Heading into kickoff for the Patriots’ Week 7 game in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the line at BetMGM had moved to New England as a full touchdown underdog.
For two teams that both started the day 1-5, that point spread came as a bit of a surprise.
But when you realize the Patriots would be trotting out their seventh different starting offensive line combination in seven games, it makes a lot more sense.
Oddly enough, the pass protection wasn’t the biggest problem on Sunday.
The defense was, and the Patriots lost at Wembley Stadium 32-16.
New England loses their sixth straight game for the first time since 1993, something that has never happened under the Kraft family’s ownership.
Here are your “Ups & Downs” for Week 7. Let’s start positive:
Ups:
- Drake Maye: From the jump, Maye looked awesome.
For the first time all season, the Patriots offense was able to put points on the board on their opening drive.
That marked the fifth time in seven games that Jacksonville had allowed points on their first series on defense, so it wasn’t like New England drove the ball on the ’85 Bears.
But watching the Patriots exploit their opponent’s biggest weakness on the first drive of the game, as Jacksonville has arguably the worst defense in the NFL, was something Patriots fans haven’t seen their team do all season long.
The rookie quarterback was the catalyst for this, as he looked like a seasoned professional running an offense chock-full of play action and movement in the pocket (more on play calling coming up in “Ups”). Maye was finding receivers open in space, getting the ball out of his hands quickly en route to a 16-yard touchdown pass from Maye to running back JaMycal Hasty.
An extra point from kicker Joey Slye, and New England was up 7-0 to start the game.
That’s 11 plays for 68 yards, with close to six-and-a-half minutes of clock eaten up on the opening drive.
That type of drive was impossible to execute with nine-year veteran Jacoby Brissett at the helm.
For Maye, it looked effortless.
It was more of the same on drive No. 2 for Maye, as he took the team 63 yards on 12 plays over another six-and-a-half minutes of game clock.
The highlight of that drive for Maye came on their first third down of the series. It was 3rd and 4, and the pocket had collapsed. Maye didn’t panic, as he tucked the ball and ran up the middle of the defense for a gain of 15 yards to keep the drive moving.
Having a quarterback with the ability to make that type of play is something this franchise hasn’t had since Cam Newton was under center during the 2020 season. And the difference here is Maye is also capable of throwing the ball in addition to having the legs to pick up third-and-mediums.
This long drive ended in a field goal after pressure on a third down deep in Jacksonville territory forced Maye into an incompletion, but that doesn’t take away from the drive Maye put together.
We fast forward to the fourth quarter, where the Patriots were down 25-10 with Jacksonville about to convert a 4th and 1 from the New England 6. Somehow, the Patriots run defense got the stop, handing the ball to their rookie quarterback 94 yards away from the end zone.
Maye proceeded to lead his offense on a 9-play drive that showed off his supreme arm talent, capped off by a 22-yard touchdown by K.J. Osborn that made it a 25-16 ballgame. Maye also had an incredible throw to Hunter Henry earlier in that drive on 3rd and 8, finding his tight end 32 yards downfield to keep the drive alive.
More importantly, the quarterback kept the game alive.
It might be another loss for the rookie quarterback, but Maye’s flashes in the loss vault him to the top of the “Ups” section for a second consecutive week.
- Alex Van Pelt: …kinda.
We’re going to reward improvement in this week’s “Ups,” as the offensive coordinator clearly changed his game plan to highlight everything his rookie QB is able to offer.
A much healthier dose of play action, and consistent play calls that had Maye rolling out of the pocket to find receivers open in space.
I almost wanted to create a new section for Van Pelt this week called “Good Start, Shaky Finish,” because it felt like the offense went away from what was working after the first two series of the game.
The running game was not working, yet Van Pelt started mixing in more run plays as the game went along. With how banged up the offensive line has been in recent weeks, run blocking has become a clear issue for this team.
It’s time to abandon the identity that worked in the team’s lone victory of the season in Week 1, and focus all the energy into running a flashy new offense with Maye under center.
Until this offensive line shows that they can run block, Van Pelt needs to stop forcing the run.
Downs:
- Ja’Lynn Polk: In the middle of the team’s opening drive, we saw the rookie QB try and work the ball to his fellow rookie on a 1st and 10 off play action from the New England 48.
Offensive line blocked it perfectly, Maye rolled out like he’s done this 1,000 times at the professional level, and Polk’s hands were not strong enough to catch a perfectly placed ball that would’ve moved the chains.
After a week of conversation around Polk’s struggles so far this season - fueled by comments from Jerod Mayo - this is not the start you wanted to see from the University of Washington product.
More disappointment came at the two minute warning in the second quarter.
On 3rd and 10, Maye found Polk downfield way beyond the sticks. The ball hit Polk in the hands, but the rookie was not strong enough coming back to the ball to bring the ball in with defenders getting their hands into his catch radius.
Instead of a successful two-minute drill for the Patriots offense to get points before the half, one play later the Jaguars were returning a punt 96 yards to the house (more on this later), and the Patriots would head into the locker room down 12 after a successful two-point conversion made it a 22-10 ballgame.
