Julian Edelman believes this young Patriots team isn’t there yet

New England Patriots

“I view it that they’re not there yet, still a young team.”

Following this week’s loss to the Bills, former New England receiver Julian Edelman believes the Patriots still have work to do before contending for a Super Bowl.

Edelman won three Super Bowls in New England, along with Super Bowl MVP in 2019 against the Rams. Since retiring, he has created his own podcast, “Games with Names,” as well as making numerous TV appearances.

Due to this success, Edelman has seen what it takes to build a Super Bowl winning team. On Wednesday, he went on Colin Cowherd’s “The Herd” to discuss this year’s Patriots, and where they need to improve.

“I view it that they’re not there yet, still a young team,” Edelman said. “Something that we used to hear all the time, ‘can’t win till you keep from losing’, and the second half was an example of that.”

The Patriots were up 24-3 at one point against the Bills, before letting Josh Allen rattle off five straight touchdowns to eventually win 35-31.

It’s this area of the Patriots team that Edelman believes needs to improve upon going into the postseason.

“They’ve got this defense where you kind of anticipate they’re trying to be a ‘bend but don’t break’ team,” Edelman continued. “But you can only do that if you’re good in the red area, and they’re 75% on giving up touchdowns in the red area, which is last.”

The red zone has been one of the biggest problems for the Patriots this season, on both sides of the ball. Edelman is right that they rank dead last in terms of red zone defense, but are also 24th in the league in red zone offense, scoring touchdowns only 52% of the time.

Edelman hopes this loss can serve as a reset for New England, and help them lock in going into the last couple weeks.

“Young team, and I think this can be a good thing for them,” Edelman concluded with. “It’s good to maybe recalibrate your brain and your week of work going into these last 3-4 weeks, because now this is the time where you have to play your best football.”

The Patriots travel to Baltimore on Sunday for a significant AFC matchup, as both teams look to win their respective divisions.