Patriots News 9-15, Report Card Week 3, Lots Of Work To Do
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Good morning. Here are your Patriots news and notes for September 22. The Patriots have a bit longer to prepare for next week’s game in San Francisco. However, they’ll need all the time they have to prepare for a 49ers team that is a bad matchup for the Patriots.
The Patriots’ injuries are already piling up. Christian Barmore, Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Oshane Ximines are out with injuries. Sione Takitaki and Marte Mapu are on IR and can’t be elevated to the roster until after the San Francisco game. And that is just on defense.
Offensively, Kendrick Bourne can also be activated after the 49ers game. But LT Vederian Lowe was out this week, LG Michael Jordan was banged up in the Jets game, and LG Cole Strange has been on PUP. They need to get healthy. Hopefully, they’ll get some people back after the trip out west.
So, besides the other issues that they have, getting healthier wouldn’t hurt.
Robert Kraft: The Patriots owner may have unleashed more than he cared to before the Thursday night game in the Meadowlands. He was being interviewed by Taylor Rooks of NFL On Prime Video and said that head coach Jerod Mayo had been his choice to succeed Bill Belichick. That isn’t news, but when he came to the decision was…
“Jerod (Mayo) learned a lot from Bill (Belichick) in the technical background. But they’re each special individuals. I’ve gotten to know Jerod over the last 15 years, and, you know, I picked him five years ago to be our next head coach...it’s great that he had the ability to train under Bill.”
That comment may or may not speak volumes about the coach-owner relationship in the last several years.
“I have better things to do than try to assault someone.”: Former Patriots’ Fullback Patrick Pass commented on the above after he turned himself in to the North Providence, Rhode Island Police Department after he allegedly shoved an 82-year-old man after arguing over a piece of exercise equipment in a Planet Fitness gym in the town.
Pass was a member of the Patriots Super Bowl Winning Teams of SB XXXVI, SBXXXVIII, SB XXXIX
North Providence Police Chief Alfredo Ruggiero said Pass turned himself into custody 40 minutes after being alerted that charges had been filed. Pass is being charged with assault on a person over 60, causing bodily injury, and disorderly conduct. He was released on a $10,000 bond.
“Mr. Pass is a town resident. We gave him the courtesy to come to the station, which he did on his own accord,” Ruggiero said. “I believe it was within forty minutes of our phone call.
WJAR-TV in Providence asked Pass about the allegations, and he said, “Look at me, do you think I’m going to do that? Really? Please, come on…I have better things to do than try to assault someone.”
Drake Maye: The Patriots’ backup quarterback (for now) got in the game on Thursday night, his first NFL action, and understandably was nervous, as he said when he first took the field with about four minutes to go.
Although he did move the Patriots into scoring position with a nice pass to Demario Douglas at the Jets’ seven-yard line, he was sacked at the 12, which ended the game.
He was sacked twice and hit hard twice, once on a scramble up the middle. A lot of people want Maye to get in now as the starter. I don’t subscribe to that yet. The offensive line is a mess, and the wide receivers are still a work in progress. It isn’t fair to throw a rookie into the mix, with so many issues detrimenting success.
One only needs to look at what happened with Bryce Young in Carolina. Trust me, the fan in me definitely wants to see Maye on the field doing some great things for the Patriots. But patience until he’s ready is the right way to go. That may come in a week against Miami, midseason, or in the tail end of the year. But he’ll be the starter soon enough.
Patriots 4th & 2 Podcast: Two weeks ago, Derek Havens and I wrapped up the Bengals game, broke down the matchup with the Seahawks, and gave our predictions for the game and the Thursday/Friday games. Please check it out. We’ll be back asap.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t in is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
The Patriots were manhandled, stomped on, and destroyed by the Jets on Thursday Night. The score wasn’t as indicative as the game was on the field. The Jets outgained the Patriots 400-139 and in first downs 27 -11. Ouch.
Aaron Rodgers picked them apart on short crossers and quick slants, which is precisely what I wrote earlier in the keys to the game that needed to be stopped. Rodgers has been doing that for years and they seemed powerless to stop it.
But while they definitely missed Ja’Whaun Bentley in the middle of the defense, the 14 missed tackles were shocking. The Patriots are always known to be a sure-tackling team. And the defense just looked very lethargic on the field.
Offensively, it was a disaster of epic proportions. The game plan was to get the wide receivers more involved. The Jets stopped that and made Patriot quarterbacks pay as they pounded them from start to finish.
So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Jets game.
Jacoby Brissett has taken an absolute pounding, and Thursday night was the worst yet. He was taken down hard all game long. And if you had any doubts about his toughness, put them to bed. This guy is harder than reinforced woodpecker lips.
The Patriots’ quarterbacks were sacked seven times and hit 15 more, the majority of which were Brissett. Drake Maye got in his first NFL action, and the Jets treated him roughly as well, but he did get them in scoring position before a sack ran out the clock.
Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson were not the focal points of the offense on Thursday night, and this was, in retrospect, a mistake. The offense’s strength is the running game, and the Patriots rushed for only 78 yards.
Stevenson had six carries for 23 yards (3.9-yard avg.), Gibson had five carries for 29 yards (5.9-yard avg.), and JaMycal Hasty had one carry for five yards. Although the yardage was minimal, they averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Just 15 carries isn’t going to get it done.
The wide receivers didn’t light it up, but after getting just 85 yards total in the first two games, getting 84 is at least a step in the right direction. Pop Douglas was targeted nine times and made seven receptions for 69 yards. He also had a carry in the running game, good for nine yards. Baby steps.
Ja’Lynn Polk was only targeted twice but had two catches for 13 yards. They need more of him, too. Kayshon Boutte had a single catch for two yards.
Hunter Henry was only targeted three times and had two catches for just nine yards after a career day on Sunday. Austin Hooper was targeted four times and one catch for 19 yards. He was wide open on a deep play-action pass, but Brissett missed him.
The offensive line was a sieve on Thursday night. When you give up seven sacks and 15 QB hits, and five TFLs, there is no way to sugarcoat it. The offensive line was beaten across the board, so there wasn’t one particular culprit.
The Jets pressured Brissett on more than 56 percent of his dropbacks and blitzed more than any game since 2021. The OL had communication issues and failed to pick up many of the blitzers, leaving them a clear path to the quarterback. It was a nightmarish night for the OL.
After stifling Cincinnati and Seattle’s running games, the Jets gashed the Patriots’ front seven for 133 yards and a touchdown on 33 carries (4.0-yard average). The duo of Breece Hall, 16 carries, 54 yards, and a TD, and Braelon Allen, 11 carries, 55 yards, kept the Patriots’ front seven off kilter all game long.
Deatrich Wise had a sack and a QB hit. Keion White was mostly quiet in this game but had six tackles and two QB hits. What really hurt was rush lane integrity, which was poor. Time and again, the edge players (LBs too) lost containment on Rodgers and let him run outside to make plays. He was 5-5 on those for 62 yards and a touchdown. He also scrambled three times for 18 yards.
The linebackers lost Ja’Whaun Bentley for the season, and boy, did they miss him. Jahlani Tavai and Raekwon McMillan tried to pick up the slack. Each of them had ten tackles, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
An issue that plagued the entire defense was the missed tackling, which was strange to see. Josh Uche had Allen in the backfield for a big loss, but he couldn’t finish, and Allen turned it into a good gain. Overall, the Patriots had 14 missed tackles. Uche, however, got a sack on Rodgers.
Rodgers completed 27-35 for 281 yards and two TDs. The Jets were a step ahead all night long. They recognized the presnap disguises, and picked up the blitzes very well. With no discernable pass rush, Rodgers made easy work of the pass defense.
The failure of rush lane integrity cost the Patriots 80 yards and a touchdown on Rodgers’ scrambling. The search for a fourth cornerback continues. Marco Wilson was given two weeks and benched this week for Alex Austin. As soon as he came on the field, Rodgers targeted him for a touchdown.
The ST units had a very solid game, and Bryce Barringer was the player of the game for New England. He had five punts for a 49.0 average, three of which were inside the 20-yard line.
Joey Slye made the only kick he was asked to do, a 44-yard field goal. The coverage units did give up a 21-yard punt return to Xavier Gipson, which knocked the grade down a bit. But on his other three returns, he only managed six yards total.
Alex Van Pelt and DeMarcus Covington are still finding their feet calling plays for the offense and defense, respectively. They have made mistakes and will learn from and correct them. AVP probably went overboard trying to get the WRs going all at once. This team needs to run the ball to have a chance to win.
Defensively, Covington tried to get aggressive on Rodgers, but he was a step ahead and could decipher what was coming.
I still wonder if the offense has a tell, especially on snap counts. Seattle last week and the Jets this week seemed to have the snap count down and were flying off the ball. The coaches need to take these ten days to prepare for SF and figure out if they are somehow telegraphing it to the defense.
We’re on to San Francisco and a game with the 49ers
Post game quotes by Jets’ Head Coach Robert Saleh on getting out to a fast start: “We kind of jumped the ball early. They went to overtime, 72 plays last week, so we were trying to go a little bit quicker pace in the first couple drives, especially that first drive, which I felt like we were able to accomplish. I believe we reeled off over 40 plays in the first half, if I’m not mistaken. Just trying to lean on them as much as we could.”
On Allen Lazard’s improvement: “He’s been, since OTA’s. Like I said, I said it last year, sometimes you get lost, you’re the big free agent signing, new coaches, new scheme, new city, you can get lost a little bit. I think he’s really reconnected to who he is as a player and because of it, I’ve said it, it’s not because of the quarterback. He’s done this. He’s attacked this offseason. Credit to him and the way he’s approached it.”
Aaron Rodgers on going back to Garrett Wilson after getting so close the play before. He was asked if he pre-ordained that throw, or did it just happen naturally. “No, it’s one of the QB mortal sins, pre-meditated decision. He kind of said something coming back to the huddle like, ‘Throw me the ball again,’ which is great, so I said, ‘Okay.’
“So we had kind of a run-pass option there and he kind of got, he was maybe slow in his route a little bit, so I kind of double clutched it. He’s the type of guy where sometimes you feel like I’ve learned this, but a normal ball you think is going to be on target if foot in front of the numbers is sometimes behind him, so I’ve learned to throw it even wider than I actually think. I’m glad I did because (Christian) Gonzalez was in a good spot there, G (Garrett) made just, for the mere mortal, really difficult catch, but for him, made it look easy.”
Rodgers on how it felt to have a short week at home: “It’s great. Now, we got the benefit of playing at home, it’s easier at home on a short week. The schedulers made it difficult for us first three weeks, three games in 11 days and although we’d love to be 3-0, I think if you said 2-1 going into the mini bye, we would be feeling pretty good about things.
“Obviously, we got a nice little long break here and then Denver and then London game. There’s not a lot of normal, seven day week schedules for us, but it’s good though. I’m proud of our guys. I thought we played with a lot more energy tonight.”
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Week 3 Predictions:
Thursday Night Football:
NYJ over New England 1-0
Sunday, September 15:
Cleveland over NYG
Tennessee over Green Bay
Chicago over Indianapolis
Houston over Minnesota
Philadelphia over New Orleans
Pittsburgh over LA Chargers
Tampa Bay over Denver
Las Vegas over Carolina
Seattle over Miami
Baltimore over Dallas
San Francisco over LA Rams
Detroit over Arizona
Sunday Night Football:
Kansas City over Atlanta
Monday Night Football:
Buffalo over Jacksonville
Cincinnati over Washington
Last week: 7—9
2024 Season 21—11
2023 Season 178—94
2022 Season: 178—92—2
2021 Season: 183—88—1
2020 Season: 169—86—1
2019 Season: 162—93—1
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“Some of those weren’t really blitzes. They were what we call simulated pressures. We still have our shell defense in the background. What I would say is that we did a poor job keeping them in the pocket, and that comes down to discipline. Going back to what caused us the biggest issue was, in my opinion, defensively, tackling.
“We couldn’t tackle, we didn’t tackle, and we really haven’t had that problem up until this point. So we have to get that corrected.”
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo after he was asked if the Patriots were overaggressive in getting after Aaron Rodgers, who checked down on short slants and crossers to be the pressure.
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“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
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The Pats are easy to game plan for. They’re predictable due to limitations. The hope going forward would be to get Lowe back at LT and possibly Onwenu back at RG (Wallace to RT?) and get the o-line to settle down by thanksgiving time…. end the year with some cohesive play from that unit and having assimilated more of the new west coast offense. This would enable Maye to be in there and end the season on the “up tick” heading into the offseason. I saw that the cap not spent this year can be moved/added to the 2025 cap… Read more »
I see NBC Boston ran an article today 9/23 regarding “the offensive line is fixable in-house”. Likely true. And it eludes to the issue being 2-3 years now and the pats have extra time till SF. First of all, last year and the year prior were differing coaching and players changed. V. Lowe is new. Layden Robinson new. Wallace new. Okorofor (gone) was new. OC and oline coach new. Offense in whole is new. So 2022-2023 is irrelevant. As for 2024/current, why doesn’t the media ask a question to AVP or Mayo on expectations and timeline relative to the new… Read more »