FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Bill Belichick was truculent throughout the preseason whenever questions arose about his decision to put Matt Patricia, an assistant coach with a defensive pedigree, in charge of the Patriots’ offense.
A season’s worth of struggles on that side of the ball ended with New England’s 35-23 loss at Buffalo on Sunday. The Patriots finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Quarterback Mac Jones regressed during an underachieving season that saw the Patriots' offense ranked in the bottom half of the league in points per game and red-zone touchdowns.