As Bill Belichick said at the end of the game, the Patriots weren't lacking in chances to steal a win over a favored Ravens team.
But when it came down to it, they simply couldn't take advantage, and the Ravens made them pay.
Mac Jones and the offense had explosive plays but gave the football away four times -- and might have lost their quarterback for a while with a bad injury. Then, well, Lamar Jackson (208 yards passing, 107 yards rushing) just did what he does, and the Patriots couldn't corral him forever as Baltimore's offense exploded in the second half.
New England has been 1-2 before, of course. But this kind of loss feels simultaneously both more encouraging and damaging (depending on Jones' status).
Patriots just can't stop the Lamar Jackson magic
There were some obvious issues with the Patriots defense in this one, particularly their tackling and the way they were getting out-leveraged in the run game at points.
But for all that, they had their opportunities to get off the field with minimal damage in the red zone, and Lamar Jackson just did Lamar Jackson things.
First, he floated up an apparent prayer under duress near the end of the first half for Mark Andrews, who corralled it over Devin McCourty for a 16-yard touchdown on a 3rd-and-goal.
Then, on a later 3rd-and-goal situation in the third quarter, Jackson lofted up another contested ball for Devin Duvernay, who skied over Myles Bryant for a toe-tapping score in the back of the end zone.
Add those plays to the times when the Patriots couldn't bring Jackson down in the pocket early in the game, and you essentially have this contest in a nutshell. New England had chances to change the outcome of the contest, and Jackson -- who didn't exactly have the most amazing statistical game -- found a way to win when it mattered most.
That's what the great ones do.
The Ravens also made the key adjustment to use Jackson more in the run game in the second half, and it through the Patriots for a loop and created a few explosive runs -- Jackson's own 38-yard scamper included.
But when it came down to it, New England just didn't get him off the field when they had the chance. That, combined with turnovers on offense, decided the football game.
Deatrich Wise Jr.'s early-season onslaught continues
In case you thought Wise was just a fluke these first few games, he decided to show you his newfound swagger was for real against arguably the most dynamic quarterback in football.
Wise simply dominated the Ravens' backup left tackles with Baltimore's Ronnie Stanley out and did what few of his other teammates could: get Lamar Jackson on the ground. In fact, he did it three times, becoming the first Patriot to post three sacks in a game since Chandler Jones against the Buffalo Bills in 2015.
The newly minted captain had six total tackles, including four for loss.
In the process, he is resoundingly proving himself as a strong partner for Judon on the edge -- something that was desperately needed down the stretch last year.
At this point, though, we're talking about a Pro Bowl-level performance for the former 2017 draft pick, who is playing better than ever in 2022.
DeVante Parker has his WR1 moment
Someone in that Patriots receiving corps had to step up a bit extra with Jakobi Meyers out with a knee injury. We found out who it was right away.
Jones found Parker on the first play from scrimmage for a 31-yard catch-and-run to get the Patriots in business, though they couldn't come away with points.
Then, he nabbed a 41-yard throw from Jones on a play-action pass the next time New England had the ball.
His next two catches came on the opening drive of the second half: 36 yards on the first play from scrimmage followed by a 25-yard toe-tapping grab on a back-shoulder throw to get New England down to the Ravens' 2-yard line. Damien Harris punched it in two days later to give the Patriots the lead.
Parker finished with 156 yards on five catches, posting his 12th career 100-yard game.
What a way to make up for only having one catch for nine yards coming into the game.
Mac Jones giveth, Mac Jones taketh away.
Sunday was the epitome of the second-year Mac Jones experience.
Whatever the outcome, the growth in Jones' game was clearly present.
He once again aggressively took shots down the field against Ravens defense that hasn't given up their fair share of them, helping Parker break out for his best game since 2019. The young quarterback also extended plays impressively on a few occasions, rescuing a busted fourth-down play from disaster to save a touchdown drive and scrambling for key yards (31 yards on five attempts).
Those are undoubtedly two of the biggest knocks on Jones' game thus far in his NFL career, and he demonstrated improvement in both while also authoring some pretty finesse throws.
But those two interceptions -- once again while targeting Parker -- were killers.
The first one looked like yet another play in which Jones didn't see the linebacker squatting on an underneath route and tossed it directly into the arms of the Ravens' Josh Bynes.
The second was another trust-ball into the end zone that Jones and Parker weren't on the same page for. Jones felt unblocked pressure coming from his front side and threw it up, Parker wasn't prepared for it and Marlon Humphrey picked it off for a touchback.
Jones also nearly threw a pick-six while targeting Damien Harris on the team's first touchdown drive and had a few throws to Parker that had too much air under them.
He finished with 323 yards on 22-of-31 and three interceptions -- one coming in garbage time. To add injury to insult, his left leg looked like it might've been rolled up on the last pick, and he limped straight off the field into the locker room at the end of the game.
Hopefully it's not bad enough for him to miss time, or things could get ugly in a hurry for the Patriots.
