Everything that could have gone wrong for the New England Patriots against the Jacksonville Jaguars came to fruition on Sunday. The fundamentals and execution were poor, ultimately leading to a dreadful defeat by a score of 35-6.
The underlying numbers really tell a story of just how bad this game went for Patriots in every which way. Let’s therefore take a look at some key stats that led to this disappointing outcome.
Red zone
The red zone has been an area where the Patriots have struggled all season long,
and it was quite apparent in Jacksonville.
Their own offense went 0-for-3 when it got within 20 yards of the end zone. This is a main reason why New England is tied for last in the NFL in points scored per game (12.0). When the Patriots do get in a position to punch it into the end zone, they rarely cash in, ranking 32nd in scoring percentage (23.3%).
Meanwhile, the Jaguars were as effective as it gets, going a perfect 5-for-5 in their own red zone opportunities.
Middle of the field
Jacksonville dominated the Patriots over the middle of the field the entire game. Every passing touchdown thrown by Trevor Lawrence was in this area, and he went a combined 12-of-15 targeting that part of the field.
Drake Maye, meanwhile, did not have any success up the middle throughout the game and attempted just seven passes of which he completed for for 38 yards. Jacksonville did a phenomenal job forcing Maye to look on the outside, where he made multiple mistakes and threw both of his interceptions — most notably the one along the left sideline to Kyle Williams, where the route was easily overran by cornerback Jarrian Jones.
Run game
Of course, the attention flocks to the play of the quarterback, and rightfully so. But maybe if the running game was more productive, Drake Maye would not have had to force as many throws as he did.
On Sunday, New England rushed for just 3.2 yards per carry. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels often elects to run the ball on first down, with the team passing 2.2% below expectation on 1st-and-10. The plan did not work against Jacksonville, and really hasn’t at all up to this point in the season.
The Patriots have run the ball on first down just under 57% of the time this season, which is the ninth-highest rate in the NFL. On designed runs on first down in Week 3, a combination of Treveyon Henderson, Rhamondre Stevenson, and Corey Kiner ran 13 times for 41 yards, equating to 3.15 yards per carry. Seven of these runs went for 2 yards or less, and none of them went for a first down.
These runs getting stuffed are leading to second-and-long or third-and-long situations, in which Maye is forced to throw the ball. This, in turn, sets the stage for some of his bad decisions.
Penalties
While this game wasn’t the cleanest on either side, it felt as if the Patriots’ mistakes snowballed and were a big reason for why they couldn’t gain any momentum. New England committed nine penalties for 68 yards, whereas Jacksonville only had seven for 56.
The Pats jumped into the neutral zone three times in the game. Combined with the efficiency of the Jaguars offense, the penalties only added to the feeling that the Jaguars were unbeatable on Sunday. A false start by Cameron Latu in the second half made the number of pre-snap penalties by the Patriots a total of four.
Morgan Moses also had a detrimental holding call that took a 21-yard run for a touchdown by Maye off the board.
The Patriots were not ready to go in Florida. Whether it was the run game, the pass game, the penalties, or even the kicking game, there was not much to write home about in this one. New England has to clean these details up if they want a shot against the Buffalo Bills next week, who are undefeated.
