Ups & Downs: Patriots show some life after putrid start vs. Bengals
FOXBORO -- It's been a rough season for the Patriots, but these last two weeks have been brutal. After losing in heartbreaking fashion in Las Vegas last week, New England fumbled away a chance at a comeback win against the Bengals in Week 16.
Rhamondre Stevenson has been the team's best offensive player all year. He's been unstoppable on the ground and has been making tons of catches out of the backfield. He's been as reliable as they come.
On Saturday, with just over a minute left on the clock, he fumbled at the Cincinnati 8-yard line with the Patriots trailing 22-18. It's the first fumble that the running back has lost all season.
New England scored 18 unanswered points in the second half, but it wasn't enough after a horrendous start to the game. The Pats are now 7-8 on the season and their playoff hopes have been just about dashed. The Patriots need to win out and get a lot of help for a shot at postseason football.
The second-half comeback at least gave us a few "Ups" to highlight, but they couldn't outweigh the many "Downs" from Saturday's 22-18 defeat.
Downs
Poor start by the offense
Boy, the offense was bad for three quarters. The Patriots had just 71 yards by halftime. They started with two three-and-outs and punted away their first four full possessions. Then they punted away their first two possessions in the second half.
Fans were obviously upset and responded by booing the team off the field at halftime. The offense didn't pass midfield until their final play of the third quarter.
They showed some life with back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, and nearly pulled off an unlikely comeback. But maybe if the offense did a little more over the first 45 minutes, they wouldn't have had to try to dig themselves out of such a deep hole.
Red Zone woes
The Patriots got two chances in the red zone, and they managed to score on one of them when Mac Jones hit Kendrick Bourne for a five-yard touchdown. Usually, 1-for-2 in the red zone is a huge win for New England.
But they have the worst red zone offense in the NFL, and that's what bit them in the end on Saturday. Stevenson coughed up the ball at the 8-yard line, the Bengals recovered, and that was that.
The Pats haven't been able to take care of business inside the 20 all season. It got them in crunch time on Saturday.
Rough day for Folk
It wasn't an easy day for kickers, who probably felt like they were booting a rock whenever their number was called. It was especially difficult kicking into the south end zone.
But Folk missed both of his point-after attempts, which were huge. Had he hit just one of them, the Patriots would have had a chance to tie the game with a field goal in the final minute. Had he hit both... well we won't go there.
Palardy!
Seriously, what the heck was this?
Special teams was not great on Saturday, and Cam Achord is going to have a lot of explaining to do after the Christmas break. Whether it was the punter fumbling and then kicking it 20 yards, players running into the center to give the Bengals another shot after a missed PAT, or Folk's inability to put it through the uprights, the Patriots really struggled on special teams.
Third down defense
The Bengals converted eight of their 16 third-down attempts. Six of those conversions came in the first half as Cincy built its 22-0 lead.
Offensive line needs to step it up
The Patriots ran for just 61 yards, averaging 3.8 yards on 16 carries. Kendrick Bourne was responsible for 29 of those rushing yards on one carry.
Mac Jones faced a lot of pressure throughout the day on Saturday. He was sacked four times and was hit a total of seven times.
Trent Brown had another penalty, his 11th on the season, and Cole Strange missed a block on Cam Sample and let the Cincy defensive end trip up Jones on a third-and-5.
The offensive line has been an issue all season, and they're running out of time to get it right.
Ups
Mac Jones shines late
It was too little, too late in the end, but at least there were some signs of life from the New England offense in the fourth quarter.
Mac Jones outplayed Joe Burrow in the second half and actually uncorked a few deep passes. He racked up 200 of his 240 passing yards in the second half. He had a nice deep connection with Kendrick Bourne, and could have had another on a nice deep look that Tyquan Thornton dropped. Mac's 48-yard touchdown pass that was tipped to Jakobi Meyers required some luck, but showed off the QB's arm strength.
Jones' fourth quarter play silenced the chants for Bailey Zappe, and was a big positive from an otherwise disappointing loss.
And as an added bonus, Jones didn't have any meltdowns during the game. At least none that were caught on camera.
Marcus Jones is awesome
This kid is special. His 69-yard pick-six off Burrow in the third quarter got the comeback started, and he now has touchdowns on offense, defense, and special teams this season. Not too shabby for a rookie.
He also recovered Ja'Marr Chase's fumble in the fourth quarter. He appeared to get banged up on the play, but was back on the field -- on offense -- a short time later, picking up 15 yards on a short pass by Mac Jones.
"I don't think you can ask more from a guy. But every week, we do, and he delivers," Matthew Judon said of Jones after the game.
Again: This kid is special.
Kendrick Bourne
This is an up and a down. Bourne was great on Saturday, leading the offense with six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. He also had a 29-yard run.
In the drive that ended with his five-yard touchdown, Bourne also had receptions of 19 and 32 yards -- both of which came on third down.
He also had a gorgeous toe-tap grab down the sideline for 28 yards on the team's fourth-quarter touchdown drive.
Bourne seems to make things happen when he's on the field. This is where that "down" comes in, since we keep wondering why the heck the Patriots haven't unleashed him more throughout the year. Mac Jones clearly loves throwing to him, so let it happen.
It's going to be one of the many second guesses that haunt Patriots fans when the offseason arrives.
