The New England Patriots were thoroughly beaten by the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon, losing with a final score of 45-27 at Gillette Stadium. The game was a lopsided affair from start to finish, with the team home falling behind 17-0 quickly and never recovering.
Here is a Patriots-centric view at some of those key moments from the Week 9 contest.
Moment No. 1: Bad start
The Patriots started the ball on offense, and it took them only two plays to give it away again. On a 2nd-and-9,
Drake Maye maneuvered the pocket and attempted to hit Mack Hollins on a floater across his body. The ball, however, didn’t land close to his intended targeted and instead was picked off by Xavier McKinney. The Packers safety went on to return the interception all the way to the New England 9-yard line.
Despite being early in the contest, the play was the biggest one of the afternoon in terms of expected points added: it resulted in a 5.9-point swing in Green Bay’s favor. Two plays after the INT, the Packers took a 7-0 lead.
Moment No. 2: Tone-setting play
The Patriots defense started in a losing position, meaning that its first drive wasn’t necessarily cause for concern yet. The second was, however, because it showed the Packers doing exactly what they had been doing all year: threatening teams with their deep passing game.
The first of seven explosive plays gained 49 yards, with Matthew Golden finding an opening against the Patriots’ zone coverage and Kevin Byard being unable to close it in time. It was a sign of things to come.
Moment No. 3: Hope
The Patriots showed little resistance early on, and found themselves trailing 17-0 in the early second quarter. At that point, they finally got their act together and on a 3rd-and-10 found the end zone for the first time. Drake Maye’s touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson on a wheel route was well executed by both, and finally gave New England some momentum.
Moment No. 4: Missed opportunity
Finally starting to play some complementary football, the Patriots were in prime position to turn the game into a one-score contest again midway through the second period. They failed to do so: after driving into Green Bay territory on the very next possession after the Stevenson touchdown, Drake Maye was intercepted by Xavier McKinney for a second time and a third time overall in the game.
Instead of the Patriots further building on their momentum, the pick thwarted a prime opportunity and allowed Green Bay to score a touchdown just three plays later.
Moment No. 5: Out of reach
The Patriots entered the locker room at the half trailing by 10 points — a sizable deficit, but not one they couldn’t overcome if they showed some improvement in the third quarter. Unfortunately, that is precisely what they did not do. Their defense continued to struggle against the big play on the opening series of the third quarter, and allowed Green Bay to march right back into the red zone.
Holding the Packers to a field goal at that point would have been a success and some much-needed damage limitation. That didn’t happen, and a touchdown on 3rd-and-7 very gave the visitors a comforting 17-point lead again.
