New England Coach Bill Belichick speaks after the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the Patriots, 21-17, on Sunday. AP Photo/David Becker
The Red Sox have more wins this month than the Patriots.
That’s the sobering reality New Englanders woke up to on Monday after the Patriots were beaten by the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon. It was the latest kick in the backside in a season that’s been full of them for Pats fans. Former Patriots’ QB Brian Hoyer, filling in for injured former Patriot Jimmy Garoppolo, led the Raiders to the win with a solid second half.
Former Patriots’ receiver Jakobi Meyers caught a TD pass from Garoppolo in the first half, as the Raiders returned to .500 with the win. It was a big win for Coach Josh McDaniels.
Say it with me — McDaniels is a former Patriots offensive coordinator.
The great Boston sports anchor Bob Lobel used to say, “Why can’t we get guys like that?” when a former Boston star had a good night with a new team. He would’ve been saying it a lot Sunday afternoon.
It’s one thing to watch your former players excel with another team, but it’s much worse when they’re players you allowed to walk away. The Pats released Hoyer in March, ending his third stint with the team. The move was largely believed to have been made to establish Bailey Zappe as the backup to Mac Jones.
Yet Zappe was released, re-signed, and on Sunday was inactive as the emergency quarterback. Jones stayed in until the bitter end, getting sacked in the end zone for a clinching safety after not throwing a touchdown pass for the third straight week.
Hoyer was released two days after Meyers signed with the Raiders. The undrafted wide receiver had become one of New England’s most reliable pass catchers over the past three seasons, but Bill Belichick opted to go after JuJu Smith-Schuster instead. Smith-Schuster was in concussion protocol Sunday and missed the Raiders game.
Unlike the previous two blowout losses, the Patriots had a chance to win Sunday’s game. Jones led the Pats on a long drive (too long?) to cut the deficit to two points in the fourth quarter, and Jones was back on the field after the defense stopped the Raiders late in the quarter.
Yet the Pats could do nothing on the final drive, and suffered the ignominy of Maxx Crosby blowing around the offensive line to sack Jones in the end zone and essentially end the game.
It’s been a rough month for Boston fans. The month started with the end of a last-place Red Sox season. There are multiple stories out there that top candidates for the vacant chief of baseball operations position have said thanks but no thanks to the Sox.
It’s hard to imagine a chance to run a franchise like the Red Sox wouldn’t be appealing to baseball executives, but the Sox are looking for their fifth person to lead baseball operations in 12 years. It’s equally clear that the team expects the newcomer to keep much of the front office — including the manager — intact.
It’s even harder to imagine the Belichick-led Patriots becoming one of the worst franchises in the NFL. Yet here we are. It’s the first time in his 29-year career that Belichick is 1-5. Buffalo comes to town next Sunday, followed by a trip to first-place Miami to finish off the month. There’s a very real chance they will go 0 for 5 in October.
By then we’ll be three games into a Celtics season that holds a ton of promise after an offseason that saw Brad Stevens acquire Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to give Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum some much-needed help.
And the Bruins will be nine games into their 100th anniversary season by Halloween. The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 start with pulsating wins over the Blackhawks and Predators at TD Garden last week.
It promises to be a fun winter on Causeway Street. Thank goodness. The past six months at Fenway, and the past six weeks in Foxborough, have been anything but fun.
Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. He is a graduate of Lewiston High School.
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