A rough season only got rougher for the New England Patriots on Sunday, when they suffered a 6-0 defeat to the Los Angeles Chargers, their fifth straight loss and eighth in the last nine games.
NFL fans destroyed the Patriots after a stat detailing their continued offensive ineptitude went viral.
Patriots Suffer Historic Losing Streak
It’s been tough sledding for New England for much of the 2023 season, particularly in recent weeks. The franchise’s losing streak is one thing, but the fashion in which they have suffered those defeats has been perhaps even tougher to take.
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The Patriots have now lost four straight games by three or fewer points, all winnable scenarios that have gone the other way and have combined to push the team to the brink of elimination from the playoff race.
Continued offensive ineptitude made the Patriots the first NFL team to lose three straight games while giving up 10 or fewer points since the Chicago Cardinals lost four such games in a row back in 1938, according to NFL Research.
One commenter on X (formerly known as Twitter) called the Patriots offense “arguably the worst offense in the history of the NFL.” Another said New England’s recent struggles “may very well be the most blatant tank job” he has ever seen by one of his teams, though he added that he will accept either “as long as we don’t lose the pick.”
Needless to say, it was a rough day for New England’s offense and quarterback Bailey Zappe, who made his first start of the season. Zappe went 13 of 25 for 141 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, as the Patriots never reached the red zone and did not even attempt a field goal.
“Defense played great,” Zappe told reporters postgame. “Offense, that starts with me. I have to make plays; toward the end, I have to throw better balls. I have to make the balls catchable, especially in conditions like today — wet ball, wet hands. I have to throw the ball better. It starts with me on the offensive side and getting things going.”
New England came into the week off back-to-back narrow defeats to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 10-6 and 10-7 to the New York Giants in games where its offense struggled to produce much of anything.
The Patriots put up 340 yards of total offense against the Colts but went 0 of 4 in the red zone and committed two turnovers. They then posted 283 total yards against the Giants but went 1 for 2 in the red zone and committed three turnovers between Zappe and Mac Jones, who have both struggled of late.
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Those issues continued Sunday, though some of it could certainly be attributed to the cold and rainy weather in Foxborough. Neither offense reached the red zone a single time in the game, but the Chargers made both of their field goal attempts to give themselves just enough points.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick bemoaned his team’s missed offensive opportunities in key moments when he addressed reporters after the game.
“We just really didn’t do a good job with field position and couldn’t play the complementary game that we needed to play,” Belichick said. “The Chargers did a couple times, got their six points, and, obviously, that was enough. Just have to do a better job of what we’ve talked about all year — making plays in critical situations that we need to make. That’s really about it.”
Belichick could be approaching the end of his time in New England, given the team’s struggles this year and their likelihood of being eliminated from the playoff race soon.
The downward trajectory of the franchise might give Patriots owner Robert Kraft all the incentive he needs to move on from the legendary head coach.
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