There is no other way to put it: The New England Patriots embarrassed themselves on national television against the New York Jets on Thursday night. Their 24-3 loss was the worst game you will ever see.
Let’s get to our takeaways from the Patriots’ Week 3 contest.
1. An unprepared and undisciplined team is a reflection of the coaching staff: The Patriots have a first-time head coach, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator and first-time offensive coordinator. There was expected to be a learning curve early in the season, but that wasn’t the case on Thursday: The Patriots looked unprepared and, as a result, uncompetitive against the Jets.
Sure, it’s a short week and still early in the season, but the coaches’ inability to prepare the team was still concerning, especially for what is supposed to be a top-notch defense. The Patriots got several unnecessary and easily avoidable penalties on that side of the ball and, after being a great tackling team the first two weeks, were unable to get any takedowns all night.
They also seemed, somewhat oddly, to be trying to overcompensate for the lack of active involvement of their wide receivers in the offense over the last two games. The result was an uneven run/pass distribution early in the game.
“The first thing I have to do is look at myself in the mirror. I have to make sure I did everything I could to get the guys ready to go. Given today’s result, I should have done more,” head coach Jerod Mayo said after the game. “I just have to hit the reset button, this is NFL football and we have to get better.”
Games like Thursday’s are to be expected from a young team and a young team, but they need to use this as a learning opportunity and turn things around quickly. Performances like Thursday’s are simply unacceptable in the NFL – and ultimately a judgment on the coaching staff.
2. The Patriots are who we thought they were, and that’s OK: All offseason, the Patriots were said to be bad this year and have a chance to be the worst football team ever. Then they won and played well in Week 1 at Cincinnati and the narrative changed to maybe they weren’t as bad as everyone thought.
They turned out to be exactly the team we expected all season, at least based on their performance on Thursday. But there’s no need to panic: This is the first year of a major rebuild of the entire organization, and slip-ups like this are unfortunately part of that process.
3. The line kills the offense again and again: The Patriots didn’t have a particularly polished offensive line to begin with in 2024. Then both their left tackle and left guard got injured, and now the group is on the verge of collapse.
Despite fielding two rookies, one would have hoped for more from the group against the Jets on Thursday than what they got, because what the Patriots got was pressure on nearly two-thirds of their dropbacks and seven total sacks.
“It’s a race to get better every week,” center David Andrews said. “Look, it’s still early in the year, there’s a lot of football left to play and it’s going to be bad if we don’t learn from this. Try to take the good and fix the bad and that’s what we’re going to try to do. Rest up, try to keep guys healthy over the next few days and be ready for the next stretch, however long it may be.”
Andrews and the interior didn’t cut a particularly good figure on Thursday. However, the biggest problems were once again with tackling.
There was hope that Caedan Wallace would play well at left tackle, but he didn’t. His holding penalties seemed questionable at best, but even so, he didn’t play well in his first career start.
Michael Onwenu seems miscast at the right tackle position. The Patriots don’t have anyone who can play there, but still took a really solid guard and — at least based on the last two weeks — turned him into an average tackle at best (who gets paid like an elite tackle). The hope is that Wallace can return to his college position and develop into the right tackle of the future, and that a left tackle is drafted high next spring so Onwenu can kick inside again.
Unfortunately for the 2024 Patriots, that’s a story for another time.
4. Jacoby Brissett is toughness personified: Jacoby Brissett is not one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He has trouble throwing the ball accurately and consistently and has suffered a number of sacks. However, his toughness is unquestionable.
He took a tough loss against the Jets’ talented defense, but he kept getting back up. His toughness deserves praise, even when the results on the field weren’t good.
“I’m a big man, I can take it,” he said nonchalantly during his postgame press conference. “I’m always going to get back up. That’s one thing about me. I’m always going to get back up and find ways to make plays. That’s what it comes down to. It’s football. I’m supposed to get hit. I didn’t sign up for this sport not to get hit, so I don’t really pay attention to that.”
Hopefully the team will recognize and acknowledge the toughness shown by Brissett and use it as motivation to play better in the future.
5. The injury woes continue: Last week, the Patriots lost Ja’Whaun Bentley for the season and Vederian Lowe for at least this game. On Thursday night, Jabrill Peppers was in and out of the lineup due to injury, and Caedan Wallace and Michael Jordan also went down. That means they may now be down to their fourth left tackle and third left guard – not exactly what you want to see when facing the San Francisco 49ers defense in the next game.
We will see if any of the injured players return for the competition. However, this team cannot afford to have a piling up of injuries.
6. Bryce Baringer is a weapon: One of the few bright spots for the Patriots right now is punter Bryce Baringer. For the first time this season, he didn’t average more than 50 yards per punt against the Jets, but he did average 49 yards, while three of his five punts kept the Jets inside their own 20-yard line. He can turn the field over time for the Patriots, and if the defense can get stops, the Patriots should have a chance to get good field position in a few games this year.
7. Christian Gonzalez is the real one: The Patriots’ defense struggled overall against the Jets, but Christian Gonzalez often put one of the game’s best young receivers in charge. When the Patriots played man coverage, the second-year defensive lineman followed Garrett Wilson around and was able to shut him down more often than not.
Wilson finished the game with five catches for 33 yards and a touchdown that was a perfect throw from Aaron Rodgers to perhaps the only place he could put it. That touchdown, incidentally, was the first one Gonzalez allowed in his NFL career.
The Patriots’ young cornerback definitely has something to offer.
8. Kyle Dugger and Jahlani Tavai in reporting are an adventure: The Patriots extended both Jahlani Tavai and Kyle Dugger this offseason, which was the right decision, but while their status as team leaders on and off the field is undisputed, they both looked poorly on Thursday night.
Neither of them could cover Tyler Conklin all night, and he finished with five pass catches for 93 yards – the most yards he’s ever had in a game. On a night when Christian Gonzalez was doing his job, it would have helped if the other top guys on defense had pitched in a little, too.
“This is a performance-based game, we are professionals and we have to show up and play regardless,” Tavai said. “There is no excuse for what we did. For now, it’s another loss we have to accept and we move on to the next one.”
9. Aaron Rodgers returns to his old form? After looking like a shadow of his former self in the first two games of the season, Aaron Rodgers was fantastic on Thursday, regularly making difficult passes look easy and using his legs to get out of danger on multiple occasions. His performance on Thursday could be a sign that he’s back to his old self and ready to dominate the league again, which would not be good news for the Patriots and the rest of the AFC East.
Of course, it also helped that the Patriots played their worst defensive game in a long time.
10. The quarterback lineup should not be re-evaluated: The Patriots have a mini-off period ahead of them and the question most will be asking is if this is the right time to make a quarterback change and replace Jacoby Brissett with Drake Maye. Personally, the answer to that question should be a resounding “no.”
Of course, Jerod Mayo and Co. might have a different view. The fact is that Maye would add a dimension to the Patriots’ offense that doesn’t exist with Brissett at quarterback: He can make throws that the veteran just can’t consistently make, and he’s also athletic enough to make plays with his legs.
Regardless of whether they replace Brissett or not, the Patriots need to start playing significantly better, and that starts at the quarterback position.
