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.

Worst Pats Season In 20 Years Fittingly Ends On A Bad Note As Their Top Draft Pick Drops To No. 15

 

    So this is what it's like to cheer for most other teams in the NFL? The last day of the regular season rolled around today and after the Patriots (7-9 overall, 5-3 home) stupidly beat the hapless Jets (2-14 overall, 1-7 away) 28-14 at snowy Gillette Stadium, we have nothing else to look forward to now-at least when it comes to our favorite football team-but the draft and free agency which are both months away. Woof. In what was hopefully his last game for New England, quarterback Cam Newton (21-of-30 for 242 yards, 3 TDs; 79 yards rushing; 19-yd TD catch) had perhaps his best performance in an otherwise terrible season (for him and the team). New York was already locked into the No. 2 pick (Ohio State QB Justin Fields?) and shortly after this most meaningless of affairs was over, they fired their woefully-overmatched head coach Adam Gase (he was 9-23 in 2 seasons in charge). 

    With a loss and some help from other teams with similar records, New England could have reached as high as the No. 10 pick in the first round (when's the last time they were up that high?) but they couldn't even do that right as the victory gave them their worst possible scenario-the 15th pick on April 29. As you would expect, there really was no new information to glean from this glorified fourth preseason game other than the fact that the Patriots should avoid Jets quarterback Sam Darnold (23-of-34 for 266 yards, TD, 2 INTs) at all costs if he becomes available because he stinks. Oh and Jarrett Stidham never saw the field this afternoon which tells you everything about what Pats head coach Bill Belichick thinks of him at this point. 

    If you were hoping for a Patriots loss like I was (along with any other halfwit Pats fan), the first half and much of the third quarter were promising. You knew right off the jump that it would be a weird one as running back James White caught a seven-yard touchdown from Cam on the first drive of the contest but Jets tight end Chris Herndon snagged a 21-yard touchdown from Darnold in the second quarter to make it 7-7 at halftime. NFL Films no doubt will fast-track the highlights of this instant classic to make some big money. New York scored on the first drive of the second half as running back Josh Adams found the end zone on a one-yard run. New York led 14-7 for most of the frame until New England's offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels went into his bag of tricks (polishing his resume and LinkedIn page before he finally leaves here again for another head coaching job?) and called for wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (6 catches for 68 yards on 7 targets) to toss a 19-yard touchdown to Newton. Did you know that Meyers played quarterback at NC State? Me neither, I just found that out today (JK!). 

    Things really started to go off the rails in the fourth quarter as you could hear the Jets' team bus starting up in the background. Rookie tight end Devin Asiasi picked a fine time to make the first two catches of his NFL career including a 26-yard TD from Cam. Would you believe that was the first touchdown catch of the season for any Patriots tight end? You couldn't even make up that horrifying stat if you tried. Running back Sony Michel (76 yards rushing; 60 yards receiving) similarly chose to show off and in the process, to do something that he'd never done in three years in the NFL (!): he caught a pass and went 31 yards for his first TD catch. Three Patriots defensive players were able to pad their stats as well with cornerbacks J.C. Jackson (his 9th of the season, tied with Ty Law in 1998 for 2nd most in team history) and Jonathan Jones each notching an interception and defensive end Chase Winovich (6 tackles, 4 solo, 2 sacks, pass deflected, 3 QB hits) had his best game of this fruitless season.

    The scariest part about this rebuild for the Patriots is that it feels like they are miles away from winning the AFC East anytime soon let alone compete for a Super Bowl title (which used to be the main focus in these parts) since the Bills (13-3) and Dolphins (10-6) are way more talented and just getting started after years of laying down to New England year after year. Belichick is still one of the better head coaches in the league-not that he really showed it in 2020-but his constant failures as a GM have really come back to bite him and the franchise lately. Also, do you believe at this point in his Hall of Fame career that he will allow any other prominent voices in the room that heaven forbid might have a slightly different opinion on something than him? Probably not since both of his sons are assistant coaches along with one of his favorite ex-players (Jerod Mayo) that he coached here. 

    For weeks, we've been told over and over how much cap space the Pats have available going into next season but honestly, when is the last time they aggressively went out in free agency and spent top dollar to get one of the best players (a crazy concept, I know)? The unfortunate reality is that having Tom Brady for so long was a smokescreen for so many other flaws on the roster and in terms of Belichick's stubborn style of coaching that feels very outdated for the millennials in 2021. The only way any of this will change in the near future is if they get a legitimate quarterback and we saw how badly they whiffed this year with Newton and Stidham. Does that give you any hope that they'll strike gold next time? Getting Brady in the sixth round is like winning Powerball, the odds of anything like that ever happening again to you are basically impossible. 

