Image courtesy of Charles Krupa/Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH – Another Sunday, another backbreaking loss for the Patriots in a year that’s been full of them.

Washington dominated in all three phases for the majority of the game, but New England had a chance to tie or win the game with a last-minute drive until a ball ricocheted off of JuJu Smith-Schuster’s hands and into the waiting arms of a Commanders defender to seal a 20-17 loss for the Pats.

Washington out-gained New England 431-327, held the ball for 37:10 to the Patriots’ 22:50 and held the home team to 3-12 (25%) on third down.

Now at 2-7, the search for answers continues with a trip to Germany coming up on Thursday.

“A game where we had our chances, had a chance there at the end, just couldn’t make enough plays,” Bill Belichick said. “Obviously, we had plenty of opportunities along the way that we need to make more out of…just a disappointing result. Just got to do a better job making plays when we have the opportunities to make them.”

Leading 14-10 at the half despite being thorougholy outplayed in the first 30 minutes, New England opened the third quarter with the ball and moved down to the Washington 38. Mac Jones was smoked on his blindside for a sack on 3rd-&-10, but a very questionable roughing the passer penalty extended the drive long enough for a 43-yard Chad Ryland field goal to make it 17-10.

Washington responded just 3:23 later, capping a seven-play, 75-yard drive with a 33-yard touchdown catch for Jahan Dotson on a fantastic post ball from Sam Howell, knotting things at 17-17.

After a Patriots punt, 26 and 36-yard completions to Terry McLaurin – the first one on 3rd-&-10 quickly moved Washington down to the Pats’ 12, but the defense held strong to force a 30-yard Joey Slye field goal that made it 20-17 with 1:49 left in the third.

On the ensuing Pats’ possession, Jalen Reagor had a deep ball from Mac go right through his hands on the third snap, forcing a 3rd-&-3 at the New England 47 to open the fourth quarter. Jones missed Zeke over the middle and New England was forced to punt for the fourth time in nine possessions to that point.

A Ja’Whaun Bentley sack on third down on Washington’s next drive ultimately forced a 3rd-&-11 and then a punt, giving New England the ball back with 11:10 remaining at its own five after an ugly return from Demario Douglas. Douglas seemingly made up for it with a great leaping/twisting catch a few snaps later, but it was overturned and New England eventually had to punt again.

The defense responded as Bentley came up with another big third down sack and the offense had another chance to tie or take the lead with 7:10 to go, starting at the New England nine after a face mask penalty on the Pats during the return. Jones and the offense managed one first down but punted yet again with 5:15 left.

The Pats’ defense seemingly stepped up one more time, forcing a punt with just over two minutes left, but on 4th-&-1, Mack Wilson was called for offside on the punt, handing the Commanders a first down. New England did get a stop on 3rd-&-6 with 2:16 to go and began at their own 10 with 2:07 left after a holding call on another punt.

Jones (24-44/220/1 TD/1 INT) led the team across midfield, but with 30 seconds left, a pass went through Smith-Schuster’s hands – moments after he had a huge catch on 4th-&-4 at the Washington 49 – and Jartavius Martin held onto it at the 33 to seal New England’s fate.

“It’s not like we’re not on the same page, we’re really close,” said Jones. “We’re right there, we’re just a little bit short. It’s tough. I think the biggest thing is remaining confident in yourself and when you do everything you can every day you should have no regrets. I have no regrets. I do need to do things better, but I’m always going to work hard and put in the hours…the results aren’t there right now, it stinks and there’s no excuses.”

After forcing a three-and-out to open the game, the Pats put together an 11-play drive that reached the Washington 39 and lasted 4:49, but on 4th-&-3 Jones missed a wide open Tyquan Thornton, turning it over on downs. Eight plays later, Anfernee Jennings stuffed quarterback Howell on 3rd-&-1 and the Commanders settled for a 36-yard field goal to go up 3-0 with 3:14 left in the first.

The offensive struggles continued as New England answered with a three-and-out that took just 43 seconds off the clock. Washington embarked on an 11-play, 80-yard drive for the remainder of the quarter and finished it with 12:05 left in the second when Brian Robinson scored from nine-yards out untouched, making it 10-0.

Just 41 seconds came off the clock on the Pats’ next possession, another ugly three-and-out. Two plays later, Jahlani Tavai came up with a great punch out of the ball on a nine-yard gain by Robinson and Davon Godchaux recovered at the Washington 25. Four plays after that, the Pats were finally on the board when Jones hit Hunter Henry from 14-yards out with a pretty ball up the seam, cutting it to 10-7 with 9:26 left in the half.

Just two plays and 35 seconds after the defense forced another punt, Rhamondre Stevenson (9/87/1 TD) ripped off his biggest play of the year, a 64-yard touchdown run to put New England up 14-10. Washington took over at its own 20 with 6:01 left in the half and proceeded to chew up the remaining six minutes with a 15-play drive that included a 24-yard scramble for Sam Howell on 3rd-&-24. Looking at 1st-&-goal from the five in the waining seconds, Howell gave New England a gift with a horrendous throw in the end zone that was easily picked off by Kyle Dugger and sent the Pats to the locker room with a somewhat stunning four-point lead.

Despite being up, the Patriots were out-gained 246-163 and had just seven first downs to Washington’s 14 in that first half.

So now, for fans that wanted the team to ‘tank,’ they may unintentionally be getting their wish. The ugliness continued Sunday and there’s no signs of it slowing down anytime soon.

Even in another country.

“We’ve got to look in the mirror and go back to work,” added David Andrews. “Not going to break my spirit, not going to break our spirit. We’re going to come back, take tonight, come back to work tomorrow, do what we need to do to correct it and get ready to go to Germany and play Indy.”