On their first possession of the second half, Polk dropped a ball on 1st and 10 that would have moved the chains for New England. Instead of looking-in the ball that hit him in the hands, he was focused on some early contact for the Jacksonville defense that didn’t really impact his route or hands in any way.
He popped up signaling for a flag that should’ve been thrown instead of popping up with a ball that should’ve been caught.
Two plays later, Maye almost threw an interception that was saved by savvy defense from veteran receiver K.J. Osborn, and the Patriots were forced into a punt on 4th and 6.
In the fourth quarter, after Maye led New England to a 94-yard touchdown drive to keep the game alive for the Patriots, New England opted to go for two to make it a seven-point game with 8:22 to go.
Maye threw a ball to an open Polk in the flats that would’ve made for a successful two-point try, but Polk inexplicably fell down.
The ball dropped to the ground, and the momentum of the reinvigorating touchdown lost its luster.
Now through seven weeks of his first season in the NFL, Polk has been held to 10 catches.
An objectively bad start to the career for the 37th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
- Run Defense: The Patriots run defense allowed 171 yards on the ground on 39 carries.
Running backs Tank Bigsby and D’Ernest Johnson ran all over New England like they were prime Adrian Peterson in the backfield.
Drive after drive, Jacksonville pounded the rock down the Patriots’ throat.
At one point in the second half, the Jaguars ran the ball 19 consecutive plays.
19!
For a unit that was supposed to be the strength of this team heading into the season, they have struggled mightily over the last three weeks to find their footing.
Christian Barmore’s absence has been glaring in 2024.
- Undisciplined: This entry in “Downs” is becoming a mainstay in this section.
It wasn’t the same volume of penalties that we’ve seen the last two weeks, but it’s both the type of penalties and timing of the penalties that makes you want to rip your hair out.
With 2:50 to go in the second quarter, Hunter Henry was called for an embarrassing false start penalty that turned a 3rd and 5 into a 3rd and 10. This wasn’t a slight flinch-type of false start - the veteran captain clearly had no idea what the snap count was.
That 3rd and 10 forced Van Pelt to call a play that had Maye looking deep downfield to a wide open Polk, but we all know how that played out.
4th and 10 brought stud punter Bryce Baringer into the ballgame, and he did what he does with a booming punt to the Jacksonville 4 yard line.
Instead of allowing the ball to bounce into the end zone, Jaguars return man Parker Washington surprisingly fielded the kick, and proceeded to take the ball 96 yards for the eighth longest punt return touchdown in NFL history.
With the score 20-10 and the Jaguars lining up to kick an extra point, veteran linebacker Jahlani Tavai was called for a neutral zone infraction, moving the ball up for Jacksonville and opening the door for a two-point conversion attempt. Head coach Doug Pederson decided to take advantage, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence found star rookie receiver Brian Thomas in the back of the end zone to make it a 22-10 game.
Two dumb, pre-snap penalties from two veteran leaders directly lead to eight points for Jacksonville.
- Sidy Sow: On the second drive of the game with the offense rolling all the way down to the Jacksonville 22 yard line, right guard Sidy Sow got beat on 3rd and 7, forcing Maye into a quick throw to Kendrick Bourne on a slant.
With basically no time to set his feet and make the play, Maye’s ball was behind an open Bourne. Had Maye had another 1.5 seconds of a clean pocket, he hits Bourne and keeps that drive moving.
Instead, the incompletion brought up 4th and 7, and New England was forced to bring out Slye for a 41-yard field goal.
Slye’s kick was good, but missing an opportunity to start the game up 14-0 instead of 10-0 was purely a product of Sow’s missed block.
Sure, the second-year guard entered the game in relief duty of rookie Layden Robinson, who left the game on the offense’s second series with an ankle injury. But for a player that entered this season with high expectations after a pleasantly surprising rookie season, this sequence highlights the disappointing season Sow has had in 2024.
Injures and inconsistent play have been the name of the game for Sow in year two.
- Offensive Line: I didn’t want to do this, because this game really wasn’t on them.
But when you have 15 rushing attempts for 38 yards, showing for a second consecutive week that you just can’t get any push up front, it needs to be highlighted.
And on the second to last possession of the game for the Patriots, a vintage 2024 Patriots offensive line sequence occurred that was the nail in the coffin for New England.
On 3rd and 2 from the New England 34, left tackle Demontrey Jacobs was called for holding on an incompletion that set up 3rd and 12.
One play later, Mike Onwenu allowed a sack for a loss of 14 yards, setting up a 4th and 26 for the Patriots from their own 10-yard line.
4th and 26 resulted in an incompletion, and three plays later Jacksonville punched in a rushing touchdown to seal the deal with a 32-16 victory.
The Patriots (1-6) look to stop their six-game skid in Week 8 against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium.
New England lost their previous matchup with New York earlier this season, falling on Thursday Night Football in Week 3 by a score of 24-3.