The Patriots were destroyed on Thursday.
New England suffered a nasty defeat against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, something they readily admitted afterward. The Patriots suffered their most lopsided defeat in this game since A Bug’s Life and You’re Mail dominated the box office, so it’s easy to say things didn’t go well.
Here’s a closer look at how each key group experienced the loss, both positively (don’t laugh) and negatively:
QUARTERBACK: C-
Jacoby Brissett deserves a medal for the beating he took over the first few weeks of the season, but the fact is there are things the two guys who played on Thursday could have done better.
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Brissett had a couple of bad throws early on, while Drake Maye was nearly intercepted after making his very first pass attempt clear where he was going. Do we blame the quarterbacks for what happened? No, but there are still standards that must be met.
WIDE RECEIVER: C+
The Patriots entered the night with 85 total receiving yards from their wideouts and missed that number by one yard against the Jets. DeMario Douglas found ways to get free, especially after being targeted a few times. Ja’Lynn Polk is a great guy, he just needs more chances. It wasn’t a disaster!
(Yes, we are clinging to every straw.)
OFFENSIVE LINE: F-
Is it possible to expel a student for bad grades? The Patriots might want to look into it.
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We don’t need to do much explaining here. According to Chad Graff of The Athletic, New England’s pressure rate over the past three weeks is the 16th-worst of any team since 2006, and got even worse after allowing seven total sacks and pressures on more than half of Brissett and Maye’s dropbacks.
PASS RUSHERS: D
Aaron Rodgers is almost 41 years old and his ankle exploded a little over a year ago. You could only sack this guy twice?!
The Patriots’ lack of pressure isn’t really the problem, though. New England lacked discipline, which allowed Rodgers to escape the pocket and play in open space – including one touchdown and nine (!!!) first downs.
LINEBACKER: D+
Jahlani Tavai and Raekwon McMillan have done a poor job of trying to replace Ja’Whaun Bentley at center back. It’s that simple.
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SPECIAL TEAMS: B+
Bryce Baringer is pretty cute!
Baringer had four punts deep in opposing territory, giving New England solid field position all night. Joey Slye made his only attempt. Brenden Schooler and Joe Cardona each had a couple of impressive tackles. It wasn’t a bad night for Jeremy Springer’s unit.
TRAINING: D
Alex Van Pelt is essentially calling the offensive plays for the first time ever. DeMarcus Covington is doing the same on defense. Yes, it will take some time for them to find their rhythm, but two specific examples stood out as contributing factors to Thursday’s chaos.
Covington’s mistakes were tied to his defensive style, as his urge to attack the opposition backfired when Rodgers, under pressure to get some first downs, brought in a few quick hitters. Covington can easily adjust, and there’s no reason to think he won’t, but it would still be nice to see him make that adjustment mid-game knowing he was missing several starters.
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Van Pelt hasn’t quite figured out the passing game yet, and we saw exactly why that was the case on the final third down of the game for Brissett and the starters. AVP called all vertical routes even though they only needed nine yards to get the first down. Brissett was forced to hold onto the ball as the routes developed, leading to his final sack of the night and the proverbial nail in the coffin. It was four-down territory, so there would have been no shame in AVP calling short crossers to gain a few yards and at least give his offense a chance.
The Patriots need improvements in almost every team group, but the coaching staff could be the biggest loser in the first few weeks of the season.
