Sloppy Patriots Fall To Saints, 28-13

The Patriots fell to the Saints, 28-13, in a messy game that won’t make the highlight reels for either franchise. The loss dropped them to 1-2, a game behind division-leading Bills. Next week the Buccaneers come to town, sporting some quarterback and tight end who used to play here.

This game was a huge blowout in all but the final score (which was a blowout but not huge). The Saints missed two field goals and went way too conservative too early in the second half. That’s the only reason the Patriots lone touchdown got them to within one score of tying things up.

I thought before the game the Patriots needed to win the turnover battle to win the game. But they lost it, 3-0 (and 4-0 if you consider the blocked punt a turnover, which I always do). All three official turnovers were Mac Jones interceptions, but only one of those was on him (the first one). The other two came on (1) a tipped ball that should have been caught instead, and (2) a desperation throw at the end of the game.

And the turnover battle wasn’t the only problem. Here were the offensive issues in summary:

• Jones got hit 11 times and sacked twice
• They ran for just 49 yards (Jones was the leading rusher)
• Jonnu Smith dropped multiple passes and caused an interception
• Brandon Bolden was used way too often with the game in question
• Really poor execution on every single screen pass
• Most of the receivers can’t get separation quick enough
• Still no speed threat so teams just load up short zones and blitz
• Almost all of Mac Jones’ throws with the wind sailed long

Biggest on-going concern: The overall sloppiness of their play. Too many penalties, loose with the football, missing assignments, costly missed tackles, and sooo many special teams gaffs. I know, the health of James White and the teams seeming inability to stop the run are big. But if they don’t clean things up nothing else will matter.

Non-QB MVP: Yeeesh, I guess Meyers because he was the one reliable receiver they had (9 catches for 95 yards). But really, this is like choosing the best rotten apple in the bunch

Statistical oddity: For his career, New Orleans quarterback Jameis Winston throws an interception on 3.5% of his drop backs, a very high number these days. But against Bill Belichick, he’s thrown no interceptions in 67 career attempts.

Water-cooler wisdom: “A year that held the promise of mirroring 2001 looks more like a repeat of 2000.”

Keep the faith,

PS. 1-2!

PPS. Trivia answer:

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The last time the Pats started 0-2 at home was 2000, when they had a rookie quarterback on the roster who sorta made something of himself.