The Patriots (6-6) Are Finally Back To The .500 Mark After Destroying The Hapless Chargers 45-0

 

    2020 has brought all of us many unexpected (and mostly terrible things) but I can confidently say that I never saw a 45-0 Patriots victory transpiring in this worst year in modern human history. Enter New England (6-6 overall, 2-4 on the road) who are playing their best football of the season as they won for the fourth time in the last five games by going into SoFi Stadium and completely embarrassing the Chargers (3-9 overall, 2-4 at home). Just how bad was it for the home team? Well it goes down as the worst (by point-margin) defeat in franchise history. Head coach Anthony Lynn was already on the hot seat before this steaming dump of a performance and this turned out to be so ugly, that would anybody be the least bit surprised to hear that he's been fired tomorrow or later on this week? 

    It figured to at least be a relatively close game that LA would inevitably cough up at the end (their trademark if you will under Lynn is losing one-score games) but rookie quarterback sensation Justin Herbert (26-of-53 for 209 yards, 2 INTs) had by far his worst game as a pro that should cool down his Rookie of the Year campaign just a bit. On a related note, I have no idea why he played the entire contest when he represents both the present and the future of that perennial losing team. Patriots rookie wide receiver/human emoji Gunner Olszewski had never scored an NFL touchdown so obviously he found the end zone not once but twice on the day thanks to a 70-yard punt return in the second quarter and a 38-yard catch-and-run from Jarrett Stidham (!!!) deep into garbage time in the fourth quarter. 

    Patriots quarterback Cam Newton (12-of-19 for 69 yards, TD; 48 yards rushing, 2 TDs) did not have to do all that much besides a pair of short touchdown runs (1-yard and 2-yards) and a five-yard touchdown pass to everyone's favorite bust wide receiver N'Keal Harry in the third quarter. Down 21-0 on the last play of the first half, Lynn chose to go for a 58-yard field goal attempt that immediately backfired in the worst possible way as something called Cody Davis on the Pats blocked it and safety Devin McCourty returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. Haha unbelievable, this felt like the good old days of New England sucking the life out of an overmatched opponent in hilarious fashion.

    Olszewski ironically had a punt return for a touchdown called back last week vs. Arizona so it was nice to see him get rewarded right away after that tough break. Patriots defensive end Chase Winovich made a beautiful diving interception (his 1st in the NFL) while cornerback J.C. Jackson also picked off an errant throw by Herbert for his NFL-best seventh pick of the season. Normally, I could care less about the Pro Bowl (the stupidest All-Star game in pro sports) but with that said, Jackson has to be a Pro Bowler this season, who could have believed he would do this? The Patriots are staying in California since they have a very quick turnaround as they visit the Rams (8-4 overall, 4-1 at home) on Thursday night (8:20, Fox). LA's real team beat Arizona (6-6) 38-28 this afternoon and Seattle (8-4) shockingly lost to the Giants (5-7) so the Rams are now in first-place in the NFC West-the best division in the NFL.

    Thursday Night Football is usually trash but at least this matchup is extra intriguing because these teams last met in the Super Bowl two years ago (won 13-3 by Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Pats). Rams head coach Sean McVay and his mercurial quarterback Jared Goff are having a good season after they were both a mess last year (can you say Super Bowl hangover?). New England's defense has really stepped up lately so it will be interesting to see if McVay can find a way to solve whatever Belichick decides to throw at them this time. They still probably have to win out and finish 10-6 to have a realistic shot at the playoffs since the teams ahead of them in the AFC don't seem to be losing much but regardless of that, the Patriots deserve serious credit for giving us a season after all hope looked lost multiple times following brutal losses to Denver, San Francisco and Houston.

Today In Depressing Pats News: Julian Edelman Had Knee Surgery & Is Out For Sunday vs. Buffalo

 

    The weather the last few days in New England has been pretty miserable (cold and rainy) which feels fitting for the dark cloud that has been surrounding the Patriots (2-4) over the past few weeks during their three-game losing streak. This afternoon brought the revelation that the team's best wide receiver-Julian Edelman-is out for this Sunday's (1, CBS) must-win at Buffalo (5-2) and probably a few more weeks after he underwent a "precautionary knee procedure" this morning. With the NFL trade deadline coming up on Election Day (next Tuesday at 4 pm) this ensures that at least Edelman isn't going anywhere for the rest of the season. 

