Patriots Lose To Saints; Fall To 1-2 On The Season

By: Steve Atkinson

The Patriots lost to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday 28-13. The Patriots did absolutely nothing in the first quarter. The defense was terrible, the offense couldn’t move the ball, and the special teams had a blocked punt. Just an overall bad day for the Patriots in general. Not sure how you can lose like the way they did today and expect to win next week. With Brady and the Bucs coming to New England that game could be over by halftime.

Patriots Lose A Tough One At Home

First Mac Jones isn’t the main problem with this offense. His offensive line blows and they need Trent Brown back desperately. He’s getting hit way too much and is going to get hurt. He obviously has a knee injury which explains the brace. But, if they don’t protect him better Jones won’t make it through the season. Second the tight ends. They spent a lot of money on getting Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry and both are mediocre at best. Smith was awful today. He had a least four drops. Even the wide receivers are average between Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Aghlor. They aren’t anything special really. For a team that spent a lot in the offseason, they have a lot of work to do.

The playcalling today was questionable as well. Where was Damien Harris? Mac Jones had the most rushing yards than any running back today. Why is that? Harris who had pretty good two weeks wasn’t even used much today. The Patriots put a nice drive together at the end of the first half and decided to hand it off to Brandon Bolden a few times for no gain. This team has the possibility to be going 1-3 to start the season.

Mac Jones will get better you can see the potential. He had some overthrows today and passes that should’ve been caught. He tried to keep them in the game in the second half but the defense let them down and the Saints scored another touchdown to make 28-13.  This is what Bill Belichick said after the loss on Sunday.

“We’ve just got to play more consistently,” Belichick said. “We’ve got to play with more good plays out there and not as many that aren’t good. That’s what we have to do. We had some chances, but in the end, we just couldn’t get it done. It’s disappointing. There’s no magic sauce here. Just have to go back to work and do better.”

I think this game the Patriots really needed to win because there is not a chance they win next week. All the attention will be focused on Brady/Belichick drama and not about actual football. The Patriots will have to stay in their lane and avoid the headlines as much as possible. They are the best at ignoring the noise but the majority of the reason why was because they had the greatest of all time at quarterback. Now, that he is on the other side they really have no leader they once had.

But they do have something in Mac Jones. I like his poise and steps up in the pocket. He takes ownership for his mistakes and doesn’t blame others. He is a great competitor and I think he will be a great leader someday. Honestly, after hearing what his teammates say he is already taking the leadership role very well.

After the Bucs game, the Patriots should be able to win the following three. They play the Texans, Cowboys, and Jets. They could be 4-3 by the middle of October. Things right now may seem uneasy with this team, but I think the more experience Jones gets the better the offense will click around him.