6 Rings Postgame Show reacts to Patriots' season-ending loss to Jets
The Patriots' worst season in over two decades has officially come to an end.
Foxborough's football team finished 2023-24 with a 4-13 record, their worst since 2000, and enter their most anticipated offseason with plenty of work ahead in an attempt to get their franchise back on top.
There will be plenty to chew on, speculate about, and analyze as the days and weeks go on regarding Bill Belichick and his future with the team, but first, here are five immediate thoughts from New England's season finale in Foxborough:
5 - You knew Sunday was it for Matthew Slater during warmups.
Patriots special teamer Matthew Slater seemingly made it known this week that this Sunday’s game could be the final one of his illustrious career.
“The thing that I value most,” he said on Thursday. “The thing that I hope people remember me by when my time is up, is what I did off the football field. How I engaged with the community. How I tried to use my platform the right way. To connect with people, uplift them and bring the people around me up.”
“I’ve felt the love this week from my teammates and from people in the building,” Slater said at his locker on Friday.
If Sunday was, in fact, the long-time captains final NFL game, the team seemingly let the cat out of the bag during warmups on Sunday when some could be seen wearing sweatshirts that read “Captain 18” to honor the consumate Patriot.
Slater was drafted by New England in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft and, as the 38-year-old explained this week, he was told by Bill Belichick that, while he didn’t know what position he would play, he knew he could play football.
Turned into a special teamer by his head coach, Slater became one of the greatest to ever do it in that third of the game, earning five First-Team All-Pro nods, three Second-Team nods, and was named an NFL Pro Bowler ten times.
He, of course, is also a three-time Super Bowl champion. Slater earned it and then some. He's not only a surefire Patriots Hall of Famer, but he's also made a real case for himself to eventually be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.
4 - Even with a reachable incentive, Ezekiel Elliott made a smart business decision on Patriots' first drive.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott needed 101 total yards on Sunday to reach 975 on the season and trigger a $300,000 incentive and, even with over a quarter of a million dollars on the line, made a business decision early in the contest.
The 28-year-old running back, smartly, pulled up short on this hospital ball from Bailey Zappe on the Patriots’ first drive of the game:
Elliott was arguably New England’s best free agency signing this offseason. He came in as the ultimate pro to help back up starter Rhamondre Sstevenson before having to take over the load for the last month.
The running back finished 19 yards short of his incentive, but with his play throughout the season, will likely earn himself a good chunk of change this March. One that’s worth well over $300k.
3 - Josh McDaniels in the building?
Former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was spotted by the AP’s Kyle Hightower entering Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and it was later reported by The Athletic’s Jeff Howe that McDaniels and his family were in attendance in Foxborough, “as fans in what could be Matthew Slater’s final game.”
McDaniels, a six-time Super Bowl champion in New England, was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in late October and has been pseudo-connected to potential changes on the Patriots coaching brass.
Whether it be alongside Belichick elsewhere, or back in Foxborough on a revamped New England staff, some expect McDaniels to be on a sideline next season, making his visit to Gillette Stadium noteworthy.
2 - Oh yeah, the game. It was a perfect summary of the 2023-24 season.
While the result of Sunday afternoon’s contest hardly mattered as neither the Patriots or the Jets were playing for a playoff spot, what happened on the field was the perfect summation of New England’s disappointing 2023-2024 season.
A dominant performance from a Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick-led defensive unit (one that held the Jets three field goals and a bogus touchdown at the end when it was all but over) was once again met with a slog on offense run by a quarterback who was simply in over his head.
The good news? It's over. And as I'm sure Bill Belichick would love to say right about now: "We're onto 2024-2025."
1 - If this was the end of the Bill Belichick era in New England, Foxborough gave him the perfect send-off.
While we still don’t know if this was Bill Belichick’s last game as head coach of the Patriots, let’s pretend it was for a second:
The weather in Foxborough on Sunday gave him the perfect send off.
On a 35° grey day with 10-15 MPH winds, the Gillette Stadium field was covered with a complete blanket of snow by halftime, with each 10-yard line constantly needing to be blown off by a leaf blower.
So many great games in Patriots history have been played in snowy, Nor’easter conditions. The Tuck Rule, the 59-0 spanking of the Titans, Tedy Bruschi throwing the snow in the air, the Snow Plow Game, and so many more. Come to mind.
The fact that the potential last time we saw Belichick on the Patriots sideline was during a January winter storm is the ultimate bow on a Hall of Fame career.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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