Image courtesy of AP Photos
On the bright side, the Patriots showed more fight and a higher compete level against the 49ers on Sunday than they did against the Jets.
The bad news is that the ugly 30-13 loss only magnified just how poor this roster is compared to most others in the NFL.
To make matters even worse, David Andrews, Caedan Wallace and Kyle Dugger were all injured and didn’t return to the game as New England drops to 1-3. The injury list is starting to look like a CVS receipt and any ‘spark’ Drake Maye might be able to give the team can’t be lit right now. The risk of stunting his development with a serious injury that could require a lengthy rehab is far too high. Jacoby Brissett was sacked seven times and once again, took several hits that some quarterbacks may not get up from.
The offense finished with just 216 total yards and Brissett finished 19-32 for 143 yards a TD and a pick-six. New England also only had 12 first downs and went 5-16 on third down. The defense had its moments and special teams was the highlight as Joey Slye set a Patriots record just before halftime with a 63 yard field goal.
“We’ve just got to keep looking in the mirror. Right now, what we’re doin ain’t good enough,” said Jabrill Peppers. “So, we going to correct this, be honest with ourselves during the film and try to pull off a tough win at home against the Dolphins…no excuses. Everyone deals with injuries. Just got to keep finding ways to get better…no one’s going to feel sorry for you and we ain’t going to feel sorry for ourselves.”
It was apparent that it was going to be a long drive from the very first possession. The Pats had a nine-play drive that lasted 4:49, but only mustered 24 yards before punting. The inability to contain Brock Purdy’s scrambling – much like the Jets game with Aaron Rodgers – reared its ugly head on San Fran’s first possession, a 15-play, 90 yard march that took almost eight minutes and ended with a field goal.
Stevenson fumbled on the Pats’ first snap following the kickoff, but the defense again held the 49ers to a field goal. Three snaps later, Brissett through a bad ball and Fred Warner made a great play, picking him off and rumbling 45 yards to make it 13-0 less than a minute into the second.
Brissett found a way to put together a response drive, but on 4th-&-1 at the 49ers’ 20, Mayo chose to go for it instead of kicking a field goal and Stevenson was stuffed for a turnover on downs. San Fran made it 20-0 with 3:11 to go in the half when George Kittle made a phenomenal catch in the back left corner with three Pats’ defenders around him.
After trading punts, Slye banged home his record-setting kick as time expired, seemingly giving the Pats some momentum heading into the locker room.
“There’s some individual success today which obviously, I’m happy for for myself, but, for team success…I’m trying to do the best I can for the team and give them an opportunity to win,” said Slye. “So, if it’s not coming out to a win, at the end of the day my individual success really isn’t that important.”
The momentum continued on the opening kickoff of the third as Christian Elliss forced and recovered a fumble. Five plays later, a great play call from Alex Van Pelt on 4th-&-1 from the five led to a touchdown catch for Austin Hooper.
As has often been the case, the Patriots quickly let momentum slip away almost immiedtaely as Purdy found Deebo Samuel for a 53 yard catch on the first offensive snap after the kickoff. Justin Mason punched it in from four yards out less than a minute later to make it 27-10.
A 54 yard field goal from Slye made it 27-13 early in the fourth quarter and Jabrill Peppers came up with an interception in the end zone on the next 49ers drive to keep New England in it. But, on 4th-&-4 at the Pats’ 47, Brissett heaved a deep ball down the left sideline for Ja’Lynn Polk that may have been the best throw of his career. Polk appeared to reel it in while taking a hit, but it was ruled incomplete on the field and the controversial call held up after review, resulting in a turnover on downs.
San Fran added one more field goal before a strip sack and recovery by Joey Bosa with 2:52 left ended it.
“Just keep getting up,” Brissett said when asked if he can continue to take the beating he’s been taking. “That’s all I can do. That’s all I’m going to keep doing.”
Through a quarter of the season, things only seem to be getting worse without much light at the end of the tunnel. Still, the Patriots will take an ‘it’s still early approach’ and hope that they can find a way to start building some positive momentum as the calendar flips to October.
“Going into the next quarter of football, the next month, we need to learn from everything we did in September,” added Deatrich Wise. “Good and bad. Fix everything bad, continue doing the good stuff, continue to work on that and then put together a great game next week.”