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Coming off of Sunday’s lackluster loss for the New England Patriots out in San Francisco, it’s tough not to realize that the microscope is going to be significantly tougher on Jerod Mayo’s team over these next two weeks.
New England is about to embark on its first back-to-back home game stretch this weekend, with a visit by both Miami and Houston on deck over these next two weeks. The next time the club is home for two straight weeks will be at the end of the season, which might certainly look a little different by the time we eventually reach that point.
For now, Mayo’s team will be on display in front of the home crowd over these next couple of games, and it’s a fan base that’s already starting to get restless. This certainly hasn’t looked like the same team we saw in Week 1, with the Patriots going in a different direction ever since.
After forcing overtime against Seattle in week two in a 23-20 loss at home, the Patriots have played two straight road games where the score has gotten away from them, falling 24-3 in New York, followed by yesterday’s 30-13 loss in San Francisco.
Over that span, New England has mustered just 16 points and just 52 overall in four games. That has them currently in front of only Miami and Tennessee as the lowest-scoring team in the league.
Neither of those two teams played yesterday, and they’ll face off later tonight on Monday Night Football. The Titans head into tonight with 48 points, while the Dolphins have 33.
That 52-point total is eerily similar to where they were at this point last season, with New England having scored 55 points through four games in 2023. They mustered just 18 points through this most recent two-game stretch last year (a 15-10 win over the Jets, followed by the 38-3 blowout in Dallas), which is still two points better than the 16 total points they’ve scored against both the Jets and 49ers.
Much like last season, they’ve faced a two-game stretch where they’ve let things get out of hand. Sunday’s finish was also their third-straight loss, putting them in a position where they’ll now try and end that skid when a battered Miami team visits on Sunday.
So far, it’s been a rough road for quarterback Jacoby Brissett. He ended up with another tough outing on Sunday, completing 19-of-32 for 168 yards along with a touchdown and an interception. The turnover ended up being a critical one as the 49ers returned that one for a touchdown, which took the deficit from 6-0 to 13-0 and allowed them to build some momentum. Things then got worse after the Patriots drove down to San Francisco’s 20yd line on the ensuing drive, only to get stuffed on a 4th down run by Rhamondre Stevenson.
The 49ers then took the football 80 yards the other way on 10 plays, with George Kittle making a terrific grab over three Patriots defenders for the touchdown and a 20-0 lead.
That happened with 3:18 remaining in the second quarter, and the game was essentially over at that point.
New England hasn’t been able to do anything offensively to create problems for opponents since controlling the line of scrimmage in Week 1. Part of that has been due to injuries along their offensive line, which as a result has seen Brissett appear more hesitant with each passing week. Sunday saw the offensive line do a better job than it did a week ago and that was part of the reason for Brissett’s increase in production. Brissett’s performance was his largest yardage total throwing the football to date, with his 168 yards surpassing the 149 he threw for back in week 2 against Seattle.
Still, they’re nowhere close to where they need to be. That’s also why it’s also a little too early to consider inserting Drake Maye into the line-up.
Mayo was asked about that possibility following Sunday’s loss and he remained adamant that Brissett will remain their quarterback.
“Look, at this point, Jacoby is our starting quarterback,” said Mayo. “I haven’t watched any film or anything like that. He’s been a great leader. He just broke the huddle down after I talked to the guys. We got to watch the film. We have a long flight to go back and watch the film, and we’re always evaluating every single position.”
However, a handful of additional losses is going to alter the tenor of things. As it is, if the Patriots drop another one to Miami on Sunday, they have Houston coming in next, followed by a trip to London against Jacksonville. By then, it’s entirely possible that by the time they get back, they’re sitting at 1-6, which would make their series finale against the Jets at Gillette Stadium a possible point where Maye might start.
By then, they may have to alter things a bit. While the protection was decent at points on Sunday, it would be hard to see them put Maye under center behind this current group. Despite the fact Alex Van Pelt’s offense is predicated on that approach, they’re probably going to need to put Maye back in the shotgun. That would at least give him the opportunity to buy him some time by spreading things out while hopefully also allowing him some quick throws to get the ball out of his hands.
One thing that was noticeable after Maye settled in during his cameo 10 days ago was, despite getting knocked around at MetLife, the rookie was fairly decisive with the football. He actually started getting into a rhythm and made a couple of good plays in what limited time we saw him.
Granted, he hasn’t endured the beating Brissett has taken, but the veteran has looked hesitant in recent weeks, and it’s going to reach a point where, with the season out of hand, the logical move would be to get Maye out there.
But until they get some level of consistency up front, they’ll likely stick with Brissett. While this might be a team in need of a spark on offense, the Patriots have to continue to operate with the future in mind, and there’s no point in putting the potential future of their franchise out there until that happens.
To make matters worse, things also got a little more complicated Sunday. David Andrews got knocked out of action early in the game, which will now likely see Nick Leverett lining up at center for the foreseeable future. Sidy Sow was back out there in his first game action since injuring his ankle in preseason, while Demontrey Jacobs got his first start at left tackle. On the other side, both Layden Robinson and Mike Onwenu have been inconsistent, with that duo still growing at this point in the season.
Where they’ll be in a few weeks will certainly decide what direction this team goes in when it comes to their rookie QB. But to make a decision after Sunday’s loss still feels a little premature.
However, something clearly has to give on offense, and it’s obvious that the status quo isn’t good enough. Whether or not it’s Brissett who can turn things around is now the key question, because each loss is going to keep putting more and more pressure on Mayo, who may have to turn the reigns over to his rookie quarterback if it reaches a point where each game starts resembling what we’ve seen over these last two weeks.
For now, Mayo’s trying to maintain calm in a sea where things have certainly been a bit rough. At the same time, he’s in charge of guiding his team through it, and he’ll have to make that call if things continue getting out of hand. If not, by the time those final two home games get here at the end of the season, if the early reactions after these last two weeks are any indication, fans might be looking for a change beyond the quarterback.
“Look, the players know it’s early in the season, and they understand that,” said Mayo. “We have veteran players in there, they understand it’s a long season. We’ve always talked about that North Star is just to get better each and every week.”
“Now look, there were some good things that happened today. Maybe the score doesn’t reflect it, but we got to fix all the bad football, and that’s my job.”
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The same people that want Maye in there now wanted him in there week1. How would that have gone the past 4 games? Bad and likely worse than with Brissett. But, Brissett is starting to look like he’s expecting a hit vs being a QB that’s going to throw a dagger big play. The real change needed is the o-line to gel, which will take more time TBD. If Maye is ready here in October, put him in IF IF IF the line is showing signs of gelling and coming togehter as a unit. As long as the prospectus is… Read more »
Agree with comments on Maye – until O’Line improves little will change. My suggestion is to put in Milton with Steveson and a Joe Devlin like fullback with double tight ends and run options and wildcats. The receivers can’t catch a cold anyway so why not some power football from back in the Grogan/Cunningham days. O’line will feel better about itself from having an opportunity to beat up on defences and set the table for next year when Maye can start fresh with new weapons. Also we fans will have more fun watching this year.