6 rings postgame show: Mike Kadlick joins the show following Sunday’s loss to the Raiders
The Patriots went into Las Vegas with the idea of ‘starting over’ following two straight losses by a combined total of 72-3.
While they actually scored some points, and were in it until the end, New England lost their third straight game on Sunday to the Raiders, and fell to 1-5 on the 2023 season.
Here are five immediate thoughts from the contest:
5 - Jabrill Peppers is a monster.
One of the few highlight plays from the Patriots during Sunday’s loss in Las Vegas was the bookstick hit that safety Jabrill Peppers put on Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams:
Peppers has been quite the spark plug for an otherwise stagnant New England defense this season. He finished Sunday with team-highs in tackles (7) and passes defensed (2).
According to NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry, Peppers was still pacing along the New England sideline several minutes after the hit. The former Michigan Wolverine is fully healthy for the first time in a while and is fired up to be making plays again.
4 - Jakobi Meyers made it known instantly it was a mistake to move on from him.
Bill Belichick said this week that it was a “priority” to re-sign Jakobi Meyers this offseason. A statement that has now been debunked.
Meyers, who signed with the Raiders on a three-year, $33 million deal in March after reportedly feeling like the Patriots “didn’t want him”, scored the first touchdown of Sunday’s game, a 16-yard reception that gave his team a 10-0 first half lead. He could be seen smiling through his mouthpiece following the score.
Meyers finished the contest with five catches for 61 yards and, likely more importantly to him, a win against his former team.
3 - The Patriots’ defense deserves blame, too.
Bill Belichick’s defenses are generally predicated on taking away an offenses best player (like Davante Adams, who went for just 29 yards on two catches) and making the others to beat you. The others beat them on Sunday.
Raiders rookie tight end Michael Mayer came into the contest versus the Patriots with just three catches for 41 yards. He had five catches for 75 yards on Sunday alone. Jakobi Meyers, as mentioned above, had five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown and Tre Tucker, a third round pick out of Cincinnati, finished with two catches for 57 yards.
While New England did hold them to just one touchdown on six red zone trips on Sunday, it was death by 1,000 cuts by Las Vegas as they did plenty enough, scoring 19 points, in a two possession win.
2 - Bill O’Brien was (sort of?) able to cook.
Maybe ‘cook’ is strong as the Patriots offense once again wasn’t much to write home about in their two-point loss to the Raiders. However, the fact that they weren’t facing crazy, three-score deficits like they had the last two weeks allowed offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien to add a little bit of wrinkles into his calls and expand the playbook a bit more.
With the addition of Malik Cunningham, they used the dual threat as both a gadget and a decoy on Sunday, with one play specifically that resuled in an Ezekiel Elliott touchdown, his first as a Patriot and the team's first in several weeks.
On their fourth quarter drive that resulted in a Rhamondre Stevenson touchdown the Patriots, what felt like finally, got Kendrick Bourne involved in the offense. He finished the 17-play, scoring drive with six catches for 42 yards and finished the contest with with 10 receptions for 89 yards.
It's by no means a finished product. Not even close, actually. But New England's playmakers were finally able to make some plays on Sunday.
1 - Mac Jones can’t get out of his own way.
Just when the Patriots’ offense looked like it has a sliver of momentum, Mac Jones made yet another costly mistake that jipped his team of an opportunity at points.
As time wound down in the first half of Sunday’s game, New England’s quarterback was leading a slow, yet methodical, drive towards the endzone. On 2nd down and 4, he was pressured, broke the pocket, and rolled as he looked to be trying to throw the football away. Instead he saw his tight end Hunter Henry break open, and threw the ball across his body to try and make a play.
Interception. Back Breaker.
Jones finished Sunday’s contest completing 24 of 33 attempts for just 200 yards in Las Vegas and while he once again was not the only problem on the Patriots offense, he was also once again a contributor to the loss and the lack of points from the offense.
The quarterback did throw a perfect pass to DeVante Parker on New England's attempt at a game-winning drive, but the wide receiver dropped the ball on an absolutely gotta-have-it play. Once again, it's not all Mac's fault.
Reports indicated that Jones was on a “short leash” heading into Sunday’s game and could be replaced should he struggle once again. New England then decided to activate just one other quarterback, gadget player Malik Cunningham who has taken seldom reps at quarterback at all, never mind with their first-team offense. Bailey Zappe and Will Grier were inactive.
This first half interception was a benchable play, and the position once again bears watching this week as they welcome the Buffalo Bills to town next Sunday.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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