{"id":44504,"date":"2022-11-25T09:17:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T14:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=44504"},"modified":"2022-11-25T11:50:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T16:50:26","slug":"friday-breakdown-observations-thoughts-on-patriots-33-26-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2022\/11\/25\/friday-breakdown-observations-thoughts-on-patriots-33-26-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Breakdown: Observations, Thoughts On Patriots’ 33-26 Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning; we hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving Day.<\/p>\n

The Patriots lost to the Minnesota Vikings 33-26 on Thanksgiving Night in a game where the team’s mistakes were critical in the loss. The score was bouncing back and forth all game long. Justin Jefferson of the Vikings had a tremendous game, and he opened up avenues for the other receivers to make big plays. And the Vikings made a couple more plays than the Patriots did.<\/span><\/p>\n

The loss overshadowed a big game from Mac Jones, who operating from a clean pocket for much of the game, passed for nearly 400 yards. He was able to go through his progressions and push the ball down the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, here are my observations from the game last night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriot Defense Struggled<\/b>: The defense was unable to generate any kind of pressure on Kirk Cousins, who had a big game, passing for 299 yards and completing 30-37 passes with three touchdowns and one INT for a passer rating of 116.1. The one interception the defense got was the result of pressure forcing Cousins to sail a throw that was intercepted by Jon Jones.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justin Jefferson was just too much for the secondary to stop on Thanksgiving. He caught 9 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown. Adam Thielen also had nine catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. T.J. Hockenson also had a nice game catching 5 passes for 43 yards and a score.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the run defense was excellent. Minnesota rushed 27 times for just 57 yards (2.1-yard average). Dalvin Cook was held to 42 yards on 22 carries for a 1.9-yard average. But the Vikings dominated time of possession by virtue of their passing game. With that thought in mind\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Jon Jones and Myles Bryant Had Rough Nights:<\/b> Jones had the unenviable task of matching up with Jefferson, one of the league’s most dynamic receivers. Jefferson got the better of Jones and the rest of the secondary all night long, although Jones did get an interception of Cousins after Daniel Ekuale brought pressure up the middle and returned it 55 yards.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones also had two face mask penalties on Jefferson, which hurt the defense by extending and furthering Minnesota’s drives. Bryant fell down on a crosser, allowing a big gain. And then he was flagged for a personal foul penalty while Thielen was on the ground for targeting his head and neck area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Mac Jones Has a Career High Passing Day:<\/b> Jones\u2019 most productive day of the season (and his career) clearly shows what can happen when he\u2019s allowed to operate with a mostly clean pocket all game long.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones completed 28-39 passes for 382 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs for a passer rating of 119.8. He should have had a third TD pass to Hunter Henry on a 3rd and goal from the 6-yard line, but the TD call was overturned (more below).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One could tell that the game was going to be different for Jones when he led the team on an 8-play, 75-yard opening drive touchdown capped off with a 34-yard touchdown strike to Nelson Agholor for the first Patriots TD in the 1st quarter this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Offensive Line Play Much Improved:<\/b> Jones has been under siege all season with little time to go through his progressions. But last night, the offensive line, patched together due to injuries, provided Jones with the best protection he\u2019s had all season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots only ran the ball 13 times in the game, a curiously low number, especially with Minnesota dominating time of possession. But for the most part, Jones was able to step up in the pocket and look for plays down the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jones had plenty of chunk passing plays, the 34-yard TD to Agholor, a 37-yard TD to Hunter Henry, 40-yard pass plays to DeVante Parker and Rhamondre Stevenson, and a 26-yard pass to Jakobi Meyers. It is amazing what the offense can do when the QB can do when he has time to throw.<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Teams Letdown:<\/b> The loss to the Vikings was in large part to the Special Teams, normally a big strength of the team, First, they allowed a 97-yard kickoff return TD by Kene Nwangwu right after the Patriots had double-dipped scores at the end of the first half and the beginning of the third quarter. Yes, the officials missed a holding call that helped spring the return (more below), but they should have still played that return better.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pierre Strong prolonged a Vikings drive by running into the punter on a 4th and 4. That ended with the Vikings scoring the game-winning TD on a pass from Cousins to Thielen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Palardy, who had a big game in the swirling winds of Gillette last week, had one excellent punt of 56 yards and then two stinkers of 36 and 31 yards, respectively, indoors. Nick Folk was back to his automatic ways, going 4-4 on FG attempts with a long of 46 and 2-2 on extra point attempts. Marcus Jones had another stellar return of 46 yards. But they were the bright spots as the STs units were off<\/span><\/p>\n

The Officiating Was Terrible, But\u2026:<\/b> And the now for the elephant in the room. The officiating crew of Alex Kemp was terrible in this game, but despite several of the calls only going one way, the team has to work through it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The holding on the TD return was right where Nwangwu made his cut to the outside, where the officials had a perfect view. However, Kemp\u2019s crew, with a penchant for calling the most penalties in the league, missed that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The reversed call on Hunter Henry\u2019s TD catch was a definite game-changer. Instead of going up 30-23, it was cut to just a 26-23 lead. New York took an inordinate amount of time to look at this play. But Henry\u2019s hands were under the ball, and from the closeups on social media, it looks like the ball didn\u2019t touch the ground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill Belichick was not happy being asked about it. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you guys go to the officials with your pool reporter and ask them about the play and let them explain it to you,\u201d Belichick said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Henry said, \u201cThey said it hit the ground, but my hand was under it \u2014 I believe my hand was under the ball. The hand was under the ball with it hitting the ground; that\u2019s what kind of caused [the ball] to jump up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mac Jones correctly pointed out that regardless of the call, the team had to move and had the entire 4th quarter to score\u2026they didn\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to move on from that play and play the rest of the game,\u201d Jones said at his postgame press conference. \u201cThe refs have a job to do. They looked at that play and ruled it incomplete…there were other chances we had where we could have punched it in…one call can’t determine the outcome.”<\/span><\/p>\n

While Jon Jones got flagged twice for face-mask penalties, the refs definitely missed one on Minnesota\u2019s Danielle Hunter for pulling Mac Jones down by his face mask. That should have been a no-brainer, as well as Matthew Slater being blocked in the back twice on the same play. How they missed both of those calls defies description. But good teams can overcome the opposition (and the refs), but it doesn\u2019t make it easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other observations include:<\/span><\/p>\n