For The First Time Since 2000, The Patriots Have Started 0-2 At Gillette Stadium This Season

 

    Today's 28-13 loss by the Patriots (1-2) to the Saints (2-1) at Gillette Stadium was a bad enough result on the surface but more troubling is the fact that it could have been much worse. New Orleans' kicker Aldrick Rosas missed a pair of field goals which hardly mattered since New England's sputtering offense never got in gear. The lack of playmakers on both sides of the ball for the Patriots is getting downright scary, where are you Stephon Gilmore? Rookie quarterback Mac Jones (30-of-51 for 270 yards, TD, 3 INTs) had his worst day as a pro but it wasn't all his fault since Pats tight end Jonnu Smith gifted a pick-six right to Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins that went back 34 yards on the first play of the second half. At 21-3 in favor of the visitors it was all but over even with that much time left on the clock. 

    This was one game against an NFC opponent so I don't want to be super negative about everything but New Orleans is nothing more than a slightly above average team this year. You kept waiting for the Saints' bozo quarterback Jameis Winston to make his usual fatal mistake except he threw a pair of touchdown passes and he never turned the ball over. The Patriots sacked him three times (2.5 from linebacker Matt Judon) but they also allowed a combined 118 yards (89 rushing & 29 receving) to New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara-the guy that everybody knew was the only offensive player that Pats head coach Bill Belichick and Co. had to gameplan for. 

    Former legendary New England receiver Julian Edelman was honored at halftime and honestly he deserved better in terms of the poor effort that unfolded in front of him by his old teammates and coaches. The Saints had the only points in the first quarter, an 11-yard touchdown pass from Winston to a wide open Kamara. New Orleans doubled its lead late in the second quarter as Winston threw the ball up to the back of the end zone and somehow a very covered Saints receiver Marquez Callaway came down with it for a seven-yard touchdown catch. New England avoided being shut out in the first half by virtue of a 45-yard field goal by Nick Folk with 34 seconds left in the second quarter. 

    Down 18 in the third quarter (and with James White sidelined with a hip injury), Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels thought that was the perfect time to let special teamer Brandon Bolden get a few red zone carries. Shockingly that drive stalled out with the Pats settling for a 26-yard field goal by Folk that cut it to 21-6 Saints late in the third quarter. New England briefly made it competitive in the fourth quarter with Jones repeatedly connecting with wide receiver Kendrick Bourne (6 catches, career-high 96 yards) including a sweet 22-yard touchdown catch on the sideline where Bourne was able to keep his balance and stay inbounds before reaching the end zone. This was the same player who had a combined three catches and six targets his first two games as a Patriot, I don't know maybe find a way to get him a little more involved? Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (9 catches, 94 yards) is the only other trustworthy option for Jones since New England's expensive tight end signings Hunter Henry and Smith thus far are each looking like busts. 

    To close it out, the Saints played keep away with the ball (for nearly 7 minutes) from the Pats and they let backup quarterback/battering ram Taysom Hill deliver the final blow-a 7-yard touchdown run. Earlier on that drive he had hurdled over Patriots safety Devin McCourty. Hill is a good player but I'm pretty sure if he does that to you, you have to retire on the spot. Yeesh. We all dreamed of New England being 3-0 or 2-1 with Tom Brady and the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers (2-1) coming to Foxborough next Sunday night (8:20 p.m., NBC) but that's not how it turned out. To make matters worse, the Bucs lost 34-24 in LA this afternoon against the impressive Rams (3-0) as if TB12 needed any more juice in his first return to face Belichick and the franchise that he put on the map. The whole region and most of the sporting world will be tuning in but I fear that it is going to be a very ugly night for the Patriots. 

UPDATE 9/29: ESPN's Adam Schefter reported this afternoon that White will miss the rest of the season with a hip injury, ugh poor guy. 

Zach Wilson (4 INTs) Implodes As The Patriots Roll To A 25-6 Victory Against The Hapless Jets

 

    There are few certainties in life anymore except the fact that the Jets (0-2) will be a doormat for the rest of eternity. The Patriots (1-1) were the lucky team that got to face New York this afternoon at MetLife Stadium. After a decent debut last week in a 19-14 loss at the Panthers (2-0), Jets rookie quarterback Zach Wilson-the No. 2 pick in the draft-was a complete disaster as he threw interceptions on his first two pass attempts and ended up with four interceptions for the game as New England cruised to an easy 25-6 win. 

