Image courtesy of CBS News
Is this rock bottom?
If not, the Patriots are going to be on Jabroni Drive for a while it feels like.
After last year’s debacle in Germany, the Patriots were back on the international stage as the only game in town on Sunday morning, this time from London. After jumping out to a quick 10-point lead, the Pats had a meltdown in all three phases and listlessly lost to an equally-as-bad Jaguars team 32-16.
Jacksonville humiliated the Patriots, rushing for 171 yards, which included a period of time in the second half where Jacksonville ran the ball 18 straight times, seemingly laughing on every snap. Drake Maye was good again, with 276 yards on 26/37 passing and two touchdowns, but for the second straight week, his play caller Alex Van Pelt let him down, as did guys like Jay’Lynn Polk. Oh, and promising rookie offensive lineman Layden Robinson left the game with an ankle injury too.
Now at 1-6 with issues on and off the field, New England is in serious danger of letting this become the ugliest season in franchise history.
“It’s not like all of a sudden we did something different and now we’re a soft football team,” said Jerod Mayo. “It’s just a mentality that we’ve got to get back in the guys…six straight losses, they feel bad about it as well. As a professional player, you feel bad about losses just like everyone else. It’s just about going back to the drawing board and trying to put some stuff together.”
It was an ideal start for Van Pelt and Maye as the opening script went perfectly. The Pats were up 7-0 after one thanks to an 11-play, 68-yard drive that lasted a little over six minutes and ended with Maye hitting JaMycal Hasty for a 16-yard touchdown. A Joey Slye field goal with 13:31 left in the second capped another impressive 12-play, 63-yard drive and it felt like the Pats were in control.
Then, they weren’t.
A Brian Thomas Jr. six-yard TD catch from Trevor Lawrence got things rolling for the Jags. Later in the second, a Tank Bigsby one-yard TD run capped a dominant six-play, 82-yard march where Jacksonville ran it down New England’s throat. Three plays later, the Patriots punted and proceeded to give up a 96-yard punt return touchdown that effectively ended the game with 1:34 to go in the half. A two-point conversion made it 22-10.
As the Pats’ run game remained non-existent (38 rushing yards total as a team) and the offense struggled, a Cam Little 21-yard field goal with 9:42 left in the third made it 25-10.
After a 17-play drive that ended in a turnover on downs for Jacksonville at the Pats’ six, Maye and the offense did put one more drive together, a 94-yard march that included some elite throws to the rookie and ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass to K.J. Osborn. Polk – who had several drops days after saying he’s been ‘limited’ in the offense – slipped on a two-point conversion where he would have been open, leaving it a nine-point game.
The Patriots turned it over on downs at their own 10 after ultimately backing up into an embarrassing 4th-&-26 situation. Bigsby punched in a short TD three plays later for the final nail in the coffin.
“The guys know,” said Maye when asked about Mayo’s comments regarding the team being soft. “Jon Jones gave a speech after the game saying ‘you’ve got to find it. Find something.’ We know what we’re doing is not good enough and we’ve got to man up.”
Now, all that awaits the Pats next week in Foxborough is a Jets team that just smoked New England a few weeks ago. Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, Haason Reddick and the rest of Gang Green should be licking their chops.
Meanwhile, Jerod Mayo had a lot to think about on the six-hour plane ride home.
“It’s hard to win football games in the NFL and I totally understand that,” he added. “I’ve talked to seasoned coaches, head coaches around the league and it’s tough. Every week is its own week…I think the main goal is to win next week.”