Is your football team in a funk? Hearing grumbles from the locker room? Have a coach on the hot seat?
Get yourselves a game against the New England Patriots, and that team will get right as the rain.
Jerod Mayo’s Patriots have fallen to the lowest rung on the NFL ladder: an easy win for even the most struggling teams.
The Patriots looked like they had an opportunity against a Jaguars team hanging on by a thread in London, but Vegas saw the writing on the wall as the game edged closer. The line jumped from -5.5 New England to a full -7 by kickoff. Outside of the Northeast corridor, it seems everyone saw this team as an opportunity for Doug Pederson to save his job. They were right. Jacksonville clobbered New England 32-16.
The Patriots are a team so flawed, it’s becoming difficult to rank the weaknesses week-to-week. The offense has no juice outside of quarterback Drake Maye, and Alex Van Pelt’s play calls through the second and third quarters made it impossible for the rookie to get into a rhythm after looking nearly flawless and scoring a touchdown on the opening drive. The team’s priority was clearly the fast start the coaching staff harped on all week, but then they inexplicably leaned into a conservative approach with Rhamondre Stevenson’s return from injury, even though Jacksonville’s passing defense ranked at the bottom of the league. The Patriots stuck with the inefficient ground game while Trevor Lawrence ripped off 22 points in the second quarter against the Patriots defense.
For the second week in a row, the Patriots’ lead running back tallied fewer than 20 yards total, averaging less than 2.7 yards per carry. It looks like the offensive coordinator has zero feel for the game.
The offense has borne the brunt of criticism this season, but the dysfunction on this team is fare more widespread. DeMarcus Covington’s defense has been gouged by injuries, okay. Fair. But six weeks in, it’s become hard to watch. The Patriots clearly miss Ja’Whaun Bentley. His absence can’t be the reason to get gouged on back-to-back runs by Tank Bigsby, or for giving up the most yards gained by Jacksonville offense in one quarter over the last seven years.
The rest of the team’s problems are just getting weird. DeMario Douglas – who has proven himself to be one of the offense’s only explosive weapons – disappeared midgame, reported by the team to be sidelined with an illness, only to return in the fourth quarter. Rookie Ja’Lynn Polk continues a valiant battle of his own against a case of the dropsies. The coaching staff has established an unfortunate new tradition of bungling clock management at the end of first halves, and they took it international Sunday.
Last week’s 20-point loss had the silver lining of Maye’s debut. The rookie showed himself capable of standing tall in big moments and delivering. And yet the Patriots’ game plan moved away from the one thing they have going for them.
Now, they’ve lost six games straight and breathed life back into another team hitting the skids. Sunday showed not all 1-5 teams are created equal. The Patriots are desperately in need of a win, but it’s difficult to find another team as vulnerable as themselves in the upcoming schedule.