New England Patriots have already experienced a rollercoaster of emotions through the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL season.
The campaign began with a surprising win over the Cincinnati Bengals. After that came a fun and competitive -- albeit disappointing -- overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks. On Thursday, the pessimism in New England peaked again as the Pats were blown out by the New York Jets in primetime.
It was clear heading into the season that the Patriots' rebuild will take at least another year or two to come to fruition. Nonetheless, the patience of Pats fans already seems to be wearing thin with the team at 1-2 and struggling to get anything going on offense.
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NBC Sports Boston's Tom E. Curran has noticed the palpable frustration, and he shared a message for the doom-and-gloomers on the latest episode of Quick Slants.
"I just noticed the performative outrage market is booming," Curran said. "How many fanbases right now are sitting there saying, 'We suck. We'll never win again.' Cowboys, Eagles, Titans definitely, Bears, Texans suddenly, and of course the Patriots.
"We live in a world where what we just saw, we believe is the way it's always going to be, and it ain't. You know, that win over the Bengals, it validated the Patriots were on the right track. Establish a running game, use a veteran quarterback, don't make mistakes, great defense. The loss to the Jets, well, it validated that they're still a team that has a lot of work to do. And if they don't play their best or if they play bad, they're gonna get absolutely rototilled.
"The Patriots are gonna get molly-whopped again, I can promise you that. There's also gonna be occasions when they look like they're heading in the right direction. Such is life when you're an NFL bottom-feeder. Eat enough algae, you're gonna get big and strong. Until then, deep breaths."
Expectations for the 2024 Patriots were extremely low ahead of the season. Most oddsmakers set their regular-season win total over/under at 4.5. It remains to be seen whether they're closer to the team we watched Week 1 in Cincinnati, or if they're more like the dysfunctional group that was dominated by its division rival in Week 3.
Things won't get any easier for the Patriots in Week 4. They'll travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers as 10.5-point underdogs, though they'll catch a break with multiple key Niners players out due to injury.
Kickoff for Sunday's Pats-49ers matchup is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET.
Watch the full episode of Quick Slants below or on YouTube: