Image courtesy of AP Photo/John Locher
When you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did.
While the Patriots’ defense battled again, the offense failed to hold its end of the bargain in a familiar theme, leading to an ugly 21-17 loss.
In an unimaginable scenario during any of the last 20+ years, the Patriots are now 1-5 and have more questions than answers at every level of the organization. This is a poorly coached team right now that committed 10 penalties for 79-yards on top if a litany of other mistakes. These are the darkest days in Foxborough since the early 90’s and just keep getting darker.If you want to get specific, since 1995, the last time a Patriots team started 1-5. That team finished 6-10 before making a Super Bowl run the next season.
The latter doesn’t seem feasible anytime soon given this team’s current state
“Obviously just couldn’t quite make enough plays here tonight,” said Bill Belichick. “Had our opportunities and just, you know, need to do a better job here in really just about every area. One of a number of things could have made a difference. We just need to be able to coach it better, play better, execute a little bit better and that’s really the story of the game.”
After another abysmal first half that was more of a repeat than a restart, New England started the second half with the ball down 13-3 and showed life, swiftly moving into the Raiders’ red zone – the first time they’d been in the red area in 28 straight possessions.
Rhamondre Stevenson had a nice run on the first snap but was injured, getting his ankle twisted while also slamming his head onto the turf. Ezekiel Elliott looked like the old Zeke, churning out big runs as the Pats marched on with drive-contributing catches from Mike Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown. On 2nd-&-goal from the two, the ‘Wildcat’ made an appearance, with Zeke finishing off the 10-play, 69-yard expedition that lasted over six minutes, cutting it to 13-10.
Jimmy Garoppolo was injured (back) late in the second quarter but played the remainder of the half before ultimately being taken to the hospital by ambulance. That meant another familiar face in a game full of them, Brian Hoyer, was thrust into action. Three snaps in, the old veteran hit Trey Tucker for 48-yards to the Pats’ 21. That eventually set up 30-yard Daniel Carlson field goal with 3:55 left in the third.
A busted play between Zeke and Jones in all-too-familiar ugliness on the first snap of the next Pats’ drive quickly set the wheels in motion for a three-and-out. Hoyer came back out and immediately hit DaVante Adams with a 21-yard dart to the New England 44. A Josh Jacobs 18-yard rumble to the Pats’ 26 soon sent the teams to the fourth quarter with the Raiders threatening again.
A 3rd-&-5 conversion to Austin Hooper made it goal-to-go and although the defense came up with another stand, a Carlson chip shot made it a 19-10 game with 13:06 to go.
Stevenson returned on the ensuing possession and he Jones, and Bourne along with a big holding call on a third down moved the Pats to the Raiders’ 37. Malik Cunningham entered for just his second snap at quarterback on the next play after the flag and was immediately sacked for a five-yard loss. Bourne came up big again with a 13-yard grab from Jones on 3rd-&-8 and two snaps later, Ty Montgomery bailed Jones out from his second interception of the day, pushing the offense inside the Vegas 10.
The lack of urgency was alarming though, as the drive drained 9:30 off the clock. A mind boggling roughing the passer call bailed New England out again after some pre-snap penalties set them back and Stevenson scored from two-yards out, but only 3:33 remained after the 17-play, 75-yard slog.
“Honestly, I just get the call and try to call it in the huddle,” Jones said when asked about the pace on that drive. “The coaches do a good job of managing all that stuff, so…I did want to push the tempo obviously a little bit more, just the operation and everything. But, we were subbing a lot and that’s part of putting pressure on the defense is playing fast and getting in and out of the huddle to put the pressure on the defense.”
Josh McDaniels inexplicably threw on first down and got two yards from Jacobs on second down before Anfernee Jennings was called for holding on 3rd-&-8 to give Vegas more life. The defense answered and came up huge with three straight stops, using all three timeouts to get the ball back at the New England eight with 2:23 remaining.
A hold on Antonio Mafi on second down at the two minute warning negated a Stevenson first down run, instead forcing the Pats into 2nd-&-11. DeVante Parker dropped an absolute dime from Jones on a deep ball the next snap and a delay of game followed. Looking at 3rd-&-14 from his own four, Jones was sacked in the end zone by Maxx Crosby for a safety, ending any hopes of getting out of this tailspin.
