Is the New England Patriots season already over after week three?

After a disappointing week three loss at home, is it reasonable to say that the New England Patriots’ 2022 season is already over?  The Patriots’ offense came to life in week three, putting 26 points on the board against what was a poor Ravens’ defense.

However, the defense wasn’t able to contain Lamar Jackson and allowed the Ravens to score 37 points.  Part of this was due to some inopportune mistakes from the Patriots, including a trio of interceptions.

Now, Mac Jones is likely missing several weeks with a severe high ankle sprain.  The Patriots play the Packers and Lions next.  The Packers are still good, and the Lions look like a brand new team.  They have to travel to Green Bay for their week four game, but get the Lions at home.

Is it too early to say that the Patriots season might actually be over?  What happens if the team falls to 1-4 if they were to lose their next two games?  Would they be able to dig themselves out of that mess in a good AFC?

The Dolphins and Bills appear to be the top two teams who will battle it out in the division, and the Jets have shown a bit of fight thus far.  The AFC West, even though they had a bad day on Sunday, is still very good, and the AFC North could have two playoff teams.

The Jacksonville Jaguars look legitimate, and the Titans got their first win of the season.  After three weeks, the AFC doesn’t appear to have a clear frontrunner, and I think that’s a huge concern.  Right now, I think we’re seeing a large handful of good football teams.

Perhaps not great teams, but good ones.  Perhaps these are your 9-10 win clubs who can flirt with playoff spots.  And I do think that each Wild Card team in the AFC could each have 10 wins.  Just think, for a minute, if the Patriots fall to 1-4 without Mac Jones in the next two games.

Could the team then really finish the season going 9-3 or 8-4?  They still have yet to play the Bills twice.  They also get to play the Dolphins again, and they have Bengals, Vikings, and Colts as well, who all arguably have more talent on their roster than New England.

I’m not sure I see a scenario where the Patriots are able to dig out of this 1-2 hole and a Mac Jones injury.  I hate to be pessimistic, but there’s reason to believe that the season could already be over.