Patriots News 9/4: How Will the 2022 Patriots Season Play Out?
(PHOTO: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 13 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots News
(PHOTO: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 13 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports) Good morning, I’m giving Steve a breather this week as we get into this week’s column for 9/4, along with some various other NFL notes as we get set for the regular season to kick off this week.
It’s unknown whether or not the Patriots had any intention of bringing him back, but after being claimed by Cincinnati, his father, Dave Asiasi, thanked Bill Belichick on Twitter for giving him his NFL opportunity. “Thank you for believing in my son and developing his game,” wrote Asiasi. “Forever indebted to you sir and the Patriots Organization. Alofa atu coach.”
The former standout from UCLA played in just 10 games, finishing with just 2 catches for 39-yards and a touchdown. He’ll now see if he can revive his career with the Bengals, who apparently went with claiming Asiasi via the waiver wire over adding veteran O.J. Howard.
Congratulations to Deatrich Wise Jr., who was honored this week by receiving the Ron Burton Community Service Award at the Patriots Premiere.
Wise Jr. was recognized following his years of off-the-field work in the community which typically goes unnoticed, but while the recognition was nice, Wise said it’s bringing smiles to peoples faces that he enjoys the most.
“You don’t go out in the community for the gratification. You just do it because it’s in your heart to do,” Wise said via Patriots.com.
“It’s an honor to win an award of this prestige and to be in the same group as everybody who’s won that before and have my name with the Burton family.”
The veteran defensive tackle has been a staple in the team’s endeavors off the field, which has included visiting children and veterans in hospitals, as well as various other events within the Patriots Foundation.
His latest award comes at a time where Wise’s impact on the field has grown, with the veteran also having received a bigger role in recent years after being drafted by the team in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He finished last season tied for 11th on the club in tackles with 41 including 3 sacks, 9 QB hits, 4 passes defended and a forced fumble.
He’s under contract with the club through 2024 after having signed a 4-year extension last offseason.
Meanwhile, down in New York, as Zach Wilson continues recovering from his knee injury where he seemingly avoided disaster, suffering just a torn meniscus and bone bruise to his right knee in the preseason opener.
The timeline for Wilson still has questions, but the likelihood of him being out on the field by the time the Patriots face them in Week 8 appears to be a potential possiblity. With that in mind, Saleh talked about his QB this week and said that he was pleased with what he saw prior to the injury.
“Before the injury, he was way ahead of where he was a year ago,” said Saleh via the New York Post. “I know that first preseason game, people put a lot of stock into those series, which is warranted, but that first preseason game isn’t even close to what he’s been showing throughout OTAs and training camp and the way he communicates even now that he’s not a part of the practices, and he’s just in meetings.
“So [I’m] really excited about him getting the chance to get back to the football field to show how far along he’s come. As far as the development and the course that he’s on, we’re excited about it, and we’re excited about his future.”
It will be interesting to see how Wilson has progressed since last season. In New England’s first meeting against him in Week 2 of last year, Wilson finished the afternoon 19-of-33 for 210-yards and 4 interceptions during a 25-6 rout by New England at MetLife Stadium.
The second meeting didn’t work out much better in Week 7, with Wilson getting knocked out of that game with a knee injury during a 54-13 beating at Gillette Stadium.
It will be a while before the two clubs face off this season. Their first meeting isn’t until Week 8 at MetLife Stadium in a 1:00pm match-up, with the two teams meeting up again at Gillette Stadium a few weeks later in Week 11.
The latest the two clubs have faced off in recent years was Week 9, which happened in 2020, also at MetLife. The Patriots came away with a 30-27 win in that one.
With the season obviously set to start next week for New England, the big question is clearly whether or not the team will take a step forward following last year’s disappointing playoff exit against the Bills.
The consensus within the media is that the club will have a tough time, with NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran believing that this year could go either way for Bill Belichick’s football team.
Curran said during he and Phil Perry’s most recent podcast that this season is definitely one with some big questions and that a rough start is certainly possible.
