To Patriots Nation, From a Patriots Fanatic

To ALL of the Patriot fans,

I write this as a complete fan of the Patriots.  From Rhode Island, I grew up a fan so don’t think I’m just some typical bandwagon Pats fan.  I have watched this franchise in the most exciting times and the most depressing times.  Right now, it’s a depressing time and for good reason.  We played hard all year and came up short in such an exciting football game in SB LII.  I am going to be very critical of the Pats, so be prepared, but of course as a disclaimer, in Bill we trust and I have complete faith that we will be back here next season fighting for the Lombardi Trophy again.  That said, I want to give a congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles for an outstanding season and an unbelievable game.  We were outplayed and the city has earned that title.

First and foremost, thank you Tom Brady.  At 40 years old he won the MVP and threw for 505 yards and 3 TDs and I couldn’t have ever seen a greater performance in the Super Bowl.  Without Tom we clearly wouldn’t have been where we are, and for that I’m thankful.  The receiving corps had a tremendous day as well.  After Brandin Cooks was out for the game, Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan, and Gronk stepped it up and played unbelievable.   The offense was clicking on all cylinders and I couldn’t have seen a better game offensively.  That being said, I was not totally impressed with our offensive line.  Yes, Brady was only sacked once but it came in the most important time in the entire game, 2 minutes left.  When you reach the championship game with 2 minutes left in your entire season that is when you are needed the most.  That strip sack should never happen especially on the SECOND play of the potential game winning drive.  The O-line I feel is always one of the weakest parts of our game and we hopefully will improve on that next season.  The offense should be proud as we went the entire season without Julian Edelman and are anxiously waiting his return next season.  

As for the defense, there is just a lot to say. Before I get into anything, I have to say Stephon Gilmore was worth the money.  He showed up big time in the AFC Championship against Jacksonville and had the game of his life Sunday.  I thought he was the best player on the field defensively and couldn’t have been happier with how he played.  I have no fucking idea why Malcolm Butler did not play.  If he does not return next season, I do not blame him at all.  We have a perfectly healthy Pro Bowl DB on the bench not being used when we are playing 3rd and 4th string DBs.  That is something I will never understand for the rest of my life.  While this defense has lost a lot of players including the centerpiece to our defense in Donta Hightower, I expected a lot more from them.  Allowing 41 points is disgusting and I cannot even believe that happened.  The Patriots are such a good team when it comes to a strategy called bend but don’t break meaning the Pats allow teams to gain tons of yards but don’t allow them in the endzone and let them settle for field goals.  The defense looked lost, they made Foles look like a stud and were leaving Ertz wide open running across the field from sideline to sideline.  

The defense was atrocious and I hope that I never witness another terrible defensive game like I just saw.  We allowed the Eagles to run for 164 yards in this game and that is absolutely unacceptable.  While I love Matty Patricia as a DC, this was a terrible way to end an incredible stint in New England.  Patricia’s defense could not figure out the Eagles the whole game, and this was not the game to fuck up so badly in.  The Patriots had so many missed tackles and couldn’t even get to Nick Foles once and sack him.  While we are on the topic of fucking things up, let’s go to SPECIAL TEAMS, which was absolutely horrendous.  We get down the field, the score is 9-3, and we get a 26 yd chip shot fucking field goal and we get a shit snap/hold and we miss the kick.  How do we manage to do that shit? Oh and not only that, but we also missed an extra point too, which was totally on Gostkowski.  The hit he had on the following kickoff was pretty impressive though, almost Pat McAfee esk.  

To end on a high note, I KNOW the Pats will be back next season.  The AFC is there’s to give up, and with MVP TB12 and Coach Belichick leading the ship there is always another Super Bowl calling our name.  I fully expect to see the Patriots make it next year and play the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl next year for a Brees vs Brady battle.  With the return of Hightower and Edelman along with some offseason additions, the Pats WILL be back and ready to go. While I am currently down from the loss as much of you fans are, just know we will be ready next season and just like the rest of you, I’ll be waiting for the gate to open for Training Camp.  Till then, let’s think about this season but look forward to next as there is much more to come in the future ahead.

Written by Nick Kazandjian