At 3-10, the Patriots are no longer able to make it into the NFL postseason this year.
The New England Patriots’ upcoming game against the Kansas City Chiefs is their first meaningless one since back in 2020. Despite coming off a victory to improve to 3-10, they were eliminated from postseason contention over the weekend.
But while “meaningless” might be the apt term to describe this and the other three games left on the schedule as far as playoff aspirations are concerned, it does not reflect the team’s mindset as a whole. Even with the tournament now officially out of reach, the Patriots are carrying some motivation into the home stretch of the season.
They want to play good football, and even in a lost season finish strongly.
“You still don’t want to put bad film out,” said linebacker Jahlani Tavai. “It is still your job to go out there and perform at the highest level. Because if you want to be here next year, then you have to show them each and every week regardless of having a winning season or a losing season. It just shows character on that part.”
The Patriots’ season started going down the drain in October, when the team lost back-to-back games by 30-plus points and never seemed to regain its mojo afterwards. Quarterback play was a major concern, but the problems extended beyond then-starter Mac Jones — turnovers, pass protection, skill position quality and special teams play all contributed to the team eventually ending up with only three wins going into Week 15.
That third and most recent win came last Thursday versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. And while there were still plenty of issues, New England did string enough positive plays together to leave with a 21-18 victory.
For long-time captain Matthew Slater, this was a much-needed change after a five-game losing streak.
“I know everybody feels different about the way our season is going, but for us as competitors, we want to go out and perform well regardless of the circumstances and we want to have success,” he said.
“It gives us some confidence and hopefully gives us a little bit of a spark. And we’re going to need every bit of a spark we can get this week playing against the Chiefs. …. We’re trying to carry that over, continue to perform well, execute on a lot of things that we can do better than we did last week. But, hopefully, it’s a good way for us to start finishing the season strong.”
The wish to finish strongly was also echoed by other players on the roster, including tight end and fellow team captain Hunter Henry.
“We still got games to play,” he said. “We still have good football teams to play, too. We got to test what we’ve got against some really, really good football teams, and it starts this week. And you just take it week-by-week, attack each week.”
That week-to-week mindset instilled into the players by head coach Bill Belichick has allowed the team to put blinders on even with plenty of noise surrounding the organization at the moment. Ultimately, a lot of players appear to be competing for job as mentioned by Tavai.
And yet, the defender senses a positive energy within the team.
“Really good energy right now,” he said. “From the meeting room to the locker room, everyone’s just excited to return to work.”
For others such as running back Ezekiel Elliott, motivation can be found in a more spiritual sense.
“I’ve had a coach tell me that we play a kids game, king’s ransom,” the first-year Patriot said on Wednesday. “Things could be a lot worse; I could be in a way worse situation. At least I’m getting the play I love, the play I’ve loved for most of my life. So, anytime I get to go out and play football I’m excited. How could you not be?”