New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick hasn’t haded a team with a losing record in October since 2002. But alas, it’s 2020, the year of the unexpected.
Belichick’s Patriots fell to 2-3 on Sunday in a shocking 18-16 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 6. The Patriots offense was truly awful, with quarterback Cam Newton struggling enormously. While Belichick didn’t face a question about his losing record after the game — and if he had, he probably would have talked about the lack of practice — Newton addressed the team’s wins and losses.
“Yeah, there’s no need to panic,” Newton said after the game on Sunday. “But we for sure have an opportunity here that we just can’t, we just cannot allow ourselves to just go through the motions and expect, us being who we are is going to take care of itself, because that’s not the case. We’re not that good at that particular point yet and we need, obviously, practice and hopefully everything else is halted from the COVID situation and which will allow us to do that. But yet even if, whatever the situation is, we know we’re not going to be the only team that’s being faced with it and we just is have to be ready to go here moving forward.”
The loss drops the #Patriots to 2-3. They haven't had a losing record in October (or later, much later) since November 10th, 2002. That was Tom Brady's first full season as a starter.
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) October 18, 2020
That said, 2-3 isn’t a terrible record. What Belichick has done is unprecedented, and in a way, this statistical milestone is a testament to his incredible successes. And perhaps, it will not serve as an indicator that the Patriots are a destined for a rough season.
