Bill Belichick, Patriots Slammed by NFL Execs: 'Quite Simply, They Have No Talent'

The New England Patriots moved to 1-4 on the season after a shocking 34-0 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

And around football, Bill Belichick, Mac Jones and the Patriots haven't escaped critique.

Harsh critique.

"Quite simply, they have no talent," one AFC executive told Albert Breer of The MMQB. "And it doesn't help that that's at the quarterback spot as well."

Another NFC executive said that the offensive line was "bad," that Jones "can't move" and that the skill positions on offense have "no speed" and lacks players who can "win one-on-one matchups."

"They look extremely low on talent, to be honest," an NFC coach added. "They have a pretty vanilla plan from what I can tell. An average-at-best quarterback only exacerbates those issues. ... None of their skill players scare me. Hunter Henry is solid, not close to elite. Offensive line looks sh--ty. Backs are slow. Receivers are overpaid free agents."

The Patriots started the season 0-2, but those losses came by five points to the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and by seven points to the high-flying Miami Dolphins. It was a tough but justifiable losing streak to start the season, given the opposition, and the Pats responded with an ugly win 15-10 win against the New York Jets in Week 3.

But the Patriots have taken a turn for the worse since that loss.

The Dallas Cowboys absolutely steamrolled them in Week 4, 38-3, the worst loss in Belichick's coaching career. Last week, it was a 34-0 shellacking, the second-worst loss in his coaching tenure.

It would be easy enough to blame Jones (1,008 yards, five touchdowns, six interceptions, nine sacks taken, 62.5 completion percentage), who at this point doesn't appear to be the answer at quarterback.

But the issues appear to go far deeper, pushing an old debate back into the forefront: Who was more responsible for the former Patriots dynasty that led to six Super Bowl wins, Belichick or Tom Brady?

The answer has never seemed to be more clearly in the quarterback's favor.

"Brady enabled the coaching style and covered up the personnel shortcomings," one executive told Breer.

And now the question is whether it may be necessary for the Patriots to consider moving on from Belichick altogether or simply limiting the scope of his power.

"The transition from Brady to where they are at now is such an indictment," one executive told The Athletic's Mike Sando. "Their best move is to bring in a young offensive coach with a new general manager and start fresh. You let the new offensive coach determine whether Mac can be saved. They need real change. They gotta get out of this."

Another thinks Belichick simply needs to cede some control in personnel decisions.

"Bill is brilliant and provides a lot of value," that executive told Sando. "He needs help with player acquisition. The question is, will he accept it or fight it? He's going to have to make sacrifices to get that all-time record for wins."

One way or another, change is needed. And if the 2023 season continues trending downward, change of some kind will be coming.