Five Thoughts Following the Patriots’ Loss to the Chiefs
(PHOTO: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots Commentary
(PHOTO: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports) Some thoughts coming off of this game:
1) If the Patriots had any shot of pulling of an upset against the Kansas City Chiefs, they needed Bailey Zappe to play smart football and come up with some big plays as New England took the field in what was arguably their last meaningful statement game of this 2023 season.
For one half of football, Zappe managed to answer the bell. He started out hot, coming up with some key throws in the first half as he went toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes and company in front of the home crowd. But in the end, Zappe finished things out looking much like he did against Pittsburgh, only this time, he failed to build enough of a lead to withstand Kansas City’s late surge before he fell apart.
Following a strong first half performance, a weak second half effort by the second-year quarterback left everyone with more questions than answers during Sunday’s 27-17 loss at Gillette Stadium.
As he did in his previous outing, Zappe came out and was extremely accurate through the first two quarters. He completed 17-of-19 over that span, piling up 141 yards along with a touchdown as the Patriots kept it close and went into the locker room trailing just 14-10.
They did all the right things. They kept the ball out of Mahomes’ hands while holding the ball for nearly 18 minutes, with six different players hauling in passes from the second-year quarterback during the first 30-minutes of play.
But in the second half, Zappe couldn’t close things out. In fact, on their first offensive play of the third quarter, Zappe threw what was essentially a game-destroying interception on a terrible pass attempt where he tried to force the ball to tight end Hunter Henry as he scrambled to his right.
The Chiefs picked off the ball and ran it back 24 yards down to the Patriots 7-yard line.
Just like that, New England’s four point deficit was gone as two plays later, Mahomes connected with running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a 6-yard touchdown, and that gave the Chiefs a 24-10 edge.
That miscue put Kansas City firmly in control for the rest of the contest, affecting how Zappe and the Patriots were able to run their offense, along with giving the Chiefs the momentum.
“Went out in the second half, threw an interception on the first play of the second half, which is terrible on my part,” said Zappe after the game. “You take away that, you take away seven points, it’s a whole different game. I mean, they got the ball on whatever yard line it was, and two plays later they scored so I mean, that’s on me.”
“You take away that play, it’s a different game. Not good enough, there’s things that I’m going to clean up going into next week and get ready for the Broncos.”
While it’s always good to see a player hold himself accountable, it doesn’t change the fact it’s another big missed opportunity. A solid performance would have allowed him to make a strong case for himself as the club’s signal caller. Instead, it’s a frustrating loss that simply puts this team another step closer to having to re-examine the quarterback position this offseason.
Much like Pittsburgh, Zappe’s second half left a lot to be desired. Against the Steelers, Zappe started off strong. He completed 14-of-21 (66.7%) for 196-yards and 3 touchdowns as the Patriots notched a 21-3 advantage at one point, before Pittsburgh cut the score to 21-10 at halftime.
In the second half, Zappe was just 5/7 for 44yds and an interception in that Thursday night match-up as New England’s defense managed to just enough to seal the win in the closing minutes.
On Sunday, those second-half issues continued. After missing just two passes in the first half, Zappe finished just 6/12 (50%) for 39-yards and that interception over the final two quarters.
Unlike last week, Zappe buried his team with a brutal turnover that gave the Chiefs a big enough edge where, instead of being able to run their offense and mix things up, Kansas City was able to pin their ears back and come after him.
The result was a disaster. They couldn’t sustain any drives, with the time of possession in the second half telling the story. The Chiefs held the ball for 9:11 in the third quarter, followed by 9:57 in the final quarter of play.
That means Kansas City essentially had the ball for nearly 20 minutes of the final 30 minutes of play, as the Patriots weren’t able to do much of anything.
The Patriots lost Cole Strange on Sunday. (PHOTO: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)
2) It also didn’t help that they sustained personnel losses along their offensive line, which Bill Belichick said after the game affected their approach.
New England lost both Cole Strange and Conor McDermott, with Strange’s injury certainly being the most concerning. The second-year guard was carted off the field on Sunday with a leg injury, which saw rookie Atonio Mafi have to step in. They later lost McDermott to a head injury, which put Vedarian Lowe out there in front of Zappe.
That impacted both the ground game and the pass protection. When the club later lost Hunter Henry to an injury, it left them depleted to the point where Belichick said it impacted some of their situational decisions.
One of those was a 4th-and-3 play early in the fourth quarter from their own 42-yard line right after Henry got banged up and came off the field.
“At that point we had lost three starters,” said Belichick. “[We were] worried about the pass protection. Worried about being able to execute in that situation. Felt like we were playing good defense. Get the ball back on a turnover, three-and-out, get the ball in better field position.”
After Jahlani Tavai came up with an interception and Kevin Harris scored a touchdown, New England was down just 10 points and was able to come up with a stop on the Chiefs’ ensuing possession.
That gave them the ball back with just over 4:00 left, but the offense didn’t show much urgency and Ezekiel Elliott was among players who talked about that after the game.
When asked, Belichick again lamented the personnel losses as the reason they didn’t go up-tempo.
“Yeah, it was tough to lose him,” said Belichick of Cole Strange. “It’s tough to lose Conor [McDermott]. Tough to lose Hunter [Henry]. Kind of at the end there we were not – I would say we didn’t feel like we were able to do probably what we should have done in that situation. At the end of the game, I’m talking about.”
(PHOTO:Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)
3) One other storyline that was interesting in this one was the absence of J.C. Jackson, which looks like it may have escalated and could see the secondary get a little thinner by the end of business tomorrow.
Jackson, who was active for the game and had not appeared on the injury report this week, was not on the field for the start of the game. Even more bizarre was the fact his absence apparently caught his teammates off guard.
The defensive back was reportedly in the locker room ahead of the contest, with Deatrich Wise Jr. telling reporters he saw Jackson prior to the game and expected to him to be out there.
Instead, it was defensive back Alex Austin who ended up starting the game while Jackson was nowhere to be found.
After the game, it was clear something was up. Belichick was terse when asked about Jackson, saying Jackson “wasn’t available, let’s just leave it at that,” when asked why he wasn’t available despite not appearing on the inactive list.
A report by MassLive.com’s Karen Guregian said that Jackson didn’t play due to a “personal matter,” which was followed up by a report by Jackson’s agent who told ESPN’s Adam Schefter he’s dealing with “mental health” issues.
Obviously, Jackson’s issues go back to his time with the Chargers and it’s clear that all is not well with the veteran defensive back.
Belichick’s irritation would indicate that something happened prior to the game that had him frustrated, with Guregian saying “the issue arose after the inactive were announced.” Shaun Wade was a healthy scratch ahead of Sunday, although it’s not known if that had anything to do with it.
Either way, something went down and it may mean his time in New England may be coming to an end given what happened with both he and Jack Jones ahead of their trip to Germany.
If Jackson ends up being released, it will only add to what’s already been a strange year.
Deatrich Wise Jr. (91) reacts to getting a sack during the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. (PHOTO:Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports)
4) Christian Barmore put together another strong performance on Sunday, with Barmore showing up in a big way despite missing practice on Friday.
Barmore, who was listed as “Questionable” coming into Sunday’s contest with a “shoulder” injury, had an extremely productive outing.
He finished with a combined six tackles, along with a sack and two quarterback hits.
He was extremely disruptive, getting pressure on Patrick Mahomes and causing issues up front. Mahomes spent a significant amount of the game having to make off-platform throws and it felt like Barmore played a big role in that.
Barmore’s timing was pretty terrific. He dropped Mahomes for a 7 loss on his sack in the second quarter, which stalled a drive that saw New England take the ensuing drive 61 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown to knot the score at 7-7 after Zappe hit Henry for a 16-yard touchdown.
He came up with another big play on the next drive after he got a hit on Mahomes for an errant throw that rookie Marte Mapu picked off, which set up the go ahead field goal for New England’s only lead of the afternoon at 10-7.
Overall, teammate Deatrich Wise Jr. talked about the fact they did a good job making life tough on Mahomes, even though they came up short.
“I think we did a great job today, definitely stopped the run, met our goals there,” said Wise Jr. “In the passing game, we held him to a pretty substantial yardage. He rolled out a few times, but we were there to either take the ball away or get in his face. He had some free yards. He did make some good plays, but for the most part we played together, collectively, as a unit.”
5) Punter Bryce Baringer was quietly an unsung hero all afternoon, with Baringer flipping field position on quite a few occasions as the Patriots tried to keep the edge in field position before the wheels finally came off.
Baringer had some big kicks, which flipped possession and put the Chiefs with starting position that began from their own 26, 26, 15 and 24 on four of their final six drives.
Those punts made life tough on the Chiefs while also allowing New England to hang around until it finally got away from them.
Baringer’s been a bright spot this season, while teammate Chad Ryland had a rough day on Sunday. He missed his first field goal attempt on New England’s second offensive drive, hooking a 41-yard attempt wide left, while hitting one later on from 25-yards out.
It’s not often you see a punter play such a key role but his big leg has been key for a team that has clearly struggled on offense this season.
For now, things certainly don’t get any easier for the Patriots. They’ll spend the next week getting set for a trip to Denver to take on the Broncos for a prime-time game on Christmas Eve next Sunday night at 8:15pm ET.
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