The Patriots lost to the Cardinals 30-17 on Sunday. Don’t be fooled by the score—it wasn’t that close. The fact that they lost wasn’t surprising—I picked them to lose last week—but how they lost was excruciating to watch.
Coming off the bye, I expected better, as many of us did. But this was once again one of those wash, rinse, repeat types of games. They looked entirely unprepared to start the game (cough, cough, Lowe). Then, after the game is out of hand, the young quarterback puts the team on his back and makes the game seem less terrible than it truly is.
Coming off of a bye, you would expect the team to tighten up preventable mistakes; that didn’t happen. Coming off of a bye, you’d expect to do a deep dive of your opponent and have their tendencies down pat; if they did, they did a darned good job of hiding it. Coming off of a bye, you’d expect your OLine to actually, you know, block people; once again, you’d be sadly mistaken.
So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Cardinals game.
Quarterback: B
Drake Maye was one of two players who stood out very positively for the Patriots on Sunday afternoon. Christian Gonzalez being the other. Maye completed 10 of 10 passes in the awful first half. None going beyond five yards of the line of scrimmage.
The Cardinals’ defensive backs are susceptible to the deep pass, but none of them deep, with the coaches opting for the Tua routine. Maye completed 19 of 23 passes overall for 202 yards with an average of 8.8 yards per pass with a TD and an INT for a passer rating of 99.6. The touchdown pass was a beauty with Maye scrambling and pushing a shovel pass to Demario Douglas when the play broke down.
The interception was right off the hands of Kayshon Boutte. Maye purposely threw it a bit behind Boutte so he didn’t get earholed by Budda Baker. Maye also rushed for a touchdown, with both scores coming in the fourth quarter.
Running Backs: B
Rhamondre Stevenson had a good day rushing for 69 yards on 13 carries, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. He also had a catch for 16 yards. Antonio Gibson rushed for 33 yards on seven carries for an average of 4.7 yards. He had two catches for 31 yards.
Gibson chipped in with two big chunk plays, a 29-yard run and a 20-yard pass reception from Maye. I know this sounds like a broken record, but the coaches need to get him more involved. Somebody, anybody, Bueller?
Wide Receivers: D
The wide receivers were not big factors again. Yes there were a couple of big plays, the longest play of the day went to Kendrick Bourne, who caught a 37-yard pass in the fourth quarter from Maye. But he only had two other catches for seven yards.
Demario Douglas caught the three-yard shovel pass from Maye on a broken play that the QB improvised, adapted and overcame. Heads up play by Douglas, but the rest of the day? Two catches for eight yards. Kayshon Boutte, who talked smack about Offensive Coordinator Alex Van Pelt after the game, was targeted five times and had two catches, one for 16 and one for three.
Marcus Jones had one catch for 18 yards. Ja’Lynn Polk got the start and was targeted once. He has reached the dreaded “B” word yet, but he’s getting closer to that. He’s had two catches since October.
Tight Ends: C+
Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper were targeted seven times and combined for seven catches for 63 yards. Henry had four catches for just 25 yards, not his typical output. Hooper had three catches for 38 yards, including a 26-yarder from Maye. Not a great day, but not a bad one either.
Offensive Line: D
The Patriots offensive line continue the same trajectory (downward) at the start of games. How can these guys seem so unprepared to start the game week after week? Blown assignments, bad penalties that kill drives, and now a pair of bad snaps that bounce into Maye?
Vederian Lowe had a terrible start on Sunday, and it didn’t get a whole lot better. How can you be at the other team’s four-yard line with a yard to go and totally whiff on a defensive lineman? Third and one, fourth and one at the four-yard line and get stuffed both times. Terrible stuff there. More of that sequence below.
Maye was only sacked twice and suffered only two QB hits. Because they were throwing screens for the entire first half. The Patriots were 0-6 on third down, and 1-2 on fourth downs.
Defensive Line: D
The Patriots’ defensive line was gashed once again this week. The Cardinals ran for 163 yards on 32 carries (5.1-yard average). James Conner did the most damage rushing 16 times for 110 yards (6.9 average) with two touchdowns. He had a huge 53 yard run mixed in there.
They couldn’t stop the run and setting the edge was once again a big issue.
Linebackers: D
The linebackers didn’t help with setting the edge and they too were pushed around in the running game. That’s why the Cardinals were 10-15 on third down. Conner’s touchdown after the interception was embarrassingly uncontested.
The pass rush? Non-existent. No sacks, no QB hits.
Secondary: C
Christian Gonzalez had a terrific game shadowing Marvin Harrison Jr. with three passes defensed. He was a bright spot on an otherwise dismal day. The safeties had a heck of time defending TE Trey McBride. Kyle Dugger had another forgettable day. Jabrill Peppers took a bad angle on the 53-yard run by Conner.
Murray finished 23-30 for 224 yards with 0 TDs and 0 Ints for a passer rating of 97.1. Jones had a interception that was called back for a roughing the passer call, which was BS but it happens.
Special Teams: C
The ST units had a so-so day. Joey Slye missed a 53-yard field goal on the team’s first drive, but later hit on a 50-yarder. He made both extra points he attempted.
Antonio Gibson had a 28-yard kickoff return, JaMycal Hasty had a 24-yarder. Marcus Jones only had a single punt return for 6 yards. The coverage units were good. Bryce Barringer had two 50-yard+ punts that averaged 55 yards with one inside the 20.
Coaches: Need a Time Out
The coaching staff, and it starts at the top are showing some major cracks. I have been of the opinion that Jerod Mayo was no way getting fired at the conclusion of the season. But I’m starting to wonder if he’s under a lot more pressure from upstairs than we’ve thought.
In a very uncomfortable moment to watch, Mayo threw his offensive coordinator under the bus. After the Patriots failed on consecutive attempts to gain one yard for a first down at the Arizona four-yard line. Mayo was asked if there was a consideration to let Maye run for a first down. “You said it, I didn’t,” was his reply, which was an obvious slight to AVP.
Mayo caught himself and tried to walk it back with subsequent answers saying that all decisions rest with him, but it was too late, the damage was done. AVP’s play-calling did deserve criticism, but not in the way it was presented.
Mayo had another moment where he talked about the run defense. He said if you take away that 53-yard run, then the Cardinals didn’t have great running game numbers. But they had two fourth quarter touchdown drives where they moved with ease.
If your run defense is solid all year and you have an outlier game, then you can use the “throw it out” alibi, but this has been happening all year.
They took a time out on Monday, oh to be a fly on the wall there.
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We’re on to the Bills and in Buffalo. With the way Buffalo’s offense is clicking and the way the Patriots’ defense is playing, the Bills might lay a 50-burger on the Pats.
“So you’re saying there’s a chance.”
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
