Patriots-Jets Stock Watch: Stevenson continues worrying streak originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The good news: There were two encouraging developments from the New England Patriots’ game against the New York Jets in Week 3. The bad news: One of them was the play of their punter.
That’s a reflection of how poorly the Patriots’ offense fared in their 24-3 loss to New York at MetLife Stadium on Thursday. New England managed just 139 yards of offense and lost the battle for possession 19-56 to 40-04 in a disappointing performance that dropped Jerod Mayo’s club to 1-2.
Who was the bright spot in Thursday’s loss and who is to blame for the loss? Our Patriots insiders Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry have examined both fronts in a new segment of “Stock Watch” on the Patriots Talk Podcastin which they highlight players who have been successful (Stock Up) and players who have fallen short of expectations (Stock Down).
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Here are Curran and Perry’s Stock Up and Stock Down picks for Week 3:
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DeMario Douglas, wide receiver
Douglas was the Patriots’ leading pass catcher in targets (nine), pass catches (seven) and receiving yards (69), delivering an encouraging performance after having zero targets in Week 2 and catching just two passes for 12 yards in Week 1.
Perry: “This has to be a ‘step-up’ because his value couldn’t have dropped much further after being essentially mothballed for the first two games of the regular season.
“… He was targeted so many times, caught so many balls and gained over 60 yards. He’s back in the trusted circle now. He’s getting some work with Jacoby Brissett after it looked like (Brissett) was just going to throw a Hunter Henry in Week 2. So his value must have gone up.”
Bryce Baringer, Punter
Baringer punted five times for a total of 249 yards (with a longest of 57 yards) and pinned the Jets inside the 20-yard line on three of those five punts.
Curran: “I give you Boom City, Bryce Baringer. Five punts, 49-yard average, 43.6 net yards, three inside the 20-yard line. Bryce Baringer is high on my list.”
Share price falls
Rhamondre Stevenson, running back
It was a rough night for Stevenson, who rushed for just 23 yards on six carries, committed a 15-yard facemask penalty and lost a fumble in the fourth quarter. Stevenson has now committed a fumble in four consecutive games since his last game in 2023 (a Week 13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers), and while New England recovered two of those fumbles, it’s still a concerning trend.
Perry: “He ends up getting a facemask penalty; maybe not necessarily his fault, but in the end it was fatal. And the fumble, he lost a fumble.”
“Normally you would shrug and say it was a bad play by arguably the best player, but that’s three fumbles in three games. It just so happens that the Patriots were able to cover the other two fumbles. So that’s something he’s got to get a handle on.”
Christian Gonzalez, cornerback
Gonzalez followed Garrett Wilson and kept the Jets’ star wide receiver relatively in check (four catches for 25 yards). But he also allowed a touchdown from Wilson when he tried to jump the wideout’s out route and missed a couple of tackles. The bar is high for New England’s talented 2023 first-round pick, and he didn’t meet it on Thursday night.
Curran: “Christian Gonzalez is a brilliant player and will be a good player in the league for a long time. I can’t blame him for going for the pick and pass breakup on Garrett Wilson’s short touchdown, because he could have turned it into a pick-six. But that was one of several plays where Christian Gonzalez missed the mark.
“He was penalized on a play that resulted in an illegal motion penalty on Garrett Wilson, and I just don’t think Christian Gonzalez played at the same level of play that we did. He takes the loss representing a secondary that allowed Aaron Rodgers to complete 27 of 35 passes for 281 (yards) and two touchdowns.”
Watch the entire Stock Watch segment in the video player above.