    Watching him in 2020, you knew that something was up with Edelman's health since after his career-high 179 yards in the Week 2 loss at Seattle, he has been a ghost. During this slide, he has a combined six catches for 56 yards which makes sense when you realize that New England has scored just 28 points in those three setbacks. Given his age (34), smallish size and with his BF Tom Brady thriving in Tampa Bay, you figured that this would be a rough campaign for Edelman. Whenever he retires, this is a guy that will be remembered as an all-time great Patriot who came out of nowhere (7th round pick and quarterback at Kent State) so it is particularly sad to see his NFL career circle the drain like this.

    Early reports said that this shouldn't be a season-ending injury but if the Patriots keep losing, why would he rush back to join these bums? 

    Looking ahead to the first meeting of the season with the AFC East leading Bills, the Pats depth chart at wide receiver is straight up nightmare fuel. I don't expect N'Keal Harry to play either after he suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to the Niners and so far this week, he hasn't practiced which is never a good sign for his availability. New England will have to elevate someone from the practice squad but as it stands, Cam Newton will be left with Damiere Byrd, Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski to throw to (no need to mention the Pats awful tight ends) not including the running backs. Given how badly the Patriots have played the last few weeks and the fact that the Bills are already a few games ahead of them, it feels like a changing of the guard is happening in the AFC East where the Pats have won the last 11 division crowns. 

    Patriots head coach/GM Bill Belichick is usually active around the NFL Trade Deadline (which frankly isn't the same event that it is in the NFL, NHL or MLB) so if they lose this weekend, it will undoubtedly be time for the team to move on from whatever veteran players have any real short-term value. It would have been a bummer to see Edelman in another uniform therefore in a weird way, this saves us from that gross possibility. Still, we need any reason to be happy about the Pats right now (especially with Brady looking fantastic in Tampa Bay) and this is yet another reason to weep while we watch some of our old Patriots Super Bowl DVDs trying to savor the good times.

UPDATE 10/30/2020: The Patriots confirmed what we all basically knew: Edelman (knee) & Harry (head) are both out on Sunday vs. Buffalo. Gulp. 

UPDATE 10/31/2020: Oh hey, more bad news for the Pats going into tomorrow's game vs. the Bills. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore (knee) didn't make the trip so he will also be out along with Edelman (who went on IR today so he'll be out for at least the next 3 games) and Harry. Good grief! 

The Patriots Actually Hung Around With The Chiefs Way Longer Than Expected But Still Lost 26-10

 

    Once word came over on Saturday morning that Cam Newton had Covid-19 and he would miss the much-anticipated early season showdown against the Chiefs (4-0), a tall task turned into an impossible one. Let's be clear here: nobody in the world expected the Patriots (2-2) to compete with the defending Super Bowl champions so I suppose they should be proud of their effort under really tough circumstances: no Newton, the game moved to Monday night and they flew to KC this morning. Still, the NFL is not a participation trophy type of league and football isn't that kind of sport for that matter so the bottom line is that the Chiefs won 26-10 this evening at Arrowhead Stadium. 

    Brian Hoyer (15-of-24 for 130 yards, 1 INT, 59.4 QB rating) got the fluke start for the Pats but he didn't finish the outing as Jarrett Stidham (5-of-13 for 60 yards, 1st NFL TD pass, 2 INTs, 39.4 QB rating) took over in the third quarter and went the rest of the way. If Cam didn't have the Coronavirus, Hoyer honestly could be cut tomorrow and I don't think anyone would bat an eye. He came in with 10 straight losses in games that he'd started so it makes you wonder, how is he still in the NFL?  This should have been Stidham's first career NFL start but after a rough training camp complete with a mysterious hip injury, he was relegated to third-string quarterback duties-inactive the first three weeks. Thanks to the game getting pushed back a day, it will be a short week for the Patriots as they host the Broncos (1-3) on Sunday afternoon (4:25, CBS) and if Newton remains out, I'm calling it now: Stidham should/will start in his place. 

