Everyone’s favorite offseason countdown returns!
It’s time for everyone’s favorite offseason countdown!
Well, kind of.
Anyone who has been following Pats Pulpit for a while knows that, since 2013, I have spent every offseason counting down the 20 Most Memorable New England Patriots Moments from the previous year. The key word was always “memorable,” as not all of them were good… but the vast, vast majority of them were. The idea was to encapsulate the entire Patriots season via 20 main moments, and it was always something I very much enjoyed doing.
Until, that is, last year.
The 2023 Patriots season was, as we all know, a complete disaster. The Mac Jones experiment turned out to be an abysmal failure, and a team with plenty of optimism coming into the league year limped to an embarrassing 3-14 season. Bill Belichick moved on, there were question marks at virtually every level, and the Patriots had fallen from the class of the NFL to one of its worst franchises. And because of that, there was just no way that I would be able to come up with 20 good moments. Hell, I was barely able to get myself to 10.
So I decided to conduct a little experiment of my own. Last year saw me deviating from my usual Top 20 countdown, opting instead to break it into two parts: the 10 Best Patriots Moments of 2023, and the 10 Worst. The highs were high, but the lows were lower, and my thought process was that we would all be able to laugh in order to keep from crying.
The results of that experiment were as follows:
- Reliving horrible moments from the previous year isn’t at all therapeutic, for me or my readers;
- Responses to the 10 worst moments weren’t as negative as the moments themselves, but they were pretty close;
- Nobody wants to read about how bad the Patriots were;
- Folks still enjoyed the good moments.
I’m nothing if not receptive to feedback, so I’m more than happy to give the Top 10 Worst Patriots Moments countdown the Jerod Mayo treatment and let it go after one season.
That said, the 2024 Patriots were still a pretty bad team, and one more or less devoid of major highlights. There were a few in there for sure, but there’s simply no way I’d be able to come up with 20 great moments that comprise the previous year. Even if I allowed myself five bad moments to round things out, I still couldn’t come up with 15. The team was just too inconsistent.
So I present to you, over the coming weeks and months of the offseason, the Top 10 Patriots Moments of 2024.
We’re keeping things 100 percent positive this offseason. There is plenty of reason for optimism based on what we saw last year, and I see no reason to be the turd in the punchbowl by reminding us of all the unwonted stinkery we sat through in 2024. Let’s use this countdown as a reminder of the building blocks laid down last season as we watch the 2025 Patriots mold into shape. I’m pretty happy with this year’s list, and like George Constanza condensing his entire life down to one day, looking at all these moments that stood out almost makes it seem like the Patriots have the seeds of a contender here.
So keep checking The Pulpit not only for breaking news, draft analysis, and Free Agency coverage, but for a countdown of the 10 best moments from last season.
But before I get into any of that, as always, let’s all take one final look at last offseason’s countdown. I recommend reading the whole list, even the Worst Moments one, if for no other reason than to remind us all how much worse it could have been.
The 10 Worst Patriots Moments of 2023
10. Marcus Jones, Christian Gonzalez, and Matthew Judon are all lost for the season by Week 4.
9. Jakobi Meyers out, Juju Smith-Schuster in.
8. Bailey Zappe closes out the Colts game with an unfathomable pick into triple coverage.
7. Chad Ryland shanks a 35-yard field goal to lose the game against the New York Giants.
6. A Mac Jones safety ends any hope of a comeback against the Las Vegas Raiders.
5. A four-turnover first half ends any hope of a Bills sweep.
4. The Patriots and Bill Belichick decide to part ways.
3. The Patriots get outscored 72-3 over a two-week span.
2. Bill Belichick and Matthew Slater’s last game is a home blowout loss to the Jets.
1. The Mac Jones experiment comes to a pitiful end with an atrocious red zone interception against the Indianapolis Colts.
The 10 Best Patriots Moments of 2023
10. The Patriots draft Christian Gonzalez.
9. Jabrill Peppers truck-sticks Davante Adams to set up a Jahlani Tavai interception.
8. Christian Gonzalez wins Defensive Rookie of the Month.
7. Bailey Zappe connects with Hunter Henry on a 24-yard laser to open up the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
6. Pharaoh Brown scores his first NFL touchdown since 2020 with a 58-yard catch and run against the New York Jets.
5. Rhamondre Stevenson sets a personal record with a 64-yard TD run against the Washington Commanders.
4. Chad Ryland nails a 56-yarder to give the Patriots a Christmas Eve win at Denver.
3. Brenden Schooler flies from the sideline to block a field goal attempt vs. the Miami Dolphins.
2. Matthew Judon sacks Zach Wilson in the end zone to ice the game against the New York Jets.
1. A late fourth-quarter touchdown drive against the Bills gets Bill Belichick his 300th career regular-season win.