Ups & Downs: Patriots get run over by Jaguars in another ugly loss
LONDON -- It doesn't matter who or where they play, the 2024 New England Patriots are just a bad football team. Sunday's 32-16 loss to the lowly Jaguars in London is a new rock bottom for the Patriots -- at least until they do something to top it next week.
Sunday's defeat had Jerod Mayo calling his team "soft" and Patriots fans wondering just how low the team can go over the next 11 weeks. It's been week after week of demoralizing losses for the Patriots, who have dropped six straight since their Week 1 win over the Bengals.
New England is now riding its longest losing streak since 1993, and the Patriots are the leader in the clubhouse for the top overall pick in next year's NFL Draft at the moment. It's hard to fall out of a basement window, but this Patriots team could likely pull it off.
The Patriots will have a long flight back home to reflect on everything that went wrong Sunday in London. Here's a look at what doomed New England against Jacksonville, plus a few things that actually went right in the team's Week 7 loss at Wembley Stadium.
UP: The Patriots scored first!
The Patriots scored their first opening-drive touchdown on the season thanks to an aggressive game plan from Drake Maye and OC Alex Van Pelt. Maye dropped back for eight passes on the opening drive, completing six of them while taking a sack. He made several good blitz reads, including on a short pass to JaMycal Hasty on a third-and-10 that ended with the running back dancing his way to the end zone for a 16-yard score.
The Patriots converted three third downs on the opening drive, as they put together one of their best series of the season. If only the rest of the game went that way for New England.
DOWN: Patriots got mauled by Jaguars in the second quarter
After taking a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, the Patriots got absolutely manhandled by Jacksonville the rest of the first half. The Jaguars got whatever they wanted on offense through the air and on the ground, putting together two touchdown drives that covered 150 yards over 14 plays. Jacksonville's special teams also came through big with a 96-yard punt return touchdown by Parker Washington, giving the Jags a 22-10 lead ahead of halftime.
The Patriots offense went three-and-out three times after putting points on the board one their first two possessions. They had no answers for Jacksonville on offense, defense, or special teams in the second quarter.
DOWN: "Soft" Patriots couldn't stop the run again
It got downright ugly as the Patriots tried to stop Jacksonville's rush attack. The Jags ran for 171 yards on 39 carries on the day, as Tank Bigsby and D'Ernest Johnson barreled over or ran by would-be defenders with relative ease. At one point in the second half, Jacksonville ran it on 19 straight plays because the Patriots couldn't do anything to stop them.
The Patriots couldn't run the ball themselves either, rushing for just 38 yards on 15 carries for an average of 2.5 yards per attempt. Maye was the team's leading rusher for a second straight week with 18 yards on three carries.
DOWN: New England's third down defense
The Jaguars put together a 17-play drive that started in the middle of the third quarter and ate nearly four minutes of clock early in the fourth quarter. Jacksonville got no points off the drive, as they came up short on fourth-and-1 at the New England 6, but it took 11:24 off the clock in a 25-16 ballgame.
That drive could have ended a lot sooner but the Patriots gave up three straight third-down conversions to the Jags: A five-yard completion from Lawrence to Brian Thomas Jr. on a third-and-4, an 11-yard scramble by Lawrence on a third-and-8, and a five-yard run by Bigsby on a third-and-2.
Overall, Jacksonville went 6-for-10 on third down on Sunday. Thomas' second-quarter touchdown came on a third-and-goal play where the New England defense curiously decided not to cover the receiver over the middle of the field.
UP: Drake Maye made some big boy plays
Maye continues to be one of the few bright spots on the team. He came out firing on that first drive that ended, and made several other big boy throws that will give fans hope for the future. He was surgical on a 94-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter, a drive that included a 32-yard connection with Hunter Henry on one third down, a beautiful 33-yard hook-up with Kayshon Boutte down the left sideline, and concluded with a 22-yard bullet of a touchdown pass to KJ Osborn on third-and-15.
Maye and the Pats needed just 2:48 to go from the New England 6 to the Jags end zone on that drive, making it a 25-16 game with 8:22 to play.
Maye was 26-of-37 for 276 yards and two touchdowns and didn't turn the ball over on Sunday. The rookie missed a few throws, but looked much more comfortable and in-control in his second NFL start.
Down: Polk's struggles continue
The score was 25-16 after that second touchdown pass by Maye because the Patriots failed to get the two-point conversion. Maye went looking for rookie Ja'Lynn Polk on that conversion, but the receiver slipped and Maye's pass skipped incomplete.
That summed up another frustrating day from Polk, who didn't catch any of the three passes that went his way. The rookie had a pass from Maye in his hands (or at least one of his hands) on New England's opening drive, but couldn't finish the catch.
Polk left late in the game with a head injury.
DOWN: Still no discipline from Patriots
The Patriots were flagged seven times in London, which is an improvement from the last few weeks. But the timing of the penalties continues to be an issue.
Hunter Henry didn't know what the snap count was ahead of halftime and was flagged for an embarrassing false start that turned a third-and-5 into a third-and-10. Maye went to Polk downfield in that third-and-long situation, and you can imagine how that went.
It was after that play that the Patriots' special teams gave up Washington's 96-yard touchdown return. Bryce Baringer's kick was in the middle of the field, and a lot of Patriots players took a bad path to the return man and let him race to the end zone with ease.
Jahlani Tavai came up empty on a tackle attempt on Washington on that return, and was later hit with a neutral zone infraction on a Jacksonville extra-point attempt. That let Doug Pederson try for a two-point conversion, and Lawrence found Thomas in the back of the end zone to give Jacksonville a 22-10 edge at the time.
And while the Patriots didn't have much of a shot when they got the ball back with 3:58 left, the offensive line did them no favors. Left tackle Demontrey Jacobs was flagged for a hold that put the team in a third-and-12, and Maye was promptly sacked for a 14-yard loss on the ensuing play. That was essentially it for the Patriots, as Maye's fourth-down pass went incomplete, and the Jags scored a touchdown three plays later.
