The New England Patriots had a positive 2021 season. They drafted a good quarterback in Mac Jones, who had the best rookie campaign of any quarterback from his draft class. Rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson proved he could be an effective starter. The defense showed some positive signs, too.
It all added up to an impressive 10-7 record and a return to the NFL playoffs. Despite a massive loss to the Buffalo Bills on Wild Card Weekend, there was plenty to like about the Patriots going into the 2022 season. New England appeared to finally have a solid post-Tom Brady plan.
Much of that optimism has been decimated over the last 12 months, though. Poor coaching, bad situational football, too many penalties, a regression from Jones and an inability to beat quality opponents have all weighed on the Patriots this season.
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Curran: The Pats and Mac Jones did not take a step forward in '22
Let's reflect on the year that was by revisiting the top Patriots storylines of 2022.
Part I: Back in the playoffs with beatdown of Jaguars
After finishing the COVID 2020 season with a 7-9 record and seeing the franchise's 11-year postseason appearance streak end, the Patriots got back into the playoffs by thumping the Jacksonville Jaguars 50-10 at Gillette Stadium. Mac Jones (227 yards, three TD) outplayed Trevor Lawrence (193 yards, one TD, three INT) in a battle of rookie quarterbacks.
The Patriots lost 33-23 to the Miami Dolphins in the Week 18 regular season finale to end up as the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs, setting up a AFC Wild Card game with the rival Buffalo Bills.
Part II: Embarrassing playoff game sets stage for difficult 2022
The Patriots didn't lack confidence entering their AFC Wild Card Round matchup versus the AFC East champion Bills. After all, New England beat Buffalo on the road earlier that season.
The game ended up being an absolute disaster for the Patriots. The Bills scored a touchdown on their first seven drives of the game and won 47-17. It was the largest playoff loss (30 points) for the Patriots since Bill Belichick was hired as head coach in 2000.
NBC Sports Boston's Matt Cassel and Ted Johnson identified clear needs for the Patriots entering the offseason after the loss to Buffalo -- a true No. 1 wide receiver and better linebackers.
The Patriots didn't address the wide receiver or linebacker position in a meaningful enough way (more on that below).
Part III: Josh McDaniels' departure results in coaching mess
New England Patriots
Josh McDaniels was officially hired as the next Las Vegas Raiders head coach on Jan. 31, 2022. The longtime Patriots offensive coordinator was expected to get another chance at a head coaching job sooner rather than later. Patriots Director of Player Personnel Dave Ziegler went with McDaniels to Las Vegas as well.
McDaniels' exit was the latest in a long list of quality coaches who have left the Patriots in recent years due to retirement or better opportunities elsewhere.
Tom E. Curran, Jan. 30: "The simple fact is this. The Patriots are going through an unprecedented brain drain, even for them. And they just lost a big chunk of offensive gray matter to the Silver and Black. Four years ago, they stepped up and stopped it. Not this time."
Instead of hiring a traditional offensive coordinator to replace McDaniels, the Patriots decided to make Matt Patricia the de facto OC and name Joe Judge as the quarterbacks coach. Judge was hired about a week after McDaniels' exit.
Patricia would be the play-caller, too -- even if Belichick didn't want to admit it or talk about it -- despite mostly being a defensive coach during his Patriots tenure. Patricia had never been an offensive coordinator or play-caller at any point in his long NFL coaching career.
This offensive coaching tandem of Patricia and Judge ended up being one of the worst decisions Belichick has made in the last decade (more below).
Part IV: A "Strange" 2022 draft
The Patriots entered the 2022 NFL Draft with plenty of needs (offensive tackle, wide receiver, linebacker, cornerback, etc.) and the No. 22 pick in the first round.
Belichick didn't surprise anyone when he traded down from No. 22 to No. 29 in a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. But he did surprise people with his first-round selection: Chattanooga left guard Cole Strange.
Although many talent evaluators liked Strange, many had him rated as a second-, third- or even fourth-round pick.
"I am stunned he was taken in the first round," said NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Phil Perry during our live draft show.
Perry's grade for the Strange pick was a lowly "D".
The Patriots took speedy Baylor wide receiver Tyquan Thornton in the second round -- a pick that also received a "D" grade from Perry.
Part V: New coaching staff and a rocky camp/preseason
It's safe to say the offensive coaching staff, most notably Patricia and Judge, has been an abject failure. There were plenty of early signs in training camp and the preseason that this Patriots offense -- and the coaches leading it -- were in trouble.
Much was made in camp over the new "outside zone" running scheme the Patriots tried to install, despite the early returns being quite underwhelming.
Tom E. Curran on Aug. 14: "The storyline dominating Patriots training camp so far is the implementation of a new offense. The post-Brady/McDaniels switch to a scheme that’s going to be more user-friendly has been a slow and hard-to-watch slog on many days. This is not an entire "out with the old, in with the new" undertaking, sources have told me. Elements of the offense the team’s used for years will remain. But there’s a pivot in the run game to using more stretch or 'outside zone' concepts that, ideally, will become the basis for incorporating new pass-game concepts."
