MORSE: 18 Observations from a Frustrating Patriots Loss to Tennessee

This team is so damn frustrating. The Opening drive by the Titans set me off right away. The Patriots had them at 3^rd and 12 and Dietrich Wise blows up the field and lost his containment lane, allowing Mason Rudolph to scramble for a key 1^st down.

This play infuriated me. Wise has made the same mistake over and over again losing containment. Selfish looking for the sack to pad his stats. They made Rudolph look like an All-Pro going 20/33 for 240 yards 2 TDs and a bad INT.

Alex Van Pelt needs to be fired. I am not an offensive coordinator, but I can sit here and tell you what AVP is going to do. On the first five 1^st down plays, all were running plays. All of them got stuffed putting Drake Maye in 2^nd and long. They passed on only one play on first seven 1^st downs and that was a completion. In fact, Maye was 6 of 7 on 1^st down passes through 3 Quarters. AVP needs to go. Either elevate TC McCartney or install Ben McAdoo as the Offensive Coordinator. If I had my way Van Pelt wouldn’t be allowed on the plane home.
Maye was the offense today. He had 95 yards rushing, the most yards rushing by a Patriots QB since Steve Grogan in 1977. Passing Maye was 29/41 for 206 yards, a TD and 2 INT. He also threw another ball that should have been intercepted. Add in a crucial fumble too. He is making rookie mistakes. He is playing sooner that he should be, and it shows.
Please tell me why Layden Robinson started at Right Guard. That meant we saw the 8^th different Offensive line combination after we had back-to-back starting lineups. Yeah, that was pretty stupid putting a mid-round rookie up against Jeffrey Simmons. Let’s line up the rookie RG next to a 2^nd year Center that hadn’t played until he was thrust into the starting lineup in week 6 after just 4 days of practice with the team. He is essentially a rookie too. So AVP switched Michael Onwenu back to RG and puts in Demontrey Jacobs at RT. This was the same lineup the Pats used for the previous two weeks. Now they make another critical mistake. They let C Ben Brown and his 3 games of experience go one-on-one with Simmons. The Patriots runningbacks had 15 yards rushing on 12 carries. Do you think the Zone Blocking scheme is working with this personnel group?
Eliot Wolf needs to share some of the blame. His 1^st Draft Class, outside of Maye, has been a complete bust. Caeden Wallace is not a LT and can only play RT. Well, I think he can play RT. He hasn’t been healthy enough to play much at all this season. Layden Robinson was selected in the 4^th round. He is not the player I would have taken (see my Draft Analysis). I wanted Mason McCormick because he can play both Guard and Center. McCormick’s PFF Blocking grade is 57.4, ranked #74 in the league. Michael Jordan is #87 and Layden Robinson #92. Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker have been busts. Polk was supposed to be a reliable blocker. He had two penalties in limited playing time, one for holding and the other a procedure penalty for not being set. It appeared that he was lined up on the outside of another WR in the slot. They were both on the LOS and Polk moved back but didn’t get set in time. If he had stayed put, he would have covered the slot receiver making him an ineligible receiver, and probable penalty. Polk also didn’t catch his one target. Neither of the receivers are fast enough. Wolf traded the 2^nd round pick to LA Chargers who selected the guy I wanted in Ladd McConkey. He is ranked #26 WR in the league by PFF.
All three Patriots TE’s can’t block. This is another reason why the run game isn’t working. We have three pass-catching TE’s.
Jerod Mayo was asked why he didn’t go for a two-point conversion after Drake Maye’s TD pass as time ran out. Mayo wouldn’t answer the question. A critical decision point that Mayo just took the safe route and kicked an extra point. Tennessee’s defense was gassed. Jeffrey Simmons faked an injury and took a play off because they were so gassed. I would rather lose going for the win than what they did in OT. They played not to lose rather than to win. Grow a pair of cajones!
Marte Mapu either can’t tackle or doesn’t want to tackle. He whiffed twice in the game on critical 3^rd Down.
Kyle Dugger rumors of him being on the trading blocked were becoming pretty hot with the unexpected listing of Dugger on the inactive list. Diana Russini of the Athletic posted that Dugger was a player being floated out there by the Patriots along with Godchaux, Thornton and Bourne. After seeing Mapu play, I would rather have Dugger who can tackle but can’t cover. There is no way I would trade Godchaux. He is one of two stout Down Linemen that can stop the run.
Demario Douglas made a spectacular catch one-handed down the sideline. However, he also had a critical drop in the 4^th He finished with 7 catches on 9 targets
Kendrick Bourne had 4 catches for 41 yards. I didn’t like that he cut off his pass route short of the sticks and took the pass out of bounds short of the 1^st. Later he had another illegal procedure penalty for jumping the count. Dammit look down the line and don’t go until the ball is hiked.
With all the penalties flags this officiating team threw (8 against the Pats and 10 against the Titans), how can the crew miss the blatant hold of Jahlani Tavai when he blitzed up the middle in OT. I was very annoyed at a call made against Ben Brown against Jeffrey Simmons. Brown won that battle on-on-one battle and dropped him to the ground. Again, the star treatment, if that is Simmons then it must a be a hold!
Tavai led the Pats with 11 tackles of which 6 were solo.
Hunter Henry had another good game with 7 catches on 8 targets. His only missed catch was play that should have been called pass interference or holding. Henry did a double move of a quick out and up. The defender was beaten, and stuck his arm out, holding Henry going down the sideline. No call.
Stevenson was credited with 5 catches on 5 targets. However, he and Maye are to blame for a swing pass that was thrown slightly behind Stevenson and bounced off his shoulder pad. It was ruled a fumbled lateral which Stevenson recovered.
What was wrong with Antonio Gibson? He was targeted only once for a 12-yard pass completion and ran the ball just once for -1 yard.
Marcus Jones was terrific again as a Punt Returner. His 1^st Punt Return was 44 yards. Late in the 4^th I couldn’t believe Tennessee was so stupid that they kicked the ball to him. Jones returned it 25 yards to the 50-yard line to put the Patriots in field position for the final drive with under 2:00 on the clock.
Bryce Baringer had a very bad day punting for the Pats. It seems he is having another season when he starts off hot and then tails off. He only averaged 42.3 yards per punt.

Like this article?
Support Mark and buy him a coffee.

About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

View all posts by Mark Morse