“0-4 is the mix, which would be jaw-dropping,” said Curran. “I’m not saying it’s happening, I’m just saying it’s on the table. And then 4-4 is definitely in the mix too.”
Curran’s biggest concern isn’t so much how they start, but how they finish. He believes a strong finish by the club would be a win if the “arrow is pointing up”, as the team will have quite a bit of cap room next offseason to work with and he feels that the goal is to see the team grow this season.
“I think it’s an 8-9 season for the Patriots,” said Curran. “But it can still be an encouraging and optimism-filled season if the close looks better, if you’re better at the end against the Bills. I don’t know how Cincy’s going to be, they could be 8-9, who knows? Teams regress too after Super Bowl appearances, we’ve seen it for about three decades. But if you can compete with those teams, and if the wobbly branch that you walked out on with the coaching staff doesn’t snap and Mac Jones, Pro Bowler last year, kinda looks like a better version of Mac Jones by the end of the year, not at the beginning, but at the end, and Jonnu Smith and Nelson Agholor have given you return on investment, and the speed of the defense has helped and the team looks better at the end, even if they’re 8-9, that to me is a successful season.”
“Because I do think it’s a bridge [year] and I do realize how much cap space they have in 2023. So that to me would be patience rewarded, Bill’s got the arrow pointing up, which he hasn’t had at the end of the last three years, and that’s how the Patriots can have a successful season even if they don’t get that playoff win that Robert Kraft is agitating for.”
It’s tough to say how Kraft would react to a sub .500 season, especially if the club has stayed healthy because they’re not necessarily devoid of talent by any means. How everything ultimately plays out will obviously be a big factor and Jones’ development will clearly play a big role. His emergence last season was a key factor in New England’s return to the postseason, and his growth in year two will likely be pivotal to whether or not they can earn a spot at redemption in January.
It’s a long season and anything can happen. And it’s clear that not many people are giving them much of a shot, especially given how the preseason went.
Is Jones ready to get the Patriots back toward becoming contenders? (Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)
Having posted a blog entry on Friday on how the club could potentially surprise people with a 13-win season, it’s safe to say the last thing I expected was to end up as a segment on WEEI on the afternoon drive program with Merloni Fauria and Mego, which saw my name and this site mentioned on air, which essentially saw me get completely eviscerated by the trio of Lou Merloni, Nick “Fitzy” Stevens, and Andy Hart.
I don’t normally get bothered by that sort of thing, albeit it’s probably the first time it’s gone down like this. The more irritating part was the fact some things got misinterpreted and also badly misstated. Worse, they led off with this to begin the segment which means it was planned, so the fact they felt the need to demolish me without even reaching out to talk about it is disappointing.
Worse, I haven’t been shy about mentioning my irritation with Felger and Mazz since they’re the masters of stirring the pot in a negative way, which often makes the tenor among fans difficult, which includes members on our board.
That’s basically led me to always been a supporter of WEEI, especially considering our friends Chris Price and Ryan Hannable both ended up there (Price is now with the Boston Globe, while Hannable has moved on to BetMGM).
Glenn Ordway was also been a supporter of ours over the years prior to his retirement, both mentioning Miguel and the board on-air and it’s something I’ve always appreciated. Christian Fauria is also terrific, and having been at this since 2000, he was also a fun player to watch. He was off on Friday, so he wasn’t part of this.
I’ve also been a fan of Merloni who has typically been a voice of reason in the past (and he was a hard-working player who was fun to root for during his time with the Red Sox) and he also often mentions Miguel. Fitzy is someone I have a lot of admiration for, having worked his way from a local news outlet and he’s really worked hard to get to where he is. Hart is also a good guy, having been a terrific writer and personality with the Patriots prior to joining the station. There are other people at that the station who are great as well, but I’ll keep this on point.
All this being said, to get texts from friends and relatives about the segment Friday afternoon and to later listen to what happened was both really frustrating and extremely disappointing.
