MORSE: Good, Bad, and Ugly From Patriots 24-21 Comeback Win Over Eagles

Patriots Beat the Eagles 24-21 with late game TD pass from Behren Morton to UDFA Nick DeGenarro (James Madison). This was the tale of two halves. The Eagles ran through the Patriots 2^nd team Defense like a hot knife through butter. The Patriots Defensive line and linebackers were awful. After seeing this game and the two Joint Practices, they need to sign DaQuan Jones to help bolster against the run.

In the second half, the third team Patriots beat-up the Eagles. However, the Defense kept blowing assignments and got caught blitzing too much.

Quite a few players showed they can’t play in this league with the plays they put on tape.

Here are my observations:

Aug 22, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Behren Morton (15) throws against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images — **(PHOTO: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images)**

The Good

Behren Morton (Player of the Game) had a great game. So much for sneaking him through waivers to the Practice Squad. Morton was 13 of 17 and one of those was a brilliant throw away. With the clock running down he purposely threw the ball out of bounds rather than try and make the completion to Larison. Brian Hoyer was singing his praises during the broadcast for the heads up play. His TD throw to Nick DeGennaro to win the game was beautiful. He dropped it right in stride and DeGennaro walked it in.

Patriots Offense

140 Yards Rushing 4.2 YPC TD

280 Yards Passing 13.3 YPC 2 TDs

Patriots Run Defense

90 Yard Rushing 3.8 YPC

The Defense, I am sure got their butts chewed off at halftime. They came out and shutdown the Eagles rushing attack in the second half. They had two 4^th down stops, one in the Red Zone for turnovers on downs.

Aug 13, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots running back Lan Larison (34) runs the ball up the field against the Indianapolis Colts during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images — **(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)**

Lan Larison would have been my Player of the Game if Behren Morton didn’t go off at the end of the game. Larison had four big plays in the game: 28-yard reception for a 1^st down; 4^th and 1 and he is hit in the backfield and fights with second effort and makes the 1^st down; on the game winning drive, 3^rd and 6, he had a 7-yard reception in which he fights for the 1^st down; finally on the same drive, 3^rd and 1 up the middle for the 1^st down. Also, Larison was one of the two Kickoff Returners.

John Saunders led the team with 8 Tackles

Kindle Vildor had a stretch of three plays in a row. He nearly had an Interception (which I thought was an Interception and should have been challenged). Then undercut the receiver and got his hands on a pass which should have been an Interception.

Quintayvious Hutchins had a huge sack at the end of the game to help preserve the win. It was interesting that Hutchins started last week and this week was in at the end of the game. He was wearing the same big elbow brace that Will Campbell has been wearing. He did miss some time this past week.

Amari Gainer also had a sack and showed some speed rush pressure during the game.

Behren Morton as a backup punter averaged 44.3 Yards Per Punt. Two of his punts didn’t have a lot of hang time,but as an emergency Punter he is adequate.

Kyle Williams His 69-yard TD bomb was terrific. He got a clean release off the line and blew past the DB and walked into the endzone.

Aug 22, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams (18) runs for a touchdown after making a catch against the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images — **(PHOTO: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images)**

The Bad

Kyle Williams he is nowhere near a complete Wide Receiver. He continues to make the same mistake by not coming back to the ball. That happened twice during the game. He also had alligator arms going across the middle with defenders in the area. I wonder if the Patriots would consider trading Williams rather than Boutte who didn’t play and appears to be safe.

Mike Brown A late hit and missed tackles will lead to Brown being cut. Brown was replaced as the principle Personal Protector by Dell Pettus. That is not a good sign for Brown’s future with the Patriots. John Saunders has beat him out for the 4^th Safety.

Caleb Lomu was not very good tonight. He was forced to play both sides after Marcus Bryant got hurt. Lomu ended up playing 3 quarters of the game. His run blocking needs a lot of work. It looked like a zone block /stretch play and he got blown up into the backfield disrupting the runner. He also gave up a sack.

Aug 22, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots linebacker Gabe Jacas (50) tackles Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Andy Dalton (14) in the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images — **Patriots LB Gabe Jacas. (PHOTO: Edward Finan-Imagn Images)**

Gabe Jacas was very inconsistent and didn’t hold the edge on at least two plays. He occasionally made plays coming down the line, but on others he got sucked in and couldn’t protect the outside. He needs to develop a secondary rush move other than a bull rush. Right now he is a 1^st and 2^nd down player only, and a liability in the pass rush.

Demetrious Crownover got beat easily around the edge for a sack. He also allowed another pressure.

Interior Offensive Line They were brutal in the 1^st half. I don’t believe that Greg Van Roten played.

The Ugly

Injuries

Bryce Barringer didn’t kick at the end of the 1^st half when Behren Morton came out to punt on a short field. He also missed the entire 2^nd half. Mike Vrabel stated that it was a health thing (what does that mean?). Was he sick, did he pull a muscle?

Khalil Jacobs had a head injury on Kickoff Coverage.

Marcus Bryant the backup Swing Tackle got rolled up on when a defender crashed behind his leg. He needed assistance to get off the field. Hopefully, it is not a serious injury.

James Hudson I would have benched him in the 2^nd Quarter. Two holding calls killed a drive. Then he missed a block and double teamed the Tackle, allowing a free rusher to Devito. I wouldn’t wait until next week and cut him now before he gets some QB killed.

Mike Vrabel felt he needed to call a timeout on Defense just to get their attention and focus. He chewed them out on the sideline. I bet he gave them an earful at halftime, and they came out and played better.

Vrabel’s Post Game Press Conference “We don’t have a very deep team!”

Chad Muma had another bad game with missed tackles all over the place. He has played himself right off this team.

Blown Coverages on Blitz The swing pass to the backs coming out of the backfield in all out blitzes, torched the Patriots Defense. If they hadn’t given up those big plays the game would haven’t been as close.

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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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