Patriots Week 7 Report Card In 32-16 Loss To Jacksonville
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The Patriots were manhandled by Jacksonville in London and dominated at the line of scrimmage. They couldn’t run the football and couldn’t stop the run. They got zero pass rush on Trevor Lawrence. The STs gave up a 96-yard punt return touchdown. Against one of the worst teams in the league, whose coach was on thin ice, they lost in devastating fashion.
The coach publicly called the team “soft.” There were curious play calls, few if any adjustments were made in-game or at halftime. And the team just lost their sixth game in a row. Players are openly griping in the media. And yet…
The one silver lining to the storm over One Patriot Place is that it appears that they’ve found their QB. So, the draft of 2024 will have been a success. Drake Maye had another good outing. Not perfect but better than the first start and has all the tools in place. Now the rest of the mess needs to get fixed.
So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Jaguars game.
Drake Maye started off “en fuego.” He led a scintillating first drive down the field for a touchdown—the first opening drive TD of the season. Maye was fantastic. However, after putting up 10 points in the first two drives, the play calls suddenly got very conservative. Not until they were down 25-10 did they go back to being aggressive, which wasn’t Maye’s fault. When under pressure, Maye was 8-12 with a TD, with a passer rating of 121.2.
Maye finished the game 26-37 for 276 yards with two TDs, and 0 INTs. He had a passer rating of 109.7. He had a couple of fantastic throws; the TD pass to K.J. Osborn as seen from the end zone view was a beauty. He hit Kayshon Boutte for a 33-yard strike down the left side line where he dropped it right in the bucket. He also rushed three times for 18 yards.
However, it wasn’t all great. He missed some throws and nearly had two intercepted. But of the myriad of issues facing this team. He’s the least of their problems and is a player to build around.
Rhamondre Stevenson returned and he, Antonio Gibson, and JaMycal Hasty combined for just 12 carries for 20 yards. In the first few games of the season, the Patriots were asserting their will in the running game, but that has dried up.
Stevenson and Maye tied for the team lead with 18 yards rushing. What saved them a letter grade was the work in the passing game, specifically by Hasty. Hasty was targeted five times and made five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. He caught a pass from Maye and made several nice cuts on the way to the end zone.
Granted the run blocking isn’t there, but they have to start producing again.
The wide receivers were missing Pop Douglas for the majority of this game. He caught some kind of stomach ailment and was vomiting before and during the game and was limited to just 17 snaps. He caught two passes on three targets. He was a big part of the game plan as Jacksonville has struggled all season to cover slot receivers.
Kayshon Boutte was only targeted twice but had that big 33-yard strike down the field. He’s showing he can get separation and haul in the deep ball. Osborn had two catches for 26 yards including that outstanding 22-yard score from Maye.
Kendrick Bourne had one catch for 14 on two targets. Ja’Lynn Polk was targeted three times but once again produced an ofer.
Hunter Henry was the Patriots leading receiver of the game with eight catches for 92 yards on nine targets with a long of 32 yards. He and Maye are getting some nice chemistry together and Henry has a knack of working back to Maye when plays break down and go off-script.
Austin Hooper had four catches for 32 yards on five targets.
Seven weeks, seven different starting offensive line combinations. This is no way to build continuity, chemistry and timing together. The offensive line was dominated in the trenches by Jacksonville.
The running game couldn’t muster anything as the running backs totalled just 20 yards on the ground. Maye’s scramble for 15 was all on him as he went off script after getting flushed out of the pocket.
However, the pass blocking was improved. Maye was pressured on 33.3 percent of his dropbacks among the lowest of the season. He was sacked twice and hit just three times. But the frustrating part of this is that now that the pass blocking is improving, the run blocking has disappeared.
The Jaguars totally dominated the line of scrimmage against the Patriots, rushing for 171 yards on 39 carries for a 4.4-yard average per carry. The Patriots had no answer for Tank Bigsby who rushed 26 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
At one point in the second half, Jacksonville ran the ball 18 straight times and had a 17-play drive go 84 yards eating up over 11 minutes of clock before turning it over on downs. The last ten of which were on the ground.
Tackling was again a big issue with the inside backers and overall for the defense. Jacksonville dominated on the ground and especially in the middle of the field between the tackles.
Jacksonville’s offensive linemen were getting to the second level and consistently winning the battles. Jahlani Tavai didn’t have a good game and then was offside on a PAT, allowing the Jaguars to go for two points which they converted.
The pass rush was non-existent. The Patriot front seven had zero sacks, no QB hits, and only one pressure. The other was from Marcus Jones.
Anfernee Jennings saved the grade from being lower by setting the edge during the game. He had seven tackles and one TFL. It is tough when the middle and the strength of the defense is decimated by injuries. With DL Christian Barmore, ILB Ja’Whaun Bentley, and SS Jabrill Peppers all out right now, but they have to find a combination that works for them.
The Patriots had a very difficult time containing Brian Thomas, the 6’4, 205 WR for the Jaguars. Thomas was targeted five times and had five catches for 89 yards with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
Trevor Lawrence had all day to throw and completed 15-20 for 193 yards with a TD, for a passer rating of 121.5. Evan Ingram had five catches for 35 yards, Christian Kirk had a 24-yard catch, and Gabe Davis had one catch for 13 yards.
The secondary allowed another big chunk reception, Thomas had a 58-yard reception when the Jags caught the Patriots in a base defense for that play call. This is an on-going problem, where teams attacck the Patriots defense deep while in their base defense.
The ST units had a bad afternoon, allowing a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown. While it appeared that Tavai took a poor angle, there was plenty of fault there to go around. Jerod Mayo called out Bryce Barringer for outkicking his coverage (66-yard punt). That play was a back-breaker.
Joey Slye made his one field goal (44 yards) attempt, and the one EP he attempted. The second was a two-point conversion which failed. Antonio Gibson had a 29-yard kickoff return, and Marcus Jones had one punt return for eight yards, but the big punt return loomed large.
The coaching staff continues to make some head-scratching calls. After starting the game quickly, like Mayo has been preaching for, why did AVP take his foot off the gas and get conservative running the ball to start drives. After going up 10-0, the next three drives began with runs that went nowhere (-1,1, -4 yards), putting the offense and Maye behind the chains.
Jerod Mayo has to take the onus for the sloppy, undisciplined play with too many penalties and poor tackling. And where are the in-game adjustments? When Jacksonville is running the ball down your throat time after time, wouldn’t it be a good idea to adjust against what they are doing?
Calling your team soft in the locker room is one thing. Light a fire under them. It is needed. But calling them soft in front of the media? Incredible. And not in a good way.
Mayo tried to walk back his comment on Monday.
“I felt like we just went out there and played soft. We’re playing soft at the moment,” Mayo said about his remarks after the loss to Jacksonville. “Now in saying that, do I think we have the guys in there that can turn this ship around? One hundred percent. But that comes through hard work and getting better each and every day.”
However, that comment was unnecessary and he shouldn’t have said that to the media.
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We’re done in “Dear Old Blighty” and back to Foxboro with a game against the Jets.
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