front office- everyone. Winning, plain and simple, is more fun than losing games on purpose. So win, win a lot, and see where it goes from there. 

George Leness