The New England Patriots have been plagued by COVID-19. They went back to the field Sunday against the Denver Broncos and looked sick.
Bill Belichick and the Pats are 2-3 for the first time since 2001. They were booted by Brandon McManus and Denver, 18-12, at Gillette.
The Broncos’ kicker had six field goals as New England’s defense bent but would not break. Unfortunately, the Patriots’ offense was purely broke.
Denver had three takeaways and four sacks in the victory, which came after the game had been postponed because of New England’s COVID-19 issues.
This marks the first time in 225 games the Patriots have had a sub-.500, record since Oct. 27, 2002. Coincidentally, New England fell to Denver 24-16 in that season to drop to 3-4.
The Patriots are now under .500 at least five games into a season for the first time since 2002. pic.twitter.com/bAZAUpUppU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 18, 2020
The 2001 Patriots, who were 2-3, had a quarterback named Tom Brady step into the starting role after Drew Bledsoe was injured in a Week 2 loss to the New York Jets.
These Patriots don’t have a Brady and they had multiple players opt-out of the season due to COVID-19, and then had Cam Newton, Stephon Gilmore and others affected by coronavirus.
