The Boston Globe dedicated their front page spread to dissecting the New England Patriots loss in Week 1, as it was, in their words, a “hot mess.”
When the New England Patriots go down, the entire AFC East rejoices.
And when the Patriots go down so hard that the Boston Globe has an existential crisis, it’s something that no AFC East rival can resist relishing in.
Describing Sunday’s 20-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins as a “hot mess”, the Boston Globe’s sportswriters gathered on the front page to take New England to task.
Dan Shaughnessy opens the front page with a piece titled, “It probably could not have gone worse, so heat is on Belichick.”
Notorious for his disaffection for Boston sports icons — he claimed it’s now “impossible to root for” the insufferable Tom Brady and refused to put David Ortiz in MLB’s Hall of Fame — Shaughnessy pulled no punches in his overreaction to a Week 1 loss to the Dolphins.
“Seven measly points,” Shaughnessy plastered on the Globe’s front page. “That’s all the Pats could generate against the rugged, upstart Fish. It was almost bad enough to make you think about switching to Red Sox-Orioles.”
For what it’s worth, Shaughnessy also referred to the Patriots’ offensive drives as “drives”, emphasis on the sarcastic quotation marks.
In Ben Volin’s piece, titled, “Coach continues to push buttons — the wrong ones”, Volin brings up a deflating statistic for every Patriots fan: they just don’t seem to do well down at Miami Gardens.
The Pats are now 2-8 in their last ten games in Miami, a phenomenon which Volin referred to as “the same Florida flop for the Patriots.”
Volin emphasized how Belichick’s beat themselves with turnovers, in addition to the defense failing to figure out Tua Tagovailoa. It also didn’t help that Belichick benched Kendrick Bourne for unknown reasons, which only brings back the pain of benching Malcom Butler in Super Bowl LII.
Patriots misery in Boston a source of joy for triumphant Bills, Dolphins
NFL Week 1 is the best week for any overreaction, hence the Boston sports world freely losing its collective mind. It didn’t help matters that Belichick attempted to temper reactions by calling it an “even game“, when the game did not feel even in several regards.
New England didn’t have an answer for Tua Tagovailoa or Tyreek Hill. A Carl Davis offsides jump was an elementary error for any Patriots player, yet Davis fell for it — uncharacteristic for Belichick’s team.
And it’s not just the Boston Globe. MassLive’s Matt Vautour warns, “If Patriots can’t beat mediocre Dolphins, New England could be in for a long year .”
The Patriots in Week 1 didn’t look like the Patriots of old, instead highlighting training camp reservations about the offense and the cacophony with offensive coordinators.
Early claims about the Buffalo Bills going all the way and the Miami Dolphins being a team to watch are solidified in Week 1, but as the Belichick adage goes, “football season starts after Thanksgiving.” Patriots devotees will have to hold onto that one as their team figures it out the first couple of weeks.