Well, THAT kind of chaos is not going to result in a rush of free agents for the Patriots next March.
Before we get to some succinct observations about Thursday night’s not-so-surprising defeat (I’ll get to why it wasn’t a stunning upset), the circumstances of the fall must be mentioned.
The Patriots have been a bad team since about December 2021. They’ve been on national TV a few times. (Previous low points: 2022 Bears loss when Mac Jones was benched for Bailey Zappe, 2021 playoff loss, 2022 Raiders loss, and 2023 Germany game.)
But with Bill Belichick on the sidelines, the message to the nation was, “This doesn’t look like a Bill Belichick team right now, but Bill will get it done…” Everyone nodded, the national audience nodded too, and after three hours, everyone turned away and turned away from New England.
Even as things got worse and more dysfunctional, the national media laughed out loud at the very idea that Belichick wouldn’t run the Patriots until HE decided he’d had enough. Despite the rampant instability, his presence still exuded stability. Even though chaos reigned, he gave the appearance of calm.
Without Belichick, the Patriots are a national curiosity at best. The success of the first two weeks and the presence of Drake Maye have piqued that curiosity. Is this a FRISKY bad team? But Thursday night likely snuffed out that curiosity and pushed them to the back of the pack. That’s where they’ll stay until they have the resources to pull off a Week 1-like upset. And that’s going to take a while — given the injuries on an already shaky team.
Meanwhile, there’s practically nothing else for the rest of the year but “Sunday at 1,” and so the chance to showcase his progress to a national audience and prospective players was lost on Thursday night. The only emotion any potential free agents who happened to tune in probably felt was concern for Jacoby Brissett, who — it seems — signed on to be a human piñata.
It was not a good night for the Patriots’ national Q rating.
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How did the Patriots go from a road win against a very good team with a very good quarterback to what we saw last night?
A few reasons.
First, the offensive line was a little different and the inexperience was noticeable. Chukwuma Okarafor, who has since left the team and will not return, started at left tackle. He was replaced and the injured Vederian Lowe came in and played pretty well for the rest of the game. On Thursday night, freshman Caedan Wallace – a right tackle in college – was inserted as the starter since Lowe was unable to play.
Michael Jordan, who was called up to the practice squad, played excellently (compared to expectations) at right guard in Week 1. He did not do so at left guard on Thursday night. He is playing because Cole Strange and Sidy Sow are both injured and have been for some time. Layden Robinson, another rookie, started at right guard.
Second, teams had shots. The pressure on Brissett increased each week as defensive coordinators saw shots where they could mess up blocking schemes and take advantage of inexperience.
Jerod Mayo said Friday morning: “I believe we can fix the problems internally. It’s all about details, and we as a unit have not paid attention to details. That’s the offensive line. It’s not just one person. It’s a unit. We just couldn’t all see through the same lens last night. I believe it’s correctable internally.”
Mayo also said: “We had some young players out there showing a few different looks, which maybe caused some confusion, but the communication overall needs to get better. I still trust those guys to do their job. We need to be very intentional about the game and adapt in the game.”
This is also true of the Patriots defense. Seattle had Geno Smith pull the Patriots apart and played fast to prevent the Patriots from doing tricks before the snap and then playing pitch-and-catch at short yardage. After seeing Smith pick them apart, I had a feeling it would get even worse when Aaron Rodgers attacked them, and it was.
Through three games, Joe Burrow, Smith and Rodgers have combined to complete 75 percent of their passes against the New England defense (81 of 108). And the 49ers are next.
Third, the loss of Ja’Whaun Bentley on a short week was probably a turning point for a defense that had tackled smart, fast and sure for two weeks. The tackling was awfully bad (14 missed tackles) and the space the receivers had after the catch was disruptive. No Bentley, no Christian Barmore, the lack of a pass rush that would have made Rodgers or Smith nervous, losses at the line of scrimmage like they hadn’t in the first two weeks – all contributed to them getting steamrolled.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the efficiency on both sides of the ball against the Bengals was nearly 100 percent. One sack, 6 of 15 on third downs, and five penalties for 40 yards, while the Bengals allowed three sacks, made 4 of 11, and lost the ball twice. The Patriots created and prevented at least 13 points from turnovers and did not give up a single point. They won.
Against the Jets, they allowed seven sacks, made two of eleven third downs, Brissett missed one of his only down chances when he threw the ball to Austin Hooper, they received five penalties for 70 yards, the Jets made ten of 15 third downs. In short, the Patriots were miserable. From head to toe.
They still played reasonably well against Seattle, but you could see the cracks. Most of the passing came from Brissett’s improvisations and throws to Hunter Henry. The hits on Brissett started to pile up. Seattle was 7-for-15 on third downs and the pressure New England applied was modest. Still, they would have won had they not given up 10 points on a defensive error and a blocked field goal.
“It really wasn’t about the plays,” Brissett said after Thursday’s game. “To be honest, they just kicked our asses.”
Robert Deutsch-Images
Few, if any, quarterbacks could currently “stand out” in the Patriots’ offense.
But I would go so far as to say that no one, NO ONE, would be able to grit their teeth the way Brissett has done so far.
He has completed 42 of 69 passes for 368 yards with one touchdown, nine sacks, 10 hits and 35 hurries and pressures. He has 1.7 seconds to throw.
His “time to get up” (a new stat I just made up) is estimated at 3.3 seconds after each sack. He will PUNNNNNNIIISSSSSHHHEEEDDDD.
And after the game, he says, “I mean, I’m a big man, I can take it. I’m always going to get back up. You know, that’s one thing with me. I’m always going to get back up and find ways to make plays, man, that’s what it comes down to.”
“You know, it’s football. I’m supposed to get hit. You know, I didn’t sign up for this sport not to get hit, so I don’t really pay attention.”
This is an exemplary employee.
