Ups & Downs: Patriots Special Teams Not Very Special In Loss To Eagles
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots had a late comeback bid against the Eagles, but fell to 10-2 on the season with their second straight defeat. It was simply a terrible game for the Patriots, one that could come back to haunt them in a big way when the calendar turns to 2016.
Bill Belichick summed it up nicely: "Overall, we didn't do anything well enough today."
Well enough is one thing, but there were plenty of things the Patriots didn't do at all. There were missed assignments on special teams, bad routes run by receivers and bad throws by Tom Brady. The communication was severely lacking for New England, so we'll start our Ups & Downs with the Downs. And so much went wrong, we're going to throw out the normal four-and-four format to break down all that went wrong.
Downs
Special Teams
Up 14-0 in the second quarter, Bill Belichick went for the kill but instead gave the Eagles life and momentum. He called for a pooch/drop kick by Nate Ebner, hoping to catch the Eagles off guard and give his offense the ball back. Instead, the Eagles recovered and took advantage of the great field position, marching 59 yards in eight plays to make it a 14-7 game. It was a very puzzling call by Belichick, who said he didn't think there was much risk at the time.
That play ended up turning the momentum completely, and the Eagles were off and flying.
"I just tried to put it into space and make it an element of surprise, but they were prepared for what we threw at them and credit to the Eagles for reacting so quickly to that one," Ebner said after the game.
Then just seconds before halftime, after the Patriots' offense didn't do anything with the ball, rookie Geneo Grissom missed his block on a punt, allowing Chris Maragose to blow through the line and block Ryan Allen's kick. Najee Goode picked up the ball and marched into the end zone, and all of a sudden it was a 14-14 game at halftime.
If those two blunders weren't enough, they gave up an 83-yard punt return touchdown to Darren Sproles in the third quarter. In all it was an uncharacteristically terrible game for the New England special teams.
Doing Nothing Before Halftime
The Patriots offense was a mess ahead of halftime. It's not easy running the two-minute drill without their normal arsenal of weapons, but the Patriots are known for taking advantage of that final possession before half. They looked content with just letting the clock run out, and then paid for it when Allen's punt was blocked.
Red Zone Offense
Brady threw a pick at the goal line, which was brought back 99 yards to give the Eagles a 21-14 lead.
"It was just a dumb play," Brady said after the game. "There was really not much chance at a completion, so I should have found someone else or thrown it out of the end zone. It was just a bad play."
James White was tackled at the one-yard line two plays before, and had he made it in this game could have gone much, much different. Don't take that as blaming White, because Brady threw into double coverage, but White was hit for a four-yard loss on that play.
The box score reads 4/5 for the Patriots in the red zone, but that one missed opportunity made all the difference in this one.
Brandon LaFell
LaFell had a bad game, finishing with four receptions for 27 yards on nine targets. Though Brady said he was trying to throw the ball away, and took all the blame, he threw it in LaFell's direction on that deep interception in the third quarter. It looked like a communication breakdown between the two, unless Brady was actually trying to throw that one way.
Either way, LaFell looked to give up on a few of his routes and he had a big drop on the final drive as the Patriots attempted to come back. He's got to be better.
Brady Keeps Getting Crushed
Brady admitted that he made some pretty bad throws in this one, but he was under pressure for most of the day. He was sacked four more times and was hit a total of 13 times on Sunday.
In the last three games, Brady has been sacked eight times and hit 32 times. Ouch.
The Standings
The Bengals beat the tar out of the Browns and the Broncos beat the Chargers on Sunday. As it stands, the Patriots are now in third place in the AFC and no longer have a first-round bye.
However, the Broncos and Bengals play each other in three weeks, so the Patriots have that going for them. But this loss means their margin of error is now razor-thin if they want a week off at the end of the season.
Ups
Can't Blame The D
Overall, the defense played pretty well taking everything into consideration. As Belichick pointed out after the game, it's hard to win a game when your team gives up 21 points when the defense is on the sideline.
They did give up a pair of touchdowns on third down and made Sam Bradford look like a somewhat decent quarterback (he made the plays when he needed to), but the Pats' D was put in some pretty tough situations. They didn't quit, as was evident when Jamie Collins stripped the ball from running back Kenjon Barner to give the offense one final shot at pulling even with Philadelphia.
Danny's Back
Danny Amendola returned after missing last week's loss in Denver with a knee injury, and was his usual go-to self with seven receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Brady The Receiver
It didn't really matter as he threw an interception on the next play, but it's always something when Brady pretends to be a receiver. He picked up his second career reception on a trick play in the third that got New England 36 yards. It was a direct snap to James White, who tossed it to Amendola, who found Brady streaking (slowly streaking) down the sidelines.
But he didn't throw it away enough/couldn't hit LaFell on the next play and the ball was back in the hands of the Eagles, leading to a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that gave Philly a 35-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