    It was not pretty but Pats rookie quarterback Mac Jones (22-of-30 for 186 yards) didn't turn the ball over. The Patriots' defense added four sacks of Wilson while running back James White ran for a seven-yard touchdown and running back Damien Harris had the play of the game with a 26-yard TD run early in the third quarter (that made it 19-3 Pats) where he carried a host of Jets into the end zone before receiving a final push over the goal line by Jones and his offensive linemen. Pats kicker Nick Folk missed a PAT but nobody will remember that since he hit four field goals (46, 49, 32, 26). 

    If you are looking for troubling trends two games into the season with the Patriots, their offensive line is a bit of a mess (Jones got sacked three times) with right tackle Trent Brown out with a calf injury, their run defense stinks (they allowed 152 yards to New York) and their red zone offense leaves something to be desired. Still, Buffalo (1-1) destroyed Miami (1-1) 35-0 this afternoon meaning that three AFC East teams are all 1-1 while the Jets fittingly are alone in the basement. The Bills figure to pull away from the Dolphins and Patriots at some point later this season while New York will probably be one of the worst teams in the NFL yet again. 

    It was a good day to have New England's defense in fantasy football as cornerback J.C. Jackson had a pair of interceptions while safeties Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips also added picks and linebacker Josh Uche sacked Wilson twice. It was one of those situations where you could wonder if the Pats defense was that stout or if they simply took advantage of some awful mistakes by Wilson? This was never really that competitive as the visitors led 10-0 after the first quarter and 13-3 at halftime then 22-3 after three quarters. Time will tell who has the better NFL career-Jones or Wilson-but it is ironic that Jones' first NFL victory came at the expense of another highly-touted rookie in his draft class. 

    Next Sunday afternoon (1, FOX), the Pats return to Gillette Stadium where they will try to get their first home win of 2021 against the Saints (1-1). After embarassing the Packers 38-3 in Week 1 behind five touchdown passes from mercurial quarterback Jameis Winston, New Orleans came crashing back to Earth this afternoon with a 26-7 loss at Carolina. The Saints still have a bunch of great players and head coach Sean Payton is regarded as one of the best in the league so the Pats should have their hands full trying to get another win.

The Patriots Fumbled Away Their Season Opener Against The Dolphins But Mac Jones Looked Good

 

    Replacing the greatest quarterback of all-time (Tom Brady) is impossible but Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones proved today in his NFL debut that he beat out Cam Newton this summer for a reason and he gives New England plenty of hope for the future. We should be talking about a victory by the Pats but unfortunately, running back Damien Harris (100 yards rushing, 17 yards receiving) lost a fumble deep in Miami territory that was recovered by Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard and that allowed the visitors to walk out of Gillette Stadium with a 17-16 win. For his part, Jones (29 of 39 for 281 yards, 1 TD) outplayed his former Alabama teammate Tua Tagovailoa (16 of 27 for 202 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; rushing TD) but the Patriots repeatedly beat themselves by losing a pair of fumbles (rookie running back Rhamondre Stevenson had the other following a 2-yard catch) and piling up three more penalties than Miami (8-5) for way more yardage (84-28). 

    By almost any other measure, you would have thought that the Pats had won this game: they accumulated 134 more total yards (393-259), they had eight more first downs (24-16) and they possessed the ball for over 13 minutes more than the Dolphins (36:43-23:17). With their best player-cornerback Stephon Gilmore-still sidelined with a quad injury leftover from last season (plus he's not thrilled with his contract situation)-New England's defense lacked playmakers. Granted, linebackers Kyle Van Noy (2 tackles, assist) and Josh Uche each notched sacks and cornerback Jonathan Jones made a timely interception of Tagovailoa (after linebacker Matt Judon destroyed Tua) that should have led to a game-winning drive for the home team. 

    Neither offense ever really looked too dangerous but Tua ran for a three-yard touchdown with 5:29 left in the first quarter to give Miami a 7-0 lead following Jason Sanders' PAT. New England's offense started to come alive a bit in the second quarter as they settled for a 27-yard field goal by Nick Folk with 10:17 left in the frame (after Jones rushed a third down throw to Jakobi Meyers) and then Mac found wide receiver Nelson Agholor (5 catches, 72 yards) with a seven-yard touchdown pass on a quick slant for his first career NFL touchdown. Folk's PAT gave the Pats a 10-7 lead but Sanders hit a 48-yard field goal as the first half expired to knot things up at 10. 

