As the New England Patriots were unceremoniously bounced from the 2019-20 NFL playoffs, the team's immediate future was jeopardized with concerns about long-term pieces like future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady potentially hanging it up or signing with another franchise.
However, another concern is how fans will deal with the noticeable lack of January games aside from the Wild Card round loss to the Tennessee Titans over the weekend. That concern doesn't register for longtime head coach Bill Belichick.
Per Michael David Smith in Pro Football Talk:
“We appreciate our fans,” Belichick answered, before getting testy about the question: “I wouldn’t say it’s been all that thin around here, personally. Maybe you feel differently, but I haven’t heard too many fans say that.”
Belichick has led the Patriots to nine trips to the Super Bowl in his tenure manning the sidelines. Along with the 42-year-old Brady under center, New England has won six titles in the last two decades, so Belichick is not exactly apologetic to Pats fans looking for answers for getting tossed out of the postseason in the first round after the most consistent track record of playoff success.
Saturday's upset was paved by the Patriots' Week 17 loss to AFC East division rival Miami Dolphins at home—a loss that sealed their fate, it would appear, and locked them out of a first-round bye; instead, the Kansas City Chiefs earned the No. 2 seed in the conference. So, New England did not get a week off in the first weekend in January and had to play the upstart Titans coached by former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, who bested them in the Wild Card and perhaps ended a dynasty.
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