Having been around for 20+ years along with the fact we do have a relatively good relationship with most writers, it’s probably the first time in more than two decades that I’ve been a little bothered. Had it been an organic conversation that went south, that would have been one thing. However, they started off with it, which means they knew ahead of time they were going there.
I’m going to preface things by saying when I wrote it initially on our forum back in June and modified it relevant to now. I went week-by-week looking at how I thought the season would play out and didn’t even look at the record until the end, which ended up being 13-4. Obviously, when you talk about an overall record, that total sounds a little nuts until you start going through it week-by week pondering various scenarios based on past seasons. Then, it’s not necessarily quite as crazy. More on that later on.
As we get into this, in fairness to the guys, I’ve included exactly what was said during the segment to hopefully clarify some of it. For anyone who wants to, you can listen to it via this link.
Merloni started it off mentioning me, the site, and the column about the fact I thought New England could potentially win 13 games. But then he completely misreads the opening paragraph, and things unravel from there.
“One of the reasons why he thinks they’ll beat Miami – DeVante Parker gets added to an already better group of receivers than the Miami Dolphins?” asked Merloni.
“Quick question, I think none of us here, with our heads screwed on straight, nor lubed up with our Labor Day sauce, would say that the Patriots have a better receiver room than the Miami Dolphins,” said co-host Fitzy, when questioned by Merloni. “I mean Tyreek, Waddle, and Cedric Wilson is a dynamite trio of wide receivers, no matter if you have Hawaiin Tebow at quarterback or not.”
“I mean, you’re talking about two of the fastest, most explosive playmakers in the National Football League,” said Hart. “One of which has said his quarterback is the most accurate he’s ever played with and that he throws a catchable ball that gives you run after the catch ability. I mean, Fitzy, you’re the king of these comparisons, and you told us all a year ago that the Patriots had better weapons than the Kansas City Chiefs and the old age home that was Travis Kelce, can you spin it for me?”
“If Ian Logue from PatsFans.com is making the point that the Patriots receiver room is improved over last season by giving them all a year with Mac, a year “in the system” – even though the system is kind of becoming an issue – and you add DeVante Parker to that, I would say yes,” said Fitzy. “The Patriots wide receiver room has improved a bit.”
“I go back to … if that’s the meaning of it, right? If that’s what he’s saying, because it’s already better this year, so it’s just better because Myers, Bourne and Agholor are back?” said Merloni. “Like, that’s why it’s better? Just better because the same guys have come back and you just expect them to be all just better in year two? Like that’s the reason why they’re better because all the same guys come back?”
I’ll stop things here. No, clearly I don’t believe New England’s receivers are better than Miami’s. Nor do I believe that’s the only reason behind why they could win the opener. Here’s what I actually wrote:
Week 1 at Miami: – Given New England’s offseason additions, the Patriots might have a little more of an edge in this one compared to previous road meetings. With former Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker adding to what’s already a better group of receivers and the fact Nelson Agholor looks more comfortable than he did last season, I think the passing game should be much better. Granted, I know it was ugly this preseason, but I feel like they also held a lot back, which probably didn’t help things. The big question is going to be the ground game, but I feel like unlike past years in Miami, I like their chances better with Jones against Tua Tagovailoa and the players the Patriots signal-caller has this time around. We didn’t see Damien Harris out there in the ground game this preseason and I think when it matters, we’ll see a better effort on the offensive line. I think turnovers will be the difference, and that edge should go to Jones in a close and surprising win to open the season. – WIN
So no, it wasn’t just the receivers that I felt would be the difference. I think Jones has a better group than he had last year, and I’ve written countless times about my frustrations with N’Keal Harry’s presence here.
I’ve pointed out on several occasions and I go back to the Jaguars game last year when Harry was benched and Kristian Wilkerson played, which was eye-opening. With a full group of guys who could run routes and get open, the defense had to account for the extra threat and it changed things tremendously. In fact, Jakobi Meyers finished that game catching 8/8 for 73yds from Jones along with a touchdown, as Jones went on to throw three touchdowns overall. Wilkerson even finished the afternoon catching 4 passes for 42-yards and caught two of those touchdowns.
