Crowe: The 2023 Season Week #6 - Patriots Worst of the Worst?

Crowe: The 2023 Season Week #6 - Patriots Worst of the Worst?

Weren’t things supposed to be getting better by now? Year three with Mac Jones at quarterback. A new, returning offensive coordinator in Bill O’Brien in town to save the offense. Plus, the greatest coach of all time left to spend all his time handling the defense to get better.

Yet, somehow, we find the New England Patriots at 1-4 heading to Las Vegas Sunday to face some familiar foes in head coach Josh McDaniels, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers. Can’t we just imagine for a moment if things had turned out a different way and that trio had stayed in Foxboro, just how different this 2023 team would be? Of course, that never had a chance to happen when that first domino of Garoppolo being traded out of town fell back in 2017.

McDaniels left in 2022 and Meyers joined him this season with Belichick showing no interest in his return to Foxboro despite his chemistry with Jones. Even with the winning futility this season in New England, there doesn’t appear to be changes any time soon including at quarterback even with Jones struggling through two straight blowout losses.

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“Yeah, we’re not making any changes,” said Belichick during Wednesday’s press conference. That comes even with the Patriots scoring just one touchdown in three games with Jones completing only 39 of 72 passes for 461 yards and four interceptions. They’ll be without wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) and Demario Douglas (concussion), along with offensive linemen Riley Reiff (knee) and Cole Strange (knee), who were all ruled out on Friday.

The real question becomes should the Patriots lose in Las Vegas, do they roll the dice, go all in, and start trading off veterans to start completely over in 2024? It’s something Belichick has never done and at age 71, unlikely to do now. That would be a complete fold and leave this franchise at a bit of a crossroads for owner Robert Kraft. That’s something I would advocate them doing should they find themselves in that position Monday morning.

Now, for those teams that seemingly still have a fighting chance this season, here are our week six power rankings.

 

10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1, Last week ranked 10th)
The Bucs may be one of the better stories so far in 2023. If you had Baker Mayfield replacing Tom Brady and winning 75% of his first four games, I applaud you. Up next for Tampa Bay are the Lions, Falcons, and Bills. That’s no easy road indeed.

 

9. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-2, Last week not ranked)
After two weeks and two wins in London, the Jaguars find themselves above .500 and in first place in the AFC South. Jacksonville surprisingly dominated Buffalo to the tune of 474 yards and 29 first downs with Calvin Ridley (122 yards) and Travis Etienne (136 yards, 2TDs) leading the way. Beware of the Jags again.

 

8. Dallas Cowboys (3-2, Last week ranked 5th)
Dallas gave up 421 yards and 42 points to the 49ers Sunday night while quarterback Dak Prescott threw three interceptions. This Monday night, they face former offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and a loss could leave them reeling into a week 7 bye at 3-3. The Cowboys could be teetering on their way out of our power rankings.

 

7. Buffalo Bills (3-2, Last week ranked 4th)
The Bills looked sluggish in losing to the Jaguars in London last Sunday. Maybe waiting until leaving until late in the week to travel was a mistake. Losing linebacker Matt Milano to a broken leg will be a bigger issue moving forward for its defense, although they won’t miss him Sunday night against the Giants.

 

6. Seattle Seahawks (3-1, Last week ranked 9th)
The Seahawks are coming off the bye and travel to Cincinnati to face a Bengals team that suddenly found its offense with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, who combined for three passing scores, last week. A win this Sunday would go a long way. And speaking of long ways, they avoid the 49ers until weeks 12 and 14. That’s a good thing for Seattle.

 

5. Detroit Lions (4-1, Last week ranked 5th)
Can you believe the Lions won 12 of their last 15 games? They’re the only team above .500 in the NFC North and could clinch by December.

 

4. Miami Dolphins (4-1, Last week ranked 6th)
It wasn’t flashy, but the Dolphins proved they could win a tough game at home against a physical Giants team. This Sunday, the winless Panthers are the opponents. Bad news though, running back De’Von Achane is out at least four weeks with a knee injury.

 

3.  Kansas City Chiefs (5-1, Last week ranked 3rd)
The Chiefs got a scare when tight end Travis Kelce went down for a few plays with what looked like a knee injury in Minnesota. He’s ok and KC followed that up by beating the Broncos for the 16th straight time Thursday night. Now, Kelce gets 10 days to heal.

 

2. Philadelphia Eagles (5-0, Last week ranked 2nd)
Philly may have to wait until they host San Francisco in week 13 in an NFC Championship rematch to grab the top spot. The question is who will stop their second-ranked offense (404 yards/game)?

 

1. San Francisco 49ers (5-0, Last week ranked 1st)
The Niners lead the league in turnover differential at +7. They also have the NFL’s top defense giving up only 13.6 points per game. Put that together with an offense that’s second-ranked at 33 points a game and this team is unstoppable right now.

 

Five games to watch in week six
Patriots at Raiders (4:05 pm on CBS)
49ers at Browns (1 pm on FOX)
Colts at Jaguars (1 pm on CBS)
Eagles at Jets (4:25 pm on FOX)
Cowboys at Chargers (Monday 8:15 pm ABC, ESPN)