The Unthinkable Happens: The Patriots Get Outplayed All Game & Lose 18-12 To The Broncos

 

    I'll admit that in the last few weeks leading up to this matchup that was delayed twice before finally taking place today that I never took the Broncos (2-3) seriously. Shame on me since Denver came to Gillette Stadium this afternoon and led from start to finish in an incredibly ugly 18-12 (which is typically a final score from a gross Massachusetts high school football game!) victory. This debacle will be remembered as one of the worst performances of the Bill Belichick era and it was extra painful because it came on the same day that Tom Brady and the Bucs (4-2) destroyed the Packers (4-1) 38-10 and Jimmy Garropolo and the Niners (3-3) held off the Rams (4-2) 24-16. I refuse to cite New England's lack of practices lately as an excuse since not only was Denver playing under the same crappy circumstances but they also had to fly across the country during a pandemic and without two of their best offensive players (tight end Noah Fant and running back Melvin Gordon). 

    At age 23 Broncos quarterback Drew Lock (10-of-24 for 189 yards) became the youngest QB ever to beat Belichick which is a bit misleading since he did everything in his power (including throwing two awful interceptions in the 4th quarter) to let the Pats back in it but they fittingly couldn't complete the improbable comeback as Cam Newton (17-of-25 for 157 yards, 2 INTs; 76 yards rushing, TD) was pressured and misfired to N'Keal Harry (0 catches on 2 targets) on 4th-and-10 from the Denver 24-yard-line with 59 seconds left in regulation. New England's offensive line is a mess between injuries and positive Covid-19 tests so it's no wonder that the Broncos sacked Newton four times as they constantly pressured him all game long. 

    It's tough to win a football game at any level without scoring a single touchdown yet that's just what the Broncos did. Their kicker Brandon McManus received a huge contract extension right before this season started and I'd say that was money well spent since he went a perfect 6-for-6 today including a 52-yard field goal and a 54-yard field goal. The Patriots' lack of weapons really hurt them as once again, when Cam gets bottled up, they don't have any other options to count on. It was a strange day all around as Julian Edelman went 2-of-2 for 38 yards passing the ball in the fourth quarter which was much better than his invisible outing as a wideout (2 catches on 8 targets for 8 yards). Newton was the only Patriot that could run the ball and truth be told, exactly half of his yardage came on a single 38-yard carry. Likewise, James White (8 catches, 65 yards) was their only guy that could get anything done in the passing game.

    Both teams were under 300 total yards but at least the Broncos had a pair of players-running back Phillip Lindsay (23 carries, 101 yards) and wide receiver Tim Patrick (4 catches, 101 yards)-who each went over 100 yards. Denver's red zone offense was atrocious and its lack of execution was the main reason that the Patriots were able make it somewhat interesting at the end. McManus had a pair of field goals in the first quarter then two more in the second quarter sandwiched around New England's first points (a 41-yard kick by Nick Folk) for a 12-3 halftime lead for the visitors. Things didn't get better in the third quarter for the Pats as Izzo summed up the miserable day when he fumbled after a 16-yard catch and run. Needless to say that with the NFL trade deadline coming up on November 3rd, New England could use a bunch of things: tight end, wide receiver, offensive lineman, linebacker, defensive lineman, etc.

    Newton had the only touchdown of the game, a 1-yard sneak midway through the fourth quarter that cut it to 18-9 before he was stopped trying to run it in for a two-point conversion. The Pats defense gave their team a chance as J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones picked off Lock on back-to-back possessions. Folk's 38-yard field goal provided the final points of the game. A sign of these bizarre times: the last time that New England was under .500 this far into a season was way back in 2002. The Bills (4-1) host the Chiefs (4-1) tomorrow night (5, ESPN) and the Dolphins (3-3) blanked the Jets (0-6) aka the worst team in the the league 24-0 this afternoon so the Patriots are currently in third-place in the AFC East. 

    It won't get any easier as the NFC champion 49ers (3-3) come to Gillette next Sunday afternoon (4:25, CBS). San Francisco had been a bit of a mess but they picked up an impressive 24-16 win vs. the Rams (4-2) tonight in Sunday Night Football and Garropolo (23-of-33 for 268 yards, 3 TDs) looked great after he was pulled in last week's loss. Niners tight end George Kittle (7 catches, 109 yards, TD today) is a matchup nightmare and the best in the league at his position so good luck stopping that monster. This is not a very talented roster so Belichick along with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Jerod Mayo have their work cut out for them to turn this group of spare parts into a playoff team. Still, they should never be this bad no matter who opted out of this season, how many injuries or Covid-19 cases they get nor if their practice schedule gets completely out of whack.