Jones finished with 200 yards (24/33) with the one pick.
“Football is like life. There’s highs, there’s lows, there’s in-between. When there’s lows the only thing to do is fight your way out of it,” said David Andrews. “You can’t get down. You can’t quit. I don’t believe in that. Never believed in that, so, only thing to do is keep throwing punches, keep fighting, keep swinging. That’s the only thing I know how to do.”
The Patriots won the coin toss, deferred and soon repeated what they’ve done all season long, fall in an early hole while hurting themselves. Garoppolo led a 16-play drive that lasted 8:06 and included three third down conversions.
New England seemingly got lucky after Josh Jacobs converted a fourth third down inside the 15, but it was called back for a hold. On 3rd-&-11, DeAndre Carter dropped an easy conversion and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal. But, the Pats were called for ‘leverage,’ a 15-yard penalty, giving Vegas new set of downs. The defense did force another Carlson 25-yard field goal moments later.
The first offensive drive that ensued was a true disaster.
The very first snap was a Vederian Lowe false start. The second was a failed screen to Hunter Henry that included an ineligible man downfield call on Trent Brown. Stevenson nearly fumbled on a screen that was ultimately called an incomplete pass and a “let Bryce Baringer have some room to punt,’ run from Stevenson followed. Baringer then shanked the punt, giving the Raiders the ball at the Vegas 40.
On the second play of the drive, Garoppolo hit Jacobs on a shallow crosser and Jahlani Tavai slammed him to the ground, drawing a personal foul flag and moving the ball to the New England 19. Jabrill Peppers – one of the few who showed up – came up with a Madden-like hit stick, smoking DeVante Adams on a slant, causing the ball to ricochet into the air and Tavai came down with it for an interception at the Pats’ 14. The turnover was the first takeaway for New England since a Christian Gonzalez pick in Week 2.
Cunningham saw his first action at QB on the second snap of the ensuing drive, but handed it off to Stevenson for little gain and New England quickly went three-and-out with Jones getting sacked on third down. Tight end Michael Mayer made his fourth catch of the game for 32-yards down to the Pats’ 23 on 3rd-&-10 to end the first quarter. The big gain gave the Raiders 125 total yards in the first 15 minutes to the Patriots’ -2. That’s right. Negative. Two. Yards.
Moments later after a 3rd-&-5 catch for old friend Jakobi Meyers, he caught a 12-yard TD to make it 10-0.
Facing 3rd-&-5 on the next possession, Elliott had what would have been a 74-yard touchdown catch and run called back on a hold by Hunter Henry, but it did give New England its first first down of the game at the Patriots’ 31. Two snaps later, a Kendrick Bourne 36-yard grab put the Pats at the Raiders’ 29. The drive eventually stalled and Chad Ryland hit a 43-yard field goal with 8:38 left in the half. The kick ended a run of 79 unanswered points for Patriots’ opponents, the longest such streak in the NFL since 2000.
The defense responded with a three-and-out to sustain momentum, but it quickly disappeared again.
A big third down catch by Mike Gesicki on an under thrown ball by Mac extended the next drive to the Raiders’ 35, but in a sight that’s become far too common, Mac threw a pick back across his body on the very next snap, killing the drive with a little over three minutes left in the half. Vegas embarked on a 10-play drive – stalling on a Meyers OPI call – and settled for another Carlson field goal in the final seconds to take a 13-3 halftime lead. Vegas ran 40 plays to New England’s 23, had 13 first downs to the Pats’ four and held the ball for 19:50 compared to just 10:10 in the first 30 minutes of action. The fact it was only a 10-point game was actually a bit of a miracle.
So, we ask again, now what? There are so many questions and ways this can all go, that it’s hard to imagine things get better anytime soon. The positivity surrounding the Hall of Fame inductions of Mike Vrabel and Dante Scarnecchia this weekend will most likely be wiped away by a dominant Bills performance on Sunday.
The future of the Patriots has never been in more question than it is right now.
“I think we have a really good group of guys and we choose to respond the right way, (morale) will be really good. If we don’t, then it’ll go the other way,” added Jones. “I know I’m going to be positive always, that’s my goal. Try to work hard like I’ve been doing and try to bring people with me.
“I know we’ve been saying that and the results haven’t been there. I guess, maybe look at the process and change what we need to get better, because results aren’t there.”