FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots fell to 1-2 on the young season while remaining winless at home following Sunday afternoon’s 28-13 loss at the hands of Sean Payton’s Saints.
Before turning the page to next Sunday’s biggest-regular-season-game-ever with Tom Brady returning to Gillette Stadium, here’s a look at some of the personnel highs and lows from the lackluster loss to New Orleans:
Thumbs up
Deatrich Wise Jr. – The veteran defensive end was one of the Patriots more active, consistent defenders in the losing effort against New Orleans. He had sack in the second quarter to temporarily delay the Saints from taking advantage of Mac Jones’ first career interception. There were few bright spots on the afternoon for New England, but Wise’s 6 tackles, sack and relentless effort stood out.
Nick Folk – New England’s veteran kicker just keeps chugging along and taking advantage of all his chances. Folk extended his own franchise record for consecutive field goals, set a week earlier in New York, to 35 straight kicks by hitting on attempts from 45 and 26 yards for the Patriots only points of the first three quarters.
Jakobi Meyers – On Julian Edelman Day, one of the retired veteran slot receiver’s recent pupils was one of the few consistent positives on the Patriots offense. Though Meyers got off to a slow start like the rest of his unit, he and Jones started clicking midway through the third quarter when he had four catches for 48 yards on a drive that culminated in a Folk field goal. Meyers finished the loss with team highs of 9 catches on 13 targets for 94 yards.
Kendrick Bourne – Bourne had just three caches over the first two weeks, but broke out a bit later on against the Saints. He had a 31-yard catch late in the second quarter to help set up a Folk field goal. Bourne then added his first career Patriots touchdown on a nice 22-yard catch and second effort in the fourth quarter. Bourne finished with 6 catches for a career-best 96 yards and the score.
Thumbs down
James White injury – White picked up the game’s initial first down for the Patriots in the second quarter and was swiftly carted off the field with a hip injury. The veteran passing back showed his value a week earlier in the win against the Jets and his contributions – on the field and as a leader – can’t be overstated. If he missed significant time, as was initially feared, it’s a huge blow to an offense that’s already been somewhat limited in terms of playmakers.
Pass protection/Offensive line – Jones was under duress early and often against the Saints. He took hits while and after he threw. He was squished into his first career interception that set up a New Orleans second quarter TD. All the pressure and poor line play can’t be blamed on Trent Jones’ absence, even if the big right tackle did miss essentially his third straight week. The line has had issues across the board that has adversely affected Jones and the entire offense. This from a unit that’s supposed to be the strength of the offense. Jones was hit 11 times while New England was able to pick up just 46 yards on 16 attempts on the ground. Not good enough from the big guys up front.
Jonnu Smith – One of the biggest free agent prizes of the Patriots offseason, Smith has yet to live up to his contract. He had a pretty abysmal day against the Saints. First, he missed a couple first-half chances at big plays when he failed to haul in Jones passes. Then, he dropped an easy completion on the first play of the third quarter that he deflected up for an easy pick-6 interception for Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins. Smith is supposed to be one of the focal points and playmakers on the Patriots rebuilt offense. Against the Saints he was a net negative -- he had one catch for 4 yards -- for the unit on the way to the loss.
Josh McDaniels – The Patriots offense is clearly a work in progress. That’s especially true with a rookie QB under center and a slew of new weapons in the passing game. McDaniels is trying to piece together enough production to win. So far, it hasn’t been overly impressive. The Patriots are struggling on third down and in the red zone early in the year. It’s by no means all on McDaniels, but he needs to find a way to find more consistent positive production. He also seemingly abandoned the running game too early trailing just 7-0 against New Orleans.