So yes, having a full group of viable pass catchers is a vast improvement. Harry kept them from having that all last season and he was also back in the line-up for the playoff game against Buffalo, which we all know how that went. Not saying Harry was 100% the problem, but aside from his contributions blocking, he was 0% of the solution in the passing game.
Lastly, I also said I think turnovers could end up being the difference and I gave the edge to the Patriots, specifically Jones over Tua.
The next thing to clarify was Merloni’s misinterpretation of how they would get to the final record. More on that in a bit, but here’s where he went next.
“So this guy [ie: me] has them at one point 10-1, I’m not even lying.”
“On their way to 13-4, Ian has them at 10-1? I’ve got to re-read this again…” said Fitzy.
“10-1, so I guess they die down the stretch, I don’t know,” laughed Merloni.
“They kind of fade down the stretch, it’s the typical Patriots,” laughed Hart.
No, they don’t go 10-1. I had them beating Miami, beating Pittsburgh with Mitchell Trubisky, and then winning a tough one against Baltimore at Gillette Stadium in Week 3. After that, they fall to Green Bay in Week 4 against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. That would put them at 3-1.
From there, the schedule plays out in such a way where a midseason run is possible, and this wouldn’t exactly be a new development. It happened last season when they put things together after the first month in 2021 and won seven straight. This potential run starts with a home game against the Lions (a game that should be winnable), a trip to Cleveland against Jacoby Brissett and the Browns (another one they should have a shot at), a home game against the Bears (another team they should beat, especially at home) followed by a trip to MetLife to take on the Jets (again, they should have a chance to beat them).
They then come home to face Indianapolis and Matt Ryan. I think most fans know that the’ve had some success against him, so the idea of potentially winning that game shouldn’t be that far-fetched.
They then have a bye, and then play the Jets again at Gillette Stadium (one they should obviously win).
That’s potentially six-straight wins, which clearly includes match-ups against Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis and the Jets twice. Those are absolutely all teams this football team should be competitive enough to have a shot at beating.
From there, I have them losing in Minnesota, which would make them 9-2 through nine games, which is where Merloni picks up.
“He started to feel a little guilty and gave them a loss at Minnesota,” continued Merloni. “He said, ‘it’s an odd one’, but then he comes right back and says they’re going to win against Buffalo at home because he thinks personnel-wise, they’re in better shape to hang with them offensively and thinks that Jones might edge Josh Allen out performance-wise. Correct me if I’m wrong, but is it offensively against Buffalo that we’re concerned about? Or would it be the fact that they haven’t punted the last two games they’ve played? Like, literally haven’t even punted….”
I’m aware of how last season finished. But most of the players who were on the team defensively last year are gone and Jones, by then, with New England’s first game against Buffalo coming on December 1st, the outlook should be different. If they’re playing good football, beating Allen shouldn’t necessarily be impossible. New England would also be coming off a loss the week before (which I also mentioned), so there would be some additional motivation.
Beating the Bills in December would potentially mean first place in the AFC East. (JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE / USA TODAY NETWORK)
“He does say that at 13-2, the talk now begins on whether they’re Super Bowl capable or not. At 13-2,” laughed Merloni. “I would say it starts earlier than that, Ian, if they’re 13-2. If you’re 10-1, I’m saying it starts a little earlier than that.”
Not really (again, they’re not 10-1). If the Bills are 9-2 or 10-1 at this point coming into this match-up and the Patriots are 9-2 having just lost to the Vikings, people aren’t necessarily believing New England is a contender ahead of Buffalo (or whoever else might be hot at this point). Beating the Bills would obviously change that and the talk would probably begin since that win would also likely put New England on top of the Division.
