dave you know this team just went 4 n 5 in their last 9 game stretch....this just wasnt a good team this year.....their first 8 games were buttery soft as well...you almost couldnt have picked and easier start to a season...
I will use this as a starting point for several comments covering multiple topics. Yes, the NE offense was dysfunctional and stuck in neutral most of the season. Yes, NE lost 5 of their last 9 games. Four were one possession games and the other a 17 point loss to BAL . . . which swung on a scoop and score that could easily have been a 14 point swing. In the loss to KC, the refs blew a clear TD that would have sent the game to OT (the Harry call out of bounds). Had that play had been called properly, NE could have kicked a FG at the end of regulation to tie the game. (Yes, NE has benefited many times over the years by questionable calls.)
For whomever mentioned what happened to the vaunted NE defense over the second half of the season, the defense allowed 18.2 ppg over NE's last 9 games (excluding three return TD's the offense allowed). That would project to 292 points over a full season. That would have been good enough to rank third in points allowed this year. So no, they were not as dominant, they didn't force as many turnovers, they didn't get as many sacks, but they were still a very good defense.
What I find interesting is that NEW ENGLAND is the team that benefitted from a soft schedule and they are in the decline because of it. Yet the other AFC EAST teams are on the rise but no one considers the similar soft schedule each had in evaluating them. Here's how NE fared this year against common opponents vs. their divisional foes.
Buffalo
NE went 2-0 with a +13 scoring differential against BUF
BUF went 9-4 with a +51 scoring differential against common opponents
NE went 10-3 with a +188 scoring differential against common opponents
New York
NE went 2-0 with a +49 scoring differential against NYJ
NYJ went 6-6 with a -51 scoring differential against common opponents
NE went 10-2 with a +159 scoring differential against common opponents
Miami
NE went 1-1 with a +40 scoring differential against MIA
MIA went 3-9 with a -132 scoring differential against common opponents
NE went 11-1 with a +168 scoring differential against common opponents
We don't know what we don't know . . . meaning who knows what the Patriots will look heading into next year. A lot could be different. In the BB / TB era, the Patriots have gone 14-6 when Brady didn't play (Cassel, Jimmy G, Brissett). Cassel hadn't started a football game in 8 years and the team went 11-5. Not really apples to apples, as the roster is way different now than it was in 2008 or 2016.
Another factor lying in the periphery is that over the past 5 season, NE played almost a full season's worth of post season games (14). In that time, SEA was second with 8 and PIT and GB each played 7 playoff games. The Patriots will get an extra month off for the first time since the 2015 season . . . and they will get a jump on evaluating free agents, college players, etc. way earlier than in prior years.
NE has limped down the stretch and underperformed at the end of seasons in the past. In 2015, they finished the season 3-5 . . . and won the SB the following year. In 2009, they finished 3-4 . . . and went 14-2 the following year. In 2002, they finished 4-3 . . . and the following year they won the SB. Other than the Brady recovering from injury year, the last time the team ranked outside the Top 5 in points scored and had no receiving weapons, the team brought in Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and Gaffney. (To state the obvious, no I am not predicting the Patriots are going to the SB next year . . . only pointing out that they have made adjustments, personnel changes, and bounced back in the past.)
None of any of that really matters much, as none of us knows how much Brady has left in the tank if he comes back . . . and NE would really be in uncharted waters if he doesn't. The point being, BB will address the team's issues and target ways to rectify them. Who knows how effective he will be in correcting those issues.