London, UK – The Patriots business trip across the pond didn't go as planned in a 32-16 loss to the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
After emphasizing a fast start all week, head coach Jerod Mayo's team initially rose to the challenge. New England opened this game with their first opening-drive touchdown of the 2024 season, eventually taking a 10-zip lead early in the second quarter. However, like driving on the opposite side of the road in Great Britain, the rest of the game was the opposite of the first 16-plus minutes or so where the Patriots had life.
Jacksonville scored 22 unanswered points in the second frame. The Jags housed a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown, QB Trevor Lawrence set up another touchdown drive with a 58-yard completion to rookie WR Brian Thomas Jr., and Jacksonville out-gained New England 156 yards to 18 in the second quarter. In about 10 minutes, the Pats 10-point lead evaporated into a 22-10 deficit at halftime.
If you include the Jaguars opening drive of the second half, the Jags rattled off 25 unanswered points. During that time frame, the game wasn't overly competitive. From this perspective, it was a disappointing showing from the middle of the Pats defense, which allowed 171 rushing yards and logged just two quarterback pressures on 20 drop-backs. At one point, the Jaguars ran it 18 times in a row with the lead in the second half.
"We are a soft football team across the board," Mayo said in his opening remarks. "It's a mentality. It goes back to controlling the line of scrimmage."
The old football cliche is that tough teams run the ball, stop the run, and cover kicks. As Coach Mayo stated following the game, the Patriots aren't consistently checking off those boxes enough to play competitive football.
Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots drop to 1-6 with a loss in London to the Jaguars:
1. SERVPRO Spotlight: QB Drake Maye Leads First Opening Drive Touchdown of the Season
Before we get to the negatives, the Patriots had hope when they opened the game with an 11-play touchdown drive that gave them an early lead.
The big plays were an 18-yard completion to Hunter Henry and a 16-yard touchdown pass to JaMycal Hasty out of the backfield. Maye's touchdown to Hasty was a great read, as the rookie found his hot receiver against a blitz by Jacksonville.
"We were hot to the back. They ended up bringing the 'backer and safety, then dropped out the defensive end on the opposite side. So just find a completion. It was third-and-10, and we were already in field goal range, and Hasty made a play. I think we have to do more of that. Getting our guys the ball and let them make plays," Maye told Patriots.com.
The Patriots rookie quarterback lamented some missed opportunities on the second drive that stalled in the red zone. But the opening drive showed this offense led by Maye has potential. Last season, it took 14 weeks for the Patriots to score on their opening drive; it took Maye two games. The offense now needs to find ways to sustain that production for four quarters.
2. More on QB Drake Maye's Second Career Start
As for the rest of the game, we all knew that life with a rookie quarterback would lead to some inconsistencies on offense.
Maye has excellent physical traits, and we see that in flashes, but he doesn't have the infrastructure around him to allow for some margin for error. That's not to put it all on Maye, but it feels like the game is all on the rookie. Frankly, it felt like the offense should've put it more in Maye's hands once it became clear the run game wasn't working.
The third-overall pick showed more positives on a nine-play touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Along with a pretty go ball to Kayshon Boutte, Maye connected with KJ Osborn on a 22-yard TD. The play call was a four verticals design against a cover-two defense. With two vertical routes on the inside, the linebacker in the middle of the zone can't carry both routes, so Maye rips a seam shot to Osborn, working off that defender.
Although there were positives, my live charting had six missed or poorly placed throws. It's a high bar that Maye needs to clear, but those misses contributed to some stalled drives. The big one that the rookie pointed to was a throw that was slightly too far in front of WR Kendrick Bourne on a third down in the red zone on the Pats second possession. Bourne was also credited with a drop, but Maye knew the throw could've been better.
Maye also finished this game with two turnover-worthy plays. Mainly, he threw late and over the middle to Osborn on an open crossing route, where Osborn was undercut by Jags Tyson Campbell and had to play defense to knock the ball loose, avoiding the interception. There were also a few times when it appeared that Maye caused his own pressure.
Overall, Maye was far down the list of problems with the Patriots on Sunday.
3. Patriots Defensive Front Struggles Across the Pond
As we mentioned off the top, two stats sum up this performance by the defense: 171 rushing yards and two quarterback pressures on 20 drop-backs by the Jaguars.
That describes a defense that isn't controlling the line of scrimmage. New England has lost three key tone-setters due to unforeseen circumstances in DT Christian Barmore (blood clots), LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder), and S Jabrill Peppers (exempt list). That trio plays a physical brand of football that the Patriots are lacking, but Coach Mayo and the players made it clear that they're not going to make any excuses.
Unlike last week, this wasn't just a few big runs. Jacksonville primarily relied on zone runs, with split-flow and outside zone being their main schemes. The idea was to get the second level of the Pats defense moving horizontally and then hit cutback lanes through the middle of the defense. The Jags running backs had 17 successful runs and four 10-plus yard runs. Again, that's not just a few long runs skewing the stats, and the Pats couldn't stop the run to get the Jags off the field in the second half.
