(It seems only fitting that The Captain would grace the cover of today’s program.)
It started in a monsoon and ended in a blizzard. 17-games in 18-weeks, the storm raged outside at the start and end, but a storm of a different shape has brewed inside the walls of 1 Patriot Place all season. In like a lion and out like an even bigger lion, the 2023 New England Patriots season came to a close on Sunday in Foxborough.
Week 18 seemed appropriate because the assembled crowd at snowy Gillette Stadium were there for their own #18, as the Patriots Finale took the shape of Slater Sunday. Sure fans who ambled through slush soaked sidewalks and snow cloaked corridors wanted a victory, even more so they wanted to pay homage to a “Son, father, husband, teammate, 10 Time Pro Bowl Selection, 3 Time Super Bowl Champion, 13 Time Team Captain, 5-Time All-Pro” Matthew Slater.
The description is in quotes because that’s what it reads on the left sleeve of the hoodies that the entire organization was wearing pre-game, including Robert Kraft. The front says “The Patriot 18” and the back says “Captain 18”. These are the hottest commodity in New England right now. If these came out two weeks ago they’d be the Tickle Me Elmo (not a sponsor), the Cabbage Patch Doll (them either) or the freakin’ Furby (or them) of every Pats fans’ Christmas list. These sweatshirts are so cool and Slater so beloved, former Jet Mike DeVito asked me if there were any for sale at the stadium. (I almost asked an equipment manager who was wearing one what his asking price would be. These should be for sale on their website by time you’re reading this. Not saying they will be, but I’m saying they should be! Take my money RKK! I tweeted about them more than an hour before kickoff and I had multiple Etsy (not a sponsor) stores sending me links to their versions of it. You know you have something when the garbage back post-concert t-shirt hawker of the internet is duplicating your design in a milli-second.)
We’ll talk about the game on the field, there isn’t much to say about this one, but we’ve discussed the first 16 games and if I’m anything I’m a completionist.
- A 17-3 loss at home to the Jets is horrendous and in bad weather for week 18, it would be easy to say that guys made a business decision to easy healthily into the off-season, but I thought guys played hard. I was surprised by the amount of passing, I figured this to be a ground game that was decided by someone fumbling a punt but it really wasn’t. I thought we’d see more drops, tons of fumbles and miscues but we really didn’t until the last 5 minutes or so.
- I’m sad we didn’t get to see Slater take at least one rep on offense, but things didn’t really lend themselves to that at the end of the game. Didn’t help the Patriots kept turning the ball over.
- Jabrill Peppers coming off injury and illness played all out and made some plays. (His unnecessary roughness on Garrett Wilson was the most comical 15-yard penalty you’ll ever see, if you’re a Pats fan. The way he held his arms up going into the hit as if to say “I’m not meaning to hit him as hard as I’m hitting him, but I am hitting him hard, it’s not my fault though” was the most well intentioned personal foul of the season. Jabrill Peppers might also be my team MVP.)
- If Peppers isn’t the team MVP, it’s Christian Barmore. You might say “but he didn’t have any sacks on Sunday, in fact the Patriots only managed 1-sack of the highly dunkable Trevor Simien.” But Barmore had 10 tackles, 6 of them solo, 2 tackles for loss and one QB hit. In the race to see who the Patriots extend first, Barmore is the clear front runner.
- Zappe was Chargers game Zappe. That’s my least favorite Zappe.
- Zeke played hard, weird to see him without the visor on his face mask. It’s like the final episode of Home Improvement when Tim pulls down the fence in his back yard to make room for Al’s wedding and he finally saw Wilson’s face for the first time. This might be the same for Zeke, as it could be one and done for him in New England. But I think you would call his tenure here a success. I’d be open to bringing him back.
- Pharoah Brown was getting into scraps all day, but the poor guy couldn’t get a call. The Jets were all over him all day, (perhaps retribution for his long touchdown catch back in week 3) but at one point a New York defender headbutted Brown after the play and nary a flag was thrown. In fact there were only 5 flags thrown all day, (officials didn’t want them getting wet) and just one was on the Jets for 5 whole American yards.
- I think the Jets had an unfair advantage (when has that ever been uttered!?!) Their uniforms were green and white, which perfectly matched the field and the weather. It was undistinguishable, should’ve made them wear purple pinnies.
