The Patriots organization is in shambles and NY Jets fans love it

The Patriots are in an even worse spot than the Jets

Justin Fried

Bailey Zappe / Justin Edmonds/GettyImages

The NY Jets aren't exactly in a position to be poking fun at any other NFL team. The Jets haven't made the playoffs in 13 years — the longest active drought in major American sports.

They're a team that has long resided in the NFL's basement and, whether justified or not, has often been the butt of the joke. But as the saying goes, misery loves company. And right now, the Jets aren't even the biggest laughingstock in their own division. Far from it.

The New England Patriots are set to embark on a new era in 2024, led by new head coach Jerod Mayo. Bill Belichick is gone and Mac Jones is likely to join him. That seems to be for the best, given the many reports that have emerged about the state of the organization under Belichick last year.

It was not good. From Jones going weeks without speaking directly to Belichick to reports of a "toxic" culture, the 2023 season was one to forget for the Patriots. One recent report has Jets fans mocking their division rivals once again.

The Patriots are more 'toxic' than the NY Jets at the moment

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported on Wednesday that the Patriots' quarterback room was so toxic last year that Bailey Zappe "sometimes watched tape in the receiver room." Jones was a big reason for that toxicity, as was the coaching staff.

For as underwhelming and disappointing as the Jets were in 2023, New England was worse. The Patriots finished with a 4-13 record — their fewest wins since 1992. They were one of the worst teams in football, and Belichick's Patriots career ended with a loss to the Jets in Week 18.

The once-dominant and fearsome Patriots have been reduced to little more than a joke. They appointed Matt Patricia (a defensive coordinator turned failed head coach) and Joe Judge (a special teams coordinator turned failed head coach) as their offensive play callers in 2022.

The coaching staff was a mess, the front office was a mess, and their entire roster was a mess. The mighty has fallen — the Patriots are now the bottom-dwellers in the AFC East until further notice.

Again, this isn't to say that the Jets are living a perfect existence atop the NFL mountaintop. But it is to say that...the Patriots have it worse. Misery loves company, and that company is even sweeter when it's your biggest rival.

Justin Fried

Justin Fried is an editor for FanSided who has over seven years of experience covering the NFL and various other sports. A diehard Jets fan since birth, Justin has served as the editor for The Jet Press since 2019, interviewing athletes such as Sauce Gardner, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joe Klecko, and many others. Justin has also worked closely with brands like Red Bull to help highlight the niche sectors of the sporting world. His four-part series on the sport of breaking remains one of his proudest pieces of work. In his spare time, Justin is an avid pro wrestling fan who is fortunate enough to have traveled to nearly 30 different countries.