Somehow, someway, the Patriots' inexcusably bad loss to the New York Jets was only the second most infuriating football-related happening on Thursday.
Last night was as grim a Patriots loss as I can recall, since maybe the San Francisco 49ers loss back in 2020, which is ironic since they're up next for Jerod Mayo and the boys. This front seven didn't get the job done. They allowed Aaron Rodgers to break contain all night, missed far too many tackles, and, concerningly above all else, played notably worse than last Sunday when they still didn't have Ja'Whaun Bentley for the bulk of that game.
Offensively, the Patriots opted to abandon running the ball very early, which has been their identity in these first two weeks. However, Rhamondre Stevenson had his worst outing of three, highlighted by a terrible fumble that allowed the Jets to consistently tee off on Jacoby Brissett. They never got anything going, and when they could, timely bad plays and penalties resulted in them doing next to nothing outside of a Joey Slye field goal. This one was undoubtedly painful, and the fact Fireman Ed gets to experience genuine happiness sickens me to my very core, but here were some of my takeaways.
What Do People Expect Brissett To Do?
There is a rapidly growing opinion among Patriot Nation that will reach pandemic level by the time the Patriots are situated out in the San Francisco Bay Area next weekend. Of course, I'm talking about those who are going blatantly out of their way to call for Jacoby Brissett's benching. For those people, I want you to watch these five dropbacks here very carefully.
Outside of that last play, perhaps, what is Drake Maye doing with that kind of protection that Brissett isn't? If your answer is anything other than nothing, you're beyond saving, full stop. I'm not here to tell you Brissett was perfect; in fact, I'll tell you that the play-action miss to Austin Hooper was really bad. But for the bulk of last night, it's hard to get anything going offensively when you have guys like Will McDonald and Quinnen Williams directly in your face 1.5 seconds after the snap.
This is now three straight games in which Brissett has been pressured at least 13 times and sacked more than he was in Weeks 1-2 combined. This is nowhere near sustainable and is also a big reason why abandoning the run game as quickly as they did was a big mistake. I get the approach to try and open up the play-action game, but it means nothing if you're not running the ball.
BOGO Missed Tackle Sale
You can criticize this defense for many things, but even more so than the lack of third-down plays, the number of missed tackles was inexcusable, even for a Thursday Night game. I'm not even pulling up All-22 clips becuase we all saw it, but they more than doubled their seasonal missed tackle total in one game. Ja'Whaun Bentley being out isn't an excuse or something this team can/should fall back on; you have penlty of capable tacklers at all three levels, and lack of execution and sticking to fundamentals justifiably got the Patriots burned, with over 100 of the Jets yards coming off of missed tackles.
Good Night for Gonzo, Despite the Touchdown
I wouldn't call it a perfect night for Gonzo based on some of the non-target snaps, but he was still very good despite giving up the first touchdown of his career, which, quite frankly, I don't fault him for. You'll see it below, but this is an absolute laser beam by Aaron Rodgers when it needed to be. If this pass here is even a bit off velocity-wise, Gonzo is taking this back for six 100 times out of 100. It's not an easy grab by Garrett Wilson here either, if we're honest, and great awareness to stick the ball past the pylon. There probably isn't a corner in the league that's stopping that.
Now, for what was a moot positive play since it was on the Jets' opening touchdown drive, this play by Gonzalez on Wilson was superb technique despite being a near completion.
Gonzo does an excellent job here of using the sideline as a friend and naturally guiding him toward the white paint. Another good throw here by Rodgers, but this is one of those plays where I think the three key guys involved all executed really well, and it just came down to Wilson being a bit closer to the sideline than he would've liked. That's the benefit of being as fluid as Gonzalez is, and while it didn't matter in the end in terms of this drive, that was a great play. Depending on your metrics, he allowed somewhere in the ballpark of 20 yards this game, and while not a banner day, I thought he was notably better here than he was vs. Seattle.
The Drake Maye Drive
When the Patriots put Drake Maye in on that final drive, I word for word said, "I just need him to survive. Throw a pick six for all I care", and sure enough, that was in the realm of possibility on his very first throw. Not much of a surprise, but he did take some hits, which had to be why they opted not to go for a touchdown at the last second; but if you're a Patriots fan, you should feel really good about the following two plays.
If you're unfamiliar with Drake Maye's UNC work, yes, he can scramble and be a rushing threat at a high level if the opportunity presents itself. Not that Brissett isn't mobile, especially when it comes to in the pocket (see the Seattle game), but Maye's legs are a weapon, and he can do stuff exactly like this, which was a 4th&8 play. Speaking of fourth-down, here was another massive play on one just a bit later.
You'll get the endzone view of this play as well, but this is beautiful stuff from Maye. He sticks in a collapsing pocket, moves to buy just enough extra time, and hits a throw that isn't super tight window but certainly isn't open by any means, either. Here's the other look.
Obviously, there wasn't much else to take away from this one-drive, but that's a pretty good glimpse into what Maye is capable of in a regular-season NFL setting. Should he be starting soon? After last night, I don't think so, especially with the health of this offensive line being as shaky as it is. Maybe once the Patriots can get Sidy Sow or even Cole Strange back, sure, but I don't think that's happening in the immidiate future.
Final Score: New York Jets 24, New England Patriots 3
Gaffney's Three Stars from Patriots-Jets I
3rd Star - Pop Douglas (7 Receptions for 69 Yards, 1 Carry for 9 Yards)
2nd Star - Bryce Baringer (5 Punts for 245 Total Yards, 49 Yard Average Punt, 0 Touchbacks)
1st Star - Jacoby Brissett (Survived)
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