The New England Patriots lost their season opener in Seattle on Wednesday night, and the defeat was somehow worse than anyone could have predicted. The Patriots jumped to a 10-0 lead in the third quarter, but gave up 13 straight points down the stretch — in large part due to three straight interceptions from quarterback Drake Maye — to lose 13-10.
Here is what the defeat taught us.
It’s simple: Drake Maye just collapsed
When talking about this game, we have to start with Drake Maye. The Patriots’ quarterback was playing smart for three
quarters, taking what the defense gave him and not putting the ball in harm’s way. In the fourth quarter, he completely collapsed.
Yes, he was let down by his receivers at times, but all three of his picks, which were exclusively thrown in the fourth period, were clearly on him. This is, by his own admission, unacceptable and cannot continue to happen for a third-year player considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The concerning part is that this is not the first time this has happened in his career either.
Losing to Drew Lock is embarrassing
I know that Sam Darnold is not an elite quarterback. I know that the Seahawks don’t run around him. It still hurts to see Drew Lock be the quarterback to not just beat you, but also outplay your own MVP runner-up quarterback along the way. Regardless of what else happens in the game, that simply cannot happen. And yet, it did. It’s a big reason why the Patriots left Seattle as losers.
The Seahawks coached circles around the Patriots
Mike Macdonald is one of the best defensive coaches in football, and he showed that again on Wednesday night. The Patriots were never comfortable pushing the ball down the field, Maye looked rattled, and, once the Seahawks adjusted to the swing pass to beat the blitz, the Patriots had almost no consistent offense to speak of.
To make things worse, the Seahawks offensive was led by a rookie coordinator who found a way to move the ball consistently in the second half with a backup QB. The Patriots’ lack of adjustments was obvious, and the home team flat out smashed them in the coaching matchup. Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels and Zak Kuhr are all very good coaches, but they were far from good enough on Wednesday night.
The Patriots have had the coaching advantage in a lot of games since Vrabel took over as their head coach, but in the last two games they have played, they have simply been outcoached.
The Patriots were dominated on the line of scrimmage
The Patriots spent a lot of money and resources in the offseason trying to make their running game more effective, and, for Wednesday night at least, they did not seem to be successful. They were unable to get almost any consistent push on the offensive line, or open up real holes for their backs until the last drive of the game. If their identity is going to be a physical, smash-mouth football team, this is going to have to vastly improve moving forward. Averaging 2.6 yards per carry between Rhamondre Stevenson and Corey Kiner is just nowhere near good enough.
On the defensive side of the ball, Seattle was able to run the ball effectively, though they didn’t do it a ton. The Patriots did end up with a pair of sacks, but the pressure was far from consistent, and too often Drew Lock had a clean pocket to make an easy throw.
There is no sugar-coating it either. The Patriots need to be much better on both sides of the line to give themselves a chance to win more games, because what they got on Wednesday was simply not good enough. That said, I do think that the pass blocking overall was much improved outside of a miscommunication or two, so at least that was a positive to take away from what was mostly a rough game from the trenches.
The A.J. Brown injury is a serious concern
A.J. Brown went down with an ankle injury and left the stadium in a walking boot, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Patriots offense went off the rails after that happened.
The concern is this potentially being an injury that sidelines Brown for an extended period of time. If that’s the case, they are going to need a whole heck of a lot more out of every receiver not named Mack Hollins. The Patriots gave up a 2028 first-round pick to get Brown, and they were hoping to make him the focal point of the offense. Losing him would be a massive blow.
I would also like to mention that I advocated for the Patriots to include conditions to the pick they sent to the Eagles that revolved around playing time and performance. Hindsight is 20/20, but they might end up kicking themselves for not doing that if this injury ends up being of the serious variety.
Romeo Doubs has a rough debut
The Patriots shipped Kayshon Boutte out of town because, besides trading for A.J. Brown, they also went out and signed Romeