The New England Patriots are a far cry from their days as perennial contenders. As it stands right now, the Patriots are without question a team that is relegated to the most barren expanses off football hell.
New England's game against the Buffalo Bills is only relevant for draft position. A loss would guarantee New England the No. 1 pick, while a win would hand it to either the Tennessee Titans or Cleveland Browns in a move that would be a genuine kick in the teeth for fans.
The fan enthusiasm for this game can be called tepid, to say the least. A picture of the stadium 90 minutes before the game showed just how tuned out fans were with Jerod Mayo's team. The stadium was barren and the tailgating area was dead.
The parking lot was just as bad, as it felt like a nuclear weapon went off just a few hours before the game started. Things are bleak in New England, and Joe Milton playing in Week 18 is likely not going to alleviate any of those concerns.
Patriots' attendance before kickoff shows how bad team has become in 2024
The only positive that has emerged from this season is Drake Maye, as the No. 3 overall pick has put up solid production despite an absolute barren wasteland of talent around him on the offensive side of the ball. Outside of that, things are starting to look fairly glum in New England.
The defense is not terrible, but it has taken a step back now that Bill Belichick can't put his special touch on it. The fact that Mayo's alleged specialty is regressing is not a good look for him as he tries to maintain what has apparently become a very thin hold on this job.
To be fair to Mayo and GM Eliot Wolf, this team was expected to be bad going in. Few GMs can turn a team around in one season, and Mayo is struggling due to a roster that has only a handful of players who can be called high-end starters. Unfortunately, the NFL isn't always fair.
After two decades of near-unparalleled success, the Patriots' thunderous fall to the bottom of the NFL has reminded this fanbase what life was like for the rest of the plebeians out there when Tom Brady was steamrolling them. These games may be more commonplace if things don't change.