The Patriots' preseason slate ended with a horrible, uninspiring 23-6 loss to the Raiders. Confidence in the offense entering the regular season was pretty low at this point.
Part VI: Another early season slump
Fears over the offense only increased after the Patriots scored only one touchdown in a 20-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.
Phil Perry on Sept. 11: "Bill Belichick’s club lacked explosive playmaking ability offensively. A bad angle from one of their best players in the secondary led to a quick Miami touchdown. And the pass-protection issues that have been issues throughout the summer cropped up yet again, leading to a strip-six, and possibly contributing to quarterback Mac Jones suffering a back injury. This time of year is usually about expecting the unexpected. But on Sunday the Patriots looked like the team they’ve been going back to early August."
Kendrick Bourne's usage in camp, the preseason and in Week 1 was quite low. It was a surprising development given how effective the veteran wideout was for New England during the 2021 campaign. Bourne's lack of involvement in the offense would be a negative for the Patriots all season.
The Patriots barely beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-14 on the road in Week 2, before hosting the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3 and losing 37-26. The Patriots had plenty of chances to beat the Ravens but committed four turnovers in a five-possession span during the second half. Mac Jones also suffered an ankle injury that would sideline him for several weeks.
Part VII: Zappe Fever comes alive, but dies quickly
The Patriots went into Lambeau Field for a Week 4 matchup versus the Green Bay Packers with a 1-2 record and backup Brian Hoyer starting at quarterback. Hoyer suffered a head injury in the first quarter, resulting in rookie Bailey Zappe making his NFL debut.
Zappe actually played pretty well and the Patriots nearly pulled off an upset but lost in overtime to fall to 1-3.
The rookie QB started the next two games and the Patriots won both -- a 29-0 victory over the Detroit Lions at home and a 38-15 triumph over the Cleveland Browns on the road.
All of a sudden, the Patriots had a quarterback controversy on their hands. Mac Jones was ready to return for a Week 7 home game against the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football", and he got his job back. Jones lasted just three possessions, though, and was replaced by Zappe. After a couple good drives, the offense really started to struggle and the Bears wound up with a convincing (and stunning) 33-14 win.
The Patriots, to their credit, recovered with back-to-back victories over the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts to enter the Week 10 bye at 5-4.
Part VIII: Offense keeps struggling, and a historic blunder
The hope for many Patriots fans was that the bye week would provide ample opportunity for the coaching staff to figure out some adjustments offensively and make that unit more productive. Instead, the offense got even worse.
The Patriots' first game out of the bye week was a home matchup versus the Jets, and they narrowly escaped with a 10-3 win because of rookie Marcus Jones' punt return touchdown late in the game. New England did not score a single offensive touchdown. In fact, the Patriots have scored just eight offensive touchdowns in their first six games after the Week 10 bye.
The offense made some progress in a Thanksgiving loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but instead of building on that momentum, the unit took a couple steps back in a 24-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 13.
New England bounced back with a win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 14, and then an all-time blunder on a lateral play in the final seconds of a Week 15 matchup with the Raiders cost the Patriots a much-needed victory.
Tom E. Curran on Dec. 19: "The Patriots put a cherry on top of their stupidity sundae on Sunday with a for-the-ages-blunder by Jakobi Meyers. That Bill Belichick’s Patriots produced a play that vaulted immediately into the top-five most absurd moments in league history? That’ll leave him staring grimly at his ceiling in the dark for the remainder of 2022."
The Patriots suffered another gut-wrenching loss the following week. After falling behind 22-0 to the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Christmas Eve, the Patriots mounted a respectable comeback attempt and were driving toward the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. But second-year running back Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled inside the 10-yard line and the Pats suffered a 22-18 loss. The defeat dropped New England to 7-8. Despite losing four of their last five games, the Patriots still control their own destiny in the playoff race. They'll secure a wild card spot if they win their final two games of the regular season.
Tom E. Curran on Dec. 25: "Sunday’s start was inexcusable. And the end was, sadly, predictable. I don’t know the exact moment when the Patriots became a 'they’ll probably f--- this up at the end' kinda team. But any argument they aren’t wouldn’t stand up to evidence submitted the past two weeks."
Bonus! Top Patriots Talk and Next Pats Podcast episodes from 2022
Julian Edelman wouldn't be surprised by a Tom Brady comeback (Feb. 10)
Fred Gaudelli weighs in on Tom Brady's booth potential (May 12)
Patriots rookie corner Marcus Jones has slot RECEIVER potential (May 18)
Tom Brady's dalliance with Dolphins leaves a dent on Patriots legacy (Aug. 2)
Did the Patriots blow it when passing on Lamar Jackson? (Sept. 22)
Why tight ends are "The Blood and Guts" of the NFL with author Ty Dunne (Oct. 12)
Chris Long goes deep on time with Patriots and life in general (Nov. 3)
Concerns are now reality with Patriots’ offensive ugliness (Nov. 8)
Dante Scarnecchia drops KNOWLEDGE on struggling Patriots offense (Nov. 9)
How much patience will Robert Kraft have for regressing Patriots? (Dec. 6)
Processing the Patriots’ mind numbing-loss to the Raiders (Dec. 19)