Bill the Coach's strategy of play conservative offense, keep the game close, make the other team drive 12 plays for a TD, win on special teams, blah, blah, blah....is complete bullschitt in today's NFL (and especially with the lack of top end game breaking talent on offense). Since Brady left, Bill the Coach has "kept it close" (one score game, and no, i didn't go back and see if someone got a garbage time td to make it a one score game) a total of TWENTY times since Bill the GM decided he did not need Tom Brady (remember, his staffer said they can win with "any top 15 quarterback). Bill the Coach's record in those TWENTY games? Well, it's just like his overall record since Brady was let go, the Coach is 9-11 in one score games. How's that "keeping it close, running the ball, eating clock, etc" working over the last 3 games Bill the Coach bobos? Is a sub .500 record in close games acceptable? Going backward from last year, Bill the Coach is 4-4, 3-3, and 2-4 in those season-making one score games. In each of those seasons the offense has been average or worse (don't try to sell me on 2021 - the offense sucked vs good teams and struggled to score 3 tds vs anyone any good)
For comparison, in the three year's prior to Cam Newton's seasons at the helm, Bill the Coach led his team to a respectable 14-10 in one score games. From 2019 backward, Bill the Coach was 4-5, 4-2, and 6-3. What do the 4-5 record in 2019 and the bad one score game records post-Brady have in common? Of course, in 2019 the top "weapon" was a broken down Edelman and a freaking running back....that's your 2019 top offensive producers, a slot receiver and running back - just how conservative Bill the Coach drew it up. Brady's other options that season? Phillip Dorsett (a 3/4 receiver) and Burkhead. Since when is having running backs 2 of your top 4 receivers a winning combination? Again, lack of talent on offense did in the 2019 Patriots, just like it's done them in the 3 years since Belichick ousted Brady.
Contract 2019 (a season in which Bill the GM completely left the offensive cupboard bare), with 2017, their best record in one score games in the last five seasons. The 2017 Patriots had a carnival of offensive weapons - Gronkowski, Cooks, Amendola, Burkhead, White, Hogan, Dion Lewis. That team was able to withstand the pre-season loss of Edelman and make it all the way to the SB.
Bill the Coach better hope that Messrs. Schuster, Bourne, Henry, Gesicki, Parker, et al., can provide enough firepower to get this team over the disgusting one score record these last 3 sesasons.
To summarize, you can't win in the NFL in 2023 without offense. The #s prove it, the records prove it. When the Patriots have some top end talent on offense - they win; when they are bereft of top end talent, they don't win. The caveat to this is the quarterback....Bill the GM saw fit to let the top end talent of all top end talent take his talent to Tampa....and replaced him with Cam Newton.