I then had them beating the Cardinals in Arizona (not out of the realm of possibility), losing in Las Vegas to Josh McDaniels and the Raiders (history is not in their favor in those match-ups), followed by winning a tough one against the Bengals at Gillette Stadium. I recall people liking our chances last year against Cincinnati instead of Buffalo in the postseason had things fallen differently, but obviously, it didn’t pan out that way. Now, according to Merloni, the idea of beating Cincinnati in December isn’t on the table for some reason unless everyone is hurt.
“So what is the ceiling, because we all know this is a joke. Like, Ian Logue, I’m sorry, this is a joke,” said Merloni. “Like 13 wins … something tells me this wasn’t a troll job, this is what this guy really believes. But I ask you … what is the ceiling? Honest to God, my ceiling, if everything breaks right, and you walk into a season like you did last year where six games in a row, seven games in a row, like when you play Cincinnati, Joe Burrow is hurt, Jamar Chase is hurt and Joe Mixon is down. Like basically the seven games you won in a row in the middle of the year, other than the Chargers.”
For the sake of finishing things off, I then have the season ending with a loss in Buffalo, which I feel is just how it would go, which potentially gives the Bills the Division.
Merloni then gave his thoughts on how many wins he believed the team would be capable of.
“My ceiling would be 10. If everything breaks right, it’s 10. Where are you guys at?”
“Mine would be 11,” said Hart, noting that he did a piece for the website giving downside and upside scenarios. “I gave you the three-pack,” he said.
“The floor is seven, so 7-10, 11-6 would be the ceiling for the Patriots,” said Fitzy. “I think they’re going to start slowly, get it together, be a tough out the rest of the way. I’m not going to give away the prediction at this point, but I think they’ll be playoff adjacent, not necessarily playing meaningful football beyond early January.”
“See, I put the floor at like 5,” said Merloni.
“Me too,” said Hart.
“That’s where I put the floor,” continued Merloni. “7-8 , so 7.5 wins, so now you’ve got 5, and 10, that’s your floor, right smack in the middle.”
So Hart had them at 11, Merloni says he had them potentially at 10. Fitzy had them at 11 as well. It’s a two-game difference, where I essentially had two potential wins that they may not have. If that makes me “a joke,” I guess I’ll just have to live with it.
If we’ve reached a point where sweeping the Jets, beating teams like Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis and the Lions is far-fetched (six potential wins right there), then I guess it’s going to be a long year. Had Ben Roethlisberger still been in Pittsburgh, I would have felt differently about the Week 2 match-up and playing in Baltimore would have also changed my mind about the Ravens in Week 3. But if they can steal the opener (and win the rematch in December) against Miami and split with Buffalo (like they did last year), there’s absolutely a chance they get there.
Again, obviously, this was based on the team picking up where they left off last season and building on who they were at the end of the year. Jones is in his second year and we’ve already seen some growth with Agholor, so you would think the chemistry and production should/will be better. My one question would really be with Parker, but I feel like he’ll still provide far more offensively than Harry would have. Add in Thornton, who should also be a factor (and wasn’t mentioned by the guys) and it’s a fairly decent group overall.
Clearly, it also relies on things going right and them avoiding injuries and playing good football. That part should be obvious. Am I 100% certain that’s how it will go down? Of course not, but given who they’re facing, it’s not impossible.
I guess we’ll find out in the coming months. If they come up short of that, I think most of us would be happy with a team that’s at least in contention. Count me among that group, especially since a rough year tends to have a negative effect on the outlook among fans on our forum, which is never a fun way to spend an offseason.
Look, I get it. After the preseason, the coaching situation, etc, winning 10+ feels like a longshot and getting to 13 seems even tougher, until you ponder a few “what ifs”, which is the point of this time of year, and columns like that one, for that matter. But to get ambushed and portrayed that way on air just frustrates me. I’m not much of a Twitter person, nor am I a big “look at me” type of guy to start with. I’ve been told that’s probably held things back for me over the years, but it’s just not within my personality.
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t really care if the guys got everything right and just disagreed, but a lot of the points they claimed I made were way off, which obviously isn’t ideal when tens of thousands of people end up getting that impression. That’s why I transcribed the exchange to make it clear where the disconnects were.
