Julian Edelman perfectly sums up the feelings of Patriots fans this season

There are an infinite amount of ways Patriots fans could describe the feeling of watching the 2023 season unfold for New England, and although we've become accustomed to feeling excitement and joy at this point in the year, there really aren't any positive words that could be said about the team this season.

Even the most optimistic fans are finding it difficult not to jump on the tanking bandwagon, which is going full speed ahead after the loss to the Chargers moved the Patriots up to the second overall pick. And the season has gone so badly that even former players are sharing their disappointment, with Julian Edelman being the latest to comment on the year before Sunday's game.

It's fair to say Edelman's post accurately summed up the overall mood of the New England fanbase.

Given that the Chargers were coming off one of their worst performances of the season in Week 12 against the Ravens, there was a slight chance that the Patriots could come out with the win.

Despite being named 5-point underdogs, Bailey Zappe as the starting quarterback, and a draft pick on the line, there seemed to be more working in their favor ahead of the game than in most of those they've already played.

But that hope disappeared almost immediately, as it was quickly evident that it would be a complete punt-off between the two teams for nearly 60 minutes. Fortunately, the Chargers were able to get a pair of field goals to put the Patriots away, providing the home team their first season of two blowout losses in franchise history.

It's certainly not a record anyone would ever want to break, but that indicates how this year has gone in Foxboro. And yet, even with all the previous games to remind us that the team is just not good this year, we remain hopeful just to be disappointed and repeat the words Edelman shared to ourselves, "I don't know what I expected."

Let's hope next season will be very different, and this won't be the common mood for seasons to come.

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