    The Patriots defense deserved better since they held one of the most explosive offenses in the league to just 19 points (KC's other touchdown was a pick-6 by Tyrann Mathieu) on their home turf with some fans (22%) in the stands. The best quarterback in the universe Patrick Mahomes (19-for-29, 236 yards, 2 TDs, 113.6 QB rating) looked mortal since both of his "touchdown passes" were 6-yard fancy handoffs to Tyreek Hill (4 catches, 64 yards) and Mecole Hardman. Kansas City's star tight end Travis Kelce (3 catches, 70 yards) still has never recorded 100+ receiving yards vs. the Patriots which is amazing and New England held explosive rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire to under 100 total yards (64 rushing, 27 receiving). The Pats lost from self-inflicted wounds that resulted in three more turnovers (4-1).

    There were three plays in particular that will give Pats head coach Bill Belichick nightmares for weeks: a possible Mahomes fumble in the second quarter was incorrectly whistled dead for a sack, Hoyer got sacked on the last play of the first half which blew a chance at a tying field goal for New England and Stidham's pick-6 clanged off of Julian Edelman's (3 catches on 6 targets for 35 yards) usually money hands. It was such a bizarre set of circumstances leading up to this postponed contest so I feel like once the Chiefs saw that Cam was out, they figured this was a lock and who could blame them? That's why I wouldn't take too much out of this result which was closer than the final score would indicate. 

    There were some positives for the Patriots, thankfully the trip was not a complete waste of their collective time (haha easy for me to say sitting in the comfort of my own living room while I write this). Their red zone defense was great in the first half as they held Kansas City to a pair of Harrison Butker field goals (from 23 yards and 39 yards) and they forced a fumble by Sammy Watkins that was recovered by J.C. Jackson (who later should have had an interception). You knew that to have any chance to be competitive, they needed to run the ball well and they piled up nearly 200 rushing yards: with Sony Michel placed on IR (quad) earlier in the day, Damien Harris (17 carries, 100 yards) had his first career 100-yard performance in the NFL and James White (38 yards receiving and 21 yards rushing) returned to action after missing the last two games following his father's tragic death in a car accident. Wide receiver Damiere Byrd (5 catches, 80 yards) had his second solid game as a Patriot and Chase Winovich (2 solo tackles, 2 assists) notched a sack for the third straight game. 

    The Patriots got on the board with a 43-yard field goal by Nick Folk in the second quarter. It should have been at least tied 6-6 at halftime but Hoyer gonna Hoyer. With that in mind, he blew another rare red zone opportunity for the Pats by fumbling away the ball in the third quarter which led to Belichick finally benching him. Kansas City took advantage by turning that mistake into seven points on Hill's touchdown late in the third quarter which gave the home team a 13-3 lead. We saw a brief glimpse of what got all the beat writers in a lather about Stidham this summer when he tossed a perfect 4-yard fade in the corner of the end zone to N'Keal Harry. The Chiefs answered that score with a touchdown of their own-Hardman's-but Butker missed the PAT so it was 19-10. It was game over one play later though as Mathieu took Edelman's baffling drop 25 yards for the clinching touchdown. 

    It is useless predicting anything in 2020 but I can guarantee that this week leading up to what should be a layup against the terrible Broncos will be full of intrigue over A) Cam's availability or B) who will start if he remains sidelined. Denver just got their first win of the season on Thursday night 37-28 at the hapless Jets (0-4). They've had plenty of quarterback issues of their own as starter Drew Lock is out with a shoulder injury, backup Jeff Driskel already got the hook and third-string undrafted rookie Brett Rypien of course was the one to start and beat the Jets. Linebacker Von Miller and wide receiver Courtland Sutton-their two best players-are out for the season with injuries and their head coach is the immortal Vic Fangio. Week 6 is New England's bye week so given the weak opponent and with time to regroup on the horizon, this is a game they have to win no matter which quarterback gets the nod. Plus not for nothing but Buffalo (4-0) is two games up on second-place New England as the Patriots bid for their 12th straight AFC East title looks to be a legitimate battle for once.