If the Patriots want to get back to playing good defense, they need to do a better job stopping the run and effectively pressuring the quarterback.
4. Repeat Plays Lead to Breakdowns in the Passing Game for Patriots Defense
Although execution by the players is key, the formula against the Pats pass defense is becoming well-known, with opponents beating them with repeat plays.
Offenses are continuing to time-up their shot plays well against the Patriots defense. For a third consecutive week, the Pats allowed an explosive pass play on a similar concept with the same personnel package on the field. Teams are catching the Pats in their base defense and throwing the ball effectively against their heavy personnel.
On Sunday, the big play was a 58-yard completion from Lawrence to first-rounder Brian Thomas Jr. The Pats are in base defense and call a pretty exotic coverage on second down. It appears they're in an inverted cover-two structure, where the defense spins after the snap, with the outside corners dropping into half-field zones to split the deep part of the field. The Jags run a deep post with a second-level dig route, and Gonzalez is in a tough spot dropping into a split-safety role while BTJ runs a deep post.
Along with the Jags catching the Pats on some of their schemed pass defenses, it's also troubling that New England managed only two pressures on 20 drop-backs. Lawrence got rid of the ball in 2.41 seconds on average. But the only pressures were logged by DT Daniel Ekuale and on a blitz by Marcus Jones, where the pass rush lost contain on an 11-yard scramble by Lawrence that converted a third-and-8.
It's impossible to point the finger at any one thing with the defense. However, it does feel like opposing play-callers are timing up their shot plays consistently well against the Patriots defense.
5. Rhamondre Stevenson Returns, But the Run Game is Still Inconsistent
Despite lead-back Rhamondre Stevenson returning, the Patriots run game was stifled for 20 rushing yards on 12 attempts by running backs on Sunday.
After leading the team in rushing last week, Maye tied Stevenson with a team-high 18 rushing yards – that's not how the Patriots want to play offense. The Pats have said they want to be a run-first team that works play-action off their run game. However, OC Alex Van Pelt's offense hasn't found that marriage. The run game was rolling early in the year, but the passing game struggled. Now, it's the run game that isn't effective.
Speaking to Patriots.com following the game, starting right tackle Mike Onwenu felt like the Jags were blitzing off the backside on their outside zone schemes. As Onwenu said, we'll need to watch the film to see why New England is struggling to run the ball. But the Pats highest-paid lineman is a microcosm of things right now on the offensive line.
Onwenu started this game at right tackle after two straight starts at right guard. Due to injuries and lack of performance, the Pats started their seventh different line combination in as many weeks. Without continuity, it's difficult to consistently execute combination blocks on a rhythmic play like outside zone, which takes time to take hold chemistry-wise.
The Patriots offense has become one-dimensional in the other direction, with Maye sparking the passing game to see the rushing attack take a step back.
6. On a Positive Note, the Pass Protection Stats Look Good for the Offensive Line
Although we'll need to review the film, another silver lining based on the initial charting data was that the Patriots only allowed a 33.3% pressure rate in Sunday's loss to Jacksonville.
The Jaguars came into Sunday's game with the 30th-ranked pass rush in the NFL, so the Jags aren't a high-pressure defense. Still, it was better for the Patriots blockers in that regard. A few three-man stunts got home, which has been a consistent problem. But the one-on-one blocking seemed to hold up somewhat well this week.
Here are the initial pressure stats via Pro Football Focus: Sidy Sow (three hurries), Layden Robinson (two), Trey Jacobs (two), Michael Jordan (two), Ben Brown/Mike Onwenu (one).
7. Rookie WR Ja'Lynn Polk's Inconsistencies, Pop Douglas's Illness, Etc.
As for the Patriots skill players, second-rounder Ja'Lynn Polk continues to have ups and downs in his rookie season. Polk had multiple passes go off his hands and slipped coming out of his break on a two-point conversion that should've been converted. In his defense, it appeared that Polk dropped a pass in the first half, but Maye placed the ball on his inside shoulder rather than into the sideline. The ball placement on the corner route vs. cover two allowed the safety to make a play on the body, and Polk couldn't hang on through contact.
Patriots wideout DeMario Douglas was also battling an illness throughout this one. Douglas only played 17 snaps (31.5%) due to being under the weather, which was a massive blow to the offense after his career performance last week. Overall, it's fair to say the Patriots need more from Polk, whom they selected 37th overall in last April's draft.
8. Special Teams Allow 96-Yard Punt Return, First Since 2015 Season
The last time the Patriots allowed a punt return touchdown was nearly a decade ago. After punter Bryce Baringer boomed one inside the JAX 5, Washington got loose when the coverage couldn't get down there in time. Coach Mayo said he saw poor leverage by the coverage players but pointed to Baringer out-kicking his coverage down the middle of the field. The coverage unit cannot allow a 96-yard return, especially on a 66-yard punt. But the Pats HC felt like the punter was also to blame for the big return.
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