The New England Patriots hit a low point with their 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, a defeat that dropped them to a 1-6 record at the bottom of the AFC standings.
But the next four games saw the Patriots make genuine progress.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye has shown -- albeit in a small sample -- that he has the tools to be a franchise quarterback. The defense showed improvement, including a nine-sack performance against the Chicago Bears in Week 10. The rushing attack, led by Rhamondre Stevenson, showed signs of life. Veteran tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper made a strong impact.
The Patriots went 2-2 during this stretch, and easily could have beaten the Tennessee Titans in Week 9 (20-17 overtime loss) as well as the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 (28-22 defeat).
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Unfortunately for the Patriots, most of that momentum and progress was erased -- or at the very least halted -- by Sunday's 34-15 loss to the Dolphins in Miami in Week 12. The Patriots were penalized 10 times for 75 yards. They committed two turnovers, and the defense had no answers for the Dolphins' high-powered passing attack.
It was an awful performance. And as a result, it's become clear that this Patriots team is still searching for its identity entering Week 13.
"Hope you enjoyed the four games before the Patriots went down to Miami, because that one that just happened is the one that's gonna leave a dent," Tom E. Curran said Tuesday on NBC Sports Boston's Quick Slants, as seen in the video player above.
"The Patriots had shown some minor progress since they got whipped in London by the Jaguars. But now I feel like they're right back where they were when they left London, and that's a team trying to find its identity -- still a team that has five games in six weeks to figure out just exactly what it's going to do in the offseason. A team that seems much further away than it did the last time we talked."
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said earlier in the season that he wanted his team to be a tough group to play against during the final stretch of the campaign.
Even though the playoffs aren't a realistic goal for the Patriots, they can still lay the foundation for future success by finishing this season strong. But to accomplish that, their performance in all three phases must improve tremendously from what we witnessed last Sunday.
If signs of progress aren't shown, Curran says, all levels of the organization deserve scrutiny.
"It's only been 11 months since the Patriots said goodbye to the greatest coach of all time, Bill Belichick," Curran said. "But in that 11 months, what they've been doing is basically taking a beat. They wanted to see how things looked without Bill. They wanted to keep one foot in the past and one foot in the present, and they would look toward the future. What are they seeing in the future? They're seeing a team that's gonna need a lot of work.
"This is a Patriots team that has to figure out, as Jerod Mayo has said, who's going to stay and what can maintain. And really everybody has to be on notice as a result of that, whether it's the players, whether it's the personnel people, whether it's the coaches, whether it's Mayo himself.
"The Patriots are 3-9, and they are not looking like a team that nobody wants to play, which is what Mayo has said. He wanted his team to be smart, tough and disciplined. They're none out of three, and that's not good."
The Patriots have a very winnable game Sunday when they host the Indianapolis Colts in a Week 13 matchup at Gillette Stadium. They have a Week 14 bye and then finish out the regular season with the second-toughest remaining schedule in football, including matchups versus the Buffalo Bills (twice), Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers.
The Patriots could still be a team that nobody is overly excited to play against in December, but they have plenty to work on this week and during the bye. These final five games don't matter in the playoff race, but they matter to the future of the team and figuring out what the organization has going forward.
Watch the entire episode of Quick Slants below or on YouTube.
