The Patriots dropped to 3-8 last Sunday, continuing their streak of not having back-to-back wins all year. It was a disappointing game, in which the offense and defense each had their moments but ultimately couldn’t put it together as a whole. In the end, Matt Stafford’s four touchdowns through the air paired with Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua’s hundred-yard days sank the Patriots, 28-22.
Offensively, this was the best Drake Maye has looked in my eyes. Particularly through the first quarter, Maye had several eye-catching plays. This included a strike to Pop Douglas for a catch and run of 28 yards on a third down, which would finish with a pass from Maye to Kendrick Bourne for six.
After not playing a snap last week, Bourne recorded five grabs for 70 yards and a score, a very respectable total and the team’s most productive receiver on the day. The tight ends came to play again, with Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper each contributing,10 catches and 98 yards between the two of them. The same can’t be said for rookie wide out Ja’Lynn Polk, who ended the day without a single target, and for the third time in the last four games, he ended the day without a catch. The 37th pick has just 11 receptions for 80 yards through 10 games this season.
With the release of Tyquan Thornton mid-week and K.J. Osborn’s omission from the game day roster, it looked like there may have been a chance for Polk to produce, but no cigar. For yet another week, the team couldn’t run the ball effectively, with Rhamondre Stevenson managing under four a carry. Offensive Coordinator Alex Van Pelt should receive some credit for his play calling, though, as Maye found left tackle Vederian Lowe wide open in the endzone for a score to keep the game close in the fourth quarter. While the unit only managed 22 points, Maye certainly showed some things to build on with a second 300 total yard performance in the last three weeks. By no means was the offense perfect, but they weren’t the centerpiece of the problem the team faced this week.
Defensively, the Patriots were slightly undermanned, particularly across the defensive line. Deatrich Wise missed the game with a foot injury while safety Marte Mapu and defensive tackle Jaquelin Roy, both key pieces to the unit as of late, each missed the game with neck injuries.
This was no excuse for allowing yardage as easily as they did, however.
After such an excellent week against Chicago, the secondary looked helpless against the Rams, who picked on Marcus and Jonathan Jones all day. Nacua had a field day, recording six of his seven catches in the first half with well over a hundred yards and a touchdown in just the first two quarters.
Kupp was the star of the second half, with a 69-yard catch and run to open the third. The defensive backfield struggled tremendously, with Marcus Jones in the spotlight, similar to his struggles against Garrett Wilson and the Jets a few weeks ago. Slot cornerback is proving to be an area that will likely need some fortifying in the offseason, as the aging Jonathan Jones has seemingly moved to both the boundary and safety at different points this year.
While I excused the defensive line a bit for their struggles given the pair of injuries, Kyren Williams still ripped off almost six yards per carry, far too much to excuse fully. The linebackers were far out of their depth too, with Christian Elliss desperately struggling to tackle in space or cover Colby Parkinson on the Rams’ fourth touchdown of the game. The defense as a whole struggled, and DeMarcus Covington’s scheme looked very out of place for this quick pass Rams offense. While they did make a key stop to give the Patriots one last chance (which ended in Maye’s game losing interception), they were very poor for the most part.
I go back and forth each week with whether to include a special team section, but there were enough ebbs and flows this week where I felt it was necessary. Javon Baker opened the game with a nice kick return to around the 45, so I’ll give him some credit there. Slye’s kickoffs looked solid and so did punt and kick coverage. However, the real stinger was the blocked extra point following the Lowe touchdown, which kept the game a two-point affair, making the final minutes a whole lot more challenging for the team. Nonetheless, aside from the blocked kick I thought Springer’s guys did an okay job.
Next week, the Patriots will take on Miami for the second time this year, facing a divisional opponent on the road. This will be Maye’s first time against Tua and company, as both teams will have new QB’s compared to their first game, which ended in a 15-10 Dolphins win. I’d expect the Patriots to keep the game reasonably close but lose 27-18 during the one o’clock window this week.