    Another rookie Alabama product made a big play as Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle caught a 3-yard touchdown from Tagovailoa as Miami marched down the field (9 plays, 75 yards, 4:09) to start the second half and grabbed a 17-10 advantage. The Patriots' offense could only manage a pair of Folk field goals (from 42 yards in the third quarter and 33 yards in the fourth quarter) the rest of the way. New England's defense tightened up in the second half as they did not allow another point following the Waddle score but it still wasn't enough to come out on top. Jones was never sacked and he had zero turnovers which helped him finish with an impressive quarterback rating of 102.6. He just turned 23 years old last week but he looks poised beyond his years in terms of calmness in the pocket and knowing where to put the ball to safely get it to his teammates in good spots. 

    The schedule should help Jones and his team out next week as they travel to MetLife Stadium next Sunday afternoon (1, CBS) to face another rookie quarterback Zach Wilson and the Jets (0-1). New York fell 19-14 in their opener at Carolina against their former quarterback Sam Darnold. Wilson was pretty good in his NFL debut as well, going 20-of-37 for 258 yards, 2 TDs (both to Corey Davis) and 1 INT. Still, the Jets figure to be one of the worst teams in the NFL so if the Pats have any desire to get return to the postseason after missing it last year, they need to beat New York twice in 2021 since none of the other AFC East matchups will be more than a toss-up. Anything can happen week to week in the NFL but the Jets are as close to a sure thing as you'll find in terms of a cupcake opponent. 1-1 would look a hell of a lot better than 0-2 for New England so we will have to see what Week 2 brings for Mac Jones and Co.

Thank You Hunter Renfroe For Not Letting The Red Sox Get Swept By The Rays Yet Again In 2021

 

There is a reason that I haven't written about the Red Sox in weeks: between an absurd Covid-19 outbreak and a mostly pathetic stretch of performances, they gave me absolutely no motivation to even mention them. Tonight at least was different though as Boston (80-62 overall, 44-29 home) held off Tampa Bay (88-52 overall, 43-26 away) 2-1 at Fenway Park. The victory allowed the Sox to avoid the three-game sweep at the hands of the Rays (who finished 11-8 against them in the regular season) while also inching past the floundering Yankees (78-61) for the top AL Wild Card spot. As you can guess from the final score, Boston got some brilliant pitching from starter Nathan Eovaldi (7 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 8 Ks, 2 BBs) and Hansel Robles of all people had a scoreless ninth inning with two strikeouts to record his 12th save of the season. 

    With that said, there is no question who the main star of this game was for the Red Sox: it had to be right fielder Hunter Renfroe. He hit a go-ahead two-run homer (his 27th of the season) in the eighth inning that also plated pinch hitter Kyle Schwarber and had not one but two outfield assists (he leads MLB with 16 of them this season). The second one could not have been more dramatic either since he threw out Tampa third baseman Joey Wendle at third base trying to stretch a double into a triple. It was a killer mistake by Wendle because it was the final out of the game, ouch babe! Haha what a way to lose granted the Rays have plenty of cushion with the second best record in MLB.

    After Rays starter Shane McLanahan pitched five scoreless innings, Tampa Bay finally struck first in the eighth inning as designated hitter Nelson Cruz knocked in second baseman Brandon Lowe (2 hits, run, walk, stolen base) with an RBI double to temporarily put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0. The Red Sox took control in the bottom of the eighth inning as Renfroe crushed a two-run blast (his 27th of the season) off reliver JT Chargois (5-1) and entirely over the green monster. With closer Matt Barnes out for a long time with Covid-19, it's been a complete mess for the Sox when it comes to the ninth inning and having a lead this season. After Josh Taylor and Garrett Richards (7-7) combined to survive the eighth inning and only trail by a run, Robles was who got the call for the save opporunity with other options either out for the moment or way overworked (Garrett Whitlock and Adam Ottavino say hello).    

    Boston is nine games behind Tampa Bay but we have known for a long time that the AL East was all but clinched by the Rays. The AL Wild Card is the best race in baseball with Boston a half game ahead of the Yankees, 1.5 games in front of Toronto (who has won their last seven games in a row), 2.5 games ahead of the Mariners (76-64) and three games ahead of Oakland (75-64). After an off day on Thursday, the Red Sox begin a brutal six-game road trip against the White Sox (80-59) for three games followed by three games at Seatlle. Boston is only three games above .500 (36-33) on the road this season so that is in jeopardy of falling below .500 if this trip goes sideways. There is no question that the White Sox are one of the best teams in baseball while the Mariners are currently one of the hottest so each club promises to be a handful for the Red Sox to deal with at the moment.