Sunday Solidified The Patriots As Cowards Who Aren't Ready To Win

This isn't me partaking in revisionist history or a case of 20/20 hindsight. I said this in real time, as it was happening, as I'm sure thousands of others did as well.

The Patriots should've gone for two to win the game in regulation Sunday.

It's less to do about the outcome of the game; I could swallow the L a lot easier if we lost that way. Sure it sucks, but the ripple effects of going for it and converting, in my mind, far outweigh the potential downside of missing it.

A 2-6 football team that was thoroughly outplayed by a 1-6 football team, on the road, with a chance to steal a game they had no business winning, with the clock at zero, one play from the 2 yard line. GO FOR IT!

I again find myself questioning the thought process. We waltzed down the field like we were headlining the Grand Ole Opry; 50 yards in a minute 45 with no timeouts to score at the buzzer on an insane play. Our offense hadn't looked that competent all game. Their defense was finally on their heals. Momentum was all on our side. And we're 2-6!!

People talk about culture a lot in the NFL; how good teams have it and bad teams seek to cultivate it. I know we stink and winning this game wouldn't have changed that, but going for the win in that situation could've been the message the team needed to start believing and acting like winners in a season they've done anything but.

Before you tell me Belichick would never have gone for that; this isn't the Belichick Patriots. This isn't a Super Bowl contender whose likelihood of winning football games goes up the longer the game goes. This is a battered and bruised bunch of nobodies that's searching for an identity, searching for confidence anywhere or way they can find it. Winning a game they shouldn't have won would mean something. Winning two games in a row for the first time in two calendar years would mean something. Becoming a team that starts to believe in themselves, believe they're building something, would mean something.

Kicking the extra point was a message to the offense that the coaches don't believe in you enough to run your best play for two yards. Don't call that hyperbole, if they thought they could they would've gone for it.

Whether or not they're right in their thinking doesn't matter. Truly. This team won't be competing for a playoff spot. They will more than likely be sellers by the time tomorrow's deadline passes. They're publicly rebuilding. So why in the fuck do you not take advantage of an opportunity to put the ball in the hands of your hopeful budding star QB with the game on the line?

I feel so strongly that a "Let's win this fucking game" mentality plays a large role in a locker room. Look at Dan Campbell and the Lions, and how often on their rise Jared Goff praised DC for believing in them on all of those fourth down attempts, citing confidence in them and in turn that confidence spreading through the building. The Patriots and Jerod Mayo, in a similar spot as those Lions when Campbell took over, squandered that opportunity Sunday. Instead they played not to lose.

I want to be excited about this team. I want to believe they're building something. But building something starts at the top. Creating a winning culture starts at the top. And in a season full of off-field headlines, young guys whose mouth's outshine their ability, and losses piling up, there appears to be a lack of leadership and direction in the building. A loser mentality if you will.

We're not winners, and yesterday proved that we're not close. Fuck.