MORSE: 15 Observations from a Frustrating Patriots Loss to the LA Rams

This loss to the Rams was a very frustrating loss since it was a very winnable game. I will not say that they are tanking or not trying to win but they cannot keep making the same mistakes. The Patriots do not have the talent to compensate and overcome their mistakes.

Drake Maye was outstanding in this game. The strip sack was not his fault, but the interception at the end of the game was. He should have led Pop Douglas. Immediate reaction was that Douglas was not looking back for the ball. Maye was 30 of 40 for 282 yards 2 TDs, fumble and the INT. He was blitzed on 50% of his throws, sacked 3 times and pressured 25 times. His QB rating was 100.2. Can you imagine if he had the receivers and the time that Stafford had? This was by far the best game of Drake Maye’s brief career.
Kendrick Bourne had a very good game and was 5 catches on 5 targets for 70 yards and a TD. Why wasn’t he targeted more. Nice bounce back game since he was benched lasts week. Mayo wouldn’t admit it, but Bourne was benched because of poor decisions in the Titans game.
Hunter Henry had another nice game with 6 catches on 9 targets for 63 yards. The Rams made a good effort in shutting Henry down with two pass breakups late in game.
The Defense lost this game not Drake Maye and the Offense. Defensive Coordinator DeMarcus Covington never made the adjustments and remained in Zone way too long. Zero turnovers again this week. They are the worst defense in the league at creating turnovers. They are on pace to have the fewest number of turnovers in franchise history.
No pressure against Stafford, and zero sacks. Give a mediocre NFL QB that kind of time against a zone defense and they will shred it apart, just like Stafford did. I;m not saying that Stafford is mediocre. He showed why he is still considered an elite QB. That TD on the 2^nd play of the second half against zero coverage with help over the top was a disaster. That was a game changer. Stafford ran down the field and signaled the zero sign, indicating that he knew they were in zero coverage, and he toasted them. Kyle Dugger is a horrible pass defender and had just 3 tackles in the game. Jon Jones was beaten off the line and dove to try and break it up. I actually think the team is better off without Dugger in the lineup and Jon Jones at Free Safety.
Why did the Patriots stay with Christian Gonzalez as a boundary corner rather than man up on the bigger Nacua. They eventually had Gonzo on Kupp, but that left Marcus Jones on the bigger Nacua, who beat M Jones on an easy slant.
Dropped passes by Boutte (2) and Bell were crucial in the 1^st half. Maye was cooking and those plays derailed the Patriots momentum.
Ja’Lynn Polk should never see the field again this year. He should be inactive the rest of the year and learn how to be a professional. He made three crucial mistakes which caused the Patriots to miss out on opportunities. Drake Maye was motioning Polk to move close to the formation to cut off the Safety blitzing. Polk misses his block and the safety tackles Stevenson to stop the play. Then with 4:57 left in the game and 4^th and inches at the 19, he moves forward out of his stance and gets called for a critical procedure penalty. This forced the Patriots to kick a field goal.
Ben Brown is a feel-good story but the fact is that he is the worst Center in the league. There is only one Center with a PFF rating worse than him and that was Nick Leverett. This team misses David Andrews very badly. Brown missed another twist by the Rams front four that led to the Maye strip sack.
Why has Antonio Gibson played so little? He ran 4 times for 18 yards a 4.5 yards per carry, and he is an excellent receiver. At the end of the game JaMychal Hasty was in the game at a critical time. Was Gibson hurt?
Marcus Jones led the team with 9 tackles and had a carry for 5 yards. I would like to see him on Offense more and utilize his elusiveness in space.
Special Teams had a very up and down game. Javon Baker opened the game with a nice 46-yard kickoff return. He followed that up with muff on the next Kick Off return and only returned it for 19 yards. He was benched after that. Bryce Baringer had a bad game and only averaged 37 yards on 2 punts. One punt was when the Patriots decided not to try a 54-yard Field Goal and then Barringer punted it into the end zone instead of pinning the Rams deep. The other was a 32-yarder at the12. That breaks his streak of consecutive games with a 50-yard punt. Curious call by Mayo to not try the Field Goal, probably because Slye was horrendous at that end of the field in warmups. The worst play was allowing Extra Point to be blocked. Demontrey Jacobs whiffed on an interior block.
The Patriots were badly outcoached in this game. They are rookies too and it really hurts the development of the young team. As I mentioned, Covington was awful. Mayo showed his inexperience by not asking for a measurement on a 4^th and inches. Alex Van Pelt makes some curious calls every game, especially running Stevenson when Maye was cooking. On one short yardage goal line play, Maye could have easily rolled out and walked into the end zone if he kept the ball.
The penalties really hurt the Patriots. I was unhappy with the officiating. Calling Vederian Lowe for an Illegal Procedure penalty for not lining up on the Line of Scrimmage was bogus. Lowe was inside of Guard Michael Jordan. Perhaps it should have been Jordan who got called. However, on the same play Jared Verse was offside by jumping the snap. Even Mark Sanchez called it during the broadcast. The Procedure call wiped out a big catch by Hunter Henry of 17 yards to the LA 15. Another time the Rams jumped offsides and the officials blew the play dead. That should have a free play for Maye to chuck it deep. Earlier in the game they called Rhamondre Stevenson for a 15-yard chop block penalty. Jared Verse had beaten Vederian Lowe cleanly, and Lowe was not engaged in a block when Stevenson went low. I have already mentioned Ja’Lynn Polk’s repeat offender status.
The Patriots just don’t have the talent. The release of WR Tyquan Thornton a 2022 2nd round pick, leaves the Patriots with Guard Cole Strange (a 1st Round bust), CB/PR Marcus Jones and RB Kevin Harris (Practice Squad) left from that draft. Ja’Lynn Polk is looking like a bust. WEe could have taken Ladd McConkey with the pick we traded to the LA Chargers. Add to this the difficulty the Patriots have in attracting good Free Agent talent, and they cannot match up with other teams in the league.

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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.

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JimK

1 year ago

If an “L”, pick on the coaches. If a “W” vs Bears team with almost their whole o-line out, talk about “stacking wins”. Will all the other teams have their o-line out? No. The Rams made the big plays and the pats didn’t. The Rams had been a playoff hopeful class team till they had some key injuries for while this season.. The pats played well outside of some big plays. The D obviously needs some changes in the off-season along with the offense. They don’t look like a bottom feeder any more to me. W or L no matter.… Read more »