- Jahlani Tavai IS good!
- Chad Ryland made a kick. Unfortunately that was all the scoring the Patriots had today, but he was one for one in field goal attempts. That makes two games I went to this year where the Patriots didn’t score a touchdown. Speaking of, I went to 5 Patriots games this year and they went 0-5. Now, before you go and call me the bad luck guy, they went 1-7 at home this year, the odds weren’t on my side that I was going to see the win. Could have happened to anybody. I better go back next year just to be sure.
- If we’re going to lose to the Jets for the first time since December of 2015, this was probably the way to do it. Bad weather, week 18 of a lost season and with the loss the Patriots sew up the 3rd pick in the NFL Draft. Getting one of those top 3 quarterbacks in a helluva consolation prize.
- Jones Power Ranking: The Not So Grand Finale
1. Jonathan (last man standing).
My buddy Jake and I drove down to Foxboro on Saturday night before the snow and stayed at the America’s Best Value Inn (not a sponsor). This made for as easy a game day as you could have, after taking advantage of their tremendous breakfast, we cleaned 3” of wet snow off the truck (for good luck) and walked to the stadium. It was almost creepy. The sky was dark slate, the snow driving directly into our faces as we walked, made me feel like I was lined up in a 3-point stance across from Mr. Freeze. (The Arnold Schwarzenegger version.
The parking lots that are usually brimming with fans, grills and easy-up tents were a quarter full. The lots on the stadium side were a ghost town. You couldn’t blame them, if this game was a concert and a blizzard was performing, today they were playing a complete set of a rain storm’s greatest hits.
(Today was not a day for casual fans who like to watch Pro Football in the afternoon.)
Weather wise, a lot of the day reminded me of the opener against the Eagles. There were as many ponchos as there were Patriots jerseys and you only took your phone out sporadically because it was streaked with water almost instantly.
Post game, I stayed in place to watch Matthew Slater run off the field for what sure seems like the last time. I was probably one of the few, the 300 level had a smattering of people most of the first half, but those hearty souls moved to lower sections or went home at halftime. By the time Breece Hall ran in the final nail in the coffin, the stadium had mostly cleared out. It was to be expected, tickets were selling for as low as $20 on the secondary market and I had a friend who gave away 4 tickets in the 300-level.
The early departures made one thing easy in terms of driving home. When we returned back to the ABVI parking lot, my truck was encased in ice. But when we finished chipping the frozen remains from my Ram, we slipped out of the parking lot (till next year ABVI!) onto Route 1 and hit 495 faster than any post game I can remember. The rest of the ride was slow, but I pulled safely into my door yard 6.5 hours later. (Usually takes 4+)
(Stadium crews did a good job with snow removal, but during the game it accumulated quickly.)
I listened to Tom Curran’s Patriots Talk podcast during the drive where he and Phil Perry talked for 30 minutes about how this was Belichick’s last game. They were surprised that there wasn’t more acknowledgement of this fact in the stadium or by the fans. (They were surprised the team didn’t put “Thank you Bill” on the jumbotron.) This struck me as tone deaf, because I didn’t hear anything in the crowd about this being Bill Belichick’s last game. I think amongst most fans, they expect him to be back. Fans who were there today, weren’t there to say goodbye to Bill, today was about Matthew Slater. He was the one receiving tribute from the organization and the fans. In the 32-minute podcast, they scarcely mentioned Slater or the tributes to him and instead debated Mac Jones being inactive for the game and if that’s Bill’s way of screwing with him again. Get a new angle guys, yikes.
“It’s starts with a whistle and ends with a gun.” – NFL Films production “They Call It Pro Football”.
In the case of this Patriots season, the final gun didn’t end anything but a chapter in the story of the franchise and the next one starts anew today. There are many questions to answer, but who will be left to answer them eludes us. Reports are Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft will meet soon to discuss the future as they always do, though this year’s conversation could take a different tone from those of years past. The result remains to be seen. I assume Matthew Slater will take some time before making an announcement on his future. Last year he announced that he was returning in late February.
While we wait for word from Foxboro on the future, we can start watching highlights of Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and start devouring mock drafts now that we have a good chunk of the draft order determined. The NFL is a 12-month sport, the season never ends. We have just reached a new phase of the calendar.