It’s not like I don’t get it, they skimmed it and reacted using it as a way to fill some airtime. Granted, I know some people might be thinking, “any publicity is good publicity”, but my issue is the fact that how it went down just wasn’t cool.
But whatever, I at least needed to get this off my chest and “it is what it is”.
For now, we’re on to Miami.
(Thanks for reading, feel free to drop a comment and hope you and yours have a great Sunday. – Ian)
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Ian, Keep your head held high. You and this site are a pleasure to have. I read you, Mark and Steve everyday. I don’t listen to sports radio but I used to. I am not surprised you were ambushed and you are spot on with your criticism of the negative duo of Felger and Mazz and their poor influence on this and other social media sites. You are right about many swayed by them end up posting here but they post everywhere. Social media’s biggest claim to fame seems to be allowing the ignorant and uninformed to post negatively behind… Read more »
I appreciate that, and I’m fine. As I said, it was obviously a little painful and getting messages about people asking if “that’s really what I wrote” while trying to figure out how they got that impression until I listened to it, that was frustrating. Especially when they essentially made me look like an idiot. But as I’ve told a few others, I’m glad it happened on a Friday before a holiday weekend. By Tuesday, it’ll be long gone. Otherwise, appreciate the support as you’re someone who reads and replies on here a fair amount and I definitely appreciate it.… Read more »
Excellent work Ian, calling you a troll was a very low blow. Especially considering when Merloni was a rookie with the RS, you were a beat writer for the Patriots at the old Gillette.
Thanks Robyn, I definitely appreciate it. “It is what it is”, and while I’m obviously disappointed, I’m not necessarily surprised, I guess. I like those guys and was just caught off guard, especially given how bad they misinterpreted what I wrote – which I had to hear about from other people prior to listening to it. But whatever, we’re on to Miami 😉 – Ian
I’d rather read you guys every day in place of listening even once to Felger and Mazz and most of the others!
THOSE GUYS ARE AALLWWAAYYSS WRONG!!! THEY TALKED TRASH ABOUT THE PATS FOR THE LAST 23 YEARS! HOWD THAT TURN OUT FOR THEM?? They are the most inaccurate, untalented, LOSERS in the entire industry! ABSOLUTE JOKES!!! So don’t let it bother you. They will be on Fox news soon
Thanks for the continuing good work Ian. Sadly it seems like lots of our local writers feel the need to hate on any Pats team that doesn’t win a super bowl. Felger and Mazz are the worse of them but it feels like there are too many that just look for ratings by playing up the negative. Enjoyed this article but the one thing I respectfully disagree with is any suggestion that Kraft will have a problem with this team not getting to the playoffs. Bill led this team to dominate for 20 years and Kraft isn’t going to suddenly… Read more »
Ian – of the multitudes in the B&S Brigade (babblers & scribblers), you are 1 of the few worth reading or hearing. Conventional radio/TV loses ground each year to various apps, etc., so attracting attention to themselves may motivate their participants to do hits, or just gossip about players or each other.
Sarcasm & mockery = intelligence?
All the “what if’s” that you presented are perfectly plausible.
Assigning real probability to them, or to any other outcomes, is just guesswork.
Leave that to the gamblers?
Regards,
Mike
Ian,
you and your fellow writers on this site are a breath of fresh air compared to the trash that tries to pass itself off as “sports talk” on Boston radio. I can no longer stomach any of that crap where everything is a put down of a person or team… thanks for taking the high road… you are in the good company of Mike Reiss, Dale Arnold, Michael Holley, and the staff at Patriots.com… the few who have been worth reading and/or listening to.
Thanks, Fred. As I said, I like those guys and I would have been fine if they just killed me about thinking the team could win 13 games. But saying that I thought all the other stuff, which obviously wasn’t even close to accurate, was what really bothered me. Again, it’s been a few days and I’m over it. On to Miami 😉