New England Patriots: Studs and duds season-closing win over Jets
Stud: Ending the year on a high note
With the win over the Jets in Week 17, the Patriots were able to erase a late-season losing streak and end the 2020 campaign on a high note now with the offseason officially here for Bill Belichick and company.
With the victory at home, New England improves its record to 7-9 on the year, which obviously wasn’t enough to reach the AFC Playoffs here in 2020.
Although the Patriots were favorites coming into the regular season finale this weekend, it was at least a good sign to see them put together a decent performance to come out on top.
Dud: Getting a win in Week 17
As much as it was one of the stud occurrences to see New England win in the final game of the year, it was also somewhat of a dud that took place in that it was a game that had no meaning behind it.
Although there is no such thing as tanking when it comes to players and their mentalities as they try and fight for a job either on their current team or a different team next season, it would have arguably been better of the Patriots would have just lost the game against the Jets this weekend to grab a better position in the 2021 NFL Draft.
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The difference between a win and a loss meant ending the year at 7-9 rather than 6-10, which will certainly impact the positioning for New England in the upcoming draft. Some would argue that the Patriots should have just lost the game with nothing riding on it or on the line, and it’s hard to argue against that logic.