Was The Patriots’ Season A Disappointment? [Poll]

Well, that was ugly.

Admittedly, I picked the Bills and went into Saturday night's game with very little in the way of expectations. But I guess I took for granted that the Patriots defense would make a single stop, and not allow Josh Allen and Co. to march down the field at will every time they had the ball to the tune of 7-straight TD drives.

I hoped the Pats would get off to some sort of a fast start, and correct the problems that plagued them the final five weeks of the season.

What I did not expect was the New England Patriots, led by Bill Belichick, to be severely outclassed in every aspect of that game, both on the field and from a coaching standpoint.

So, the question begs asking, was the season a failure?

I know, many will rush to defend the wall and say anyone who thinks such is being too short-sighted. Where was any talk of "disappointment" during the seven game win-streak? Heck, the Pats got to the #1 seed in the AFC entering their bye week. We were forecasting a Brady vs. Bill Super Bowl.

But that's just the problem. A true contender doesn't peak in November, beating up on what was for the most part, lesser competition. A true contender doesn't falter down the stretch, losing four of its final five games and look significantly weaker than its postseason challenger.

Back in early September, I thought this team would go 12-5. After all, they spent an obscene amount of money in the off-season to retool the roster and put Mac Jones in a position where he simply wouldn't have to do too much, just not lose games. Which, to his credit, he accomplished for the first 12 weeks. Then he started contributing to losses, putting the team in a position which they were not built for - to come back from deficits - and the wheels fell off.

Yes, my expectations were high. 10 regular season wins is a solid number. It's also exactly what they were expected to do. Vegas had this team's over/under total at 9.5 wins entering the season, so let's quell the narrative of them being "ahead of schedule" in the rebuild.

It's not recency bias to suggest that losing four of the final five games and getting shown that maybe you didn't belong in the playoffs after all amounts to disappointment. But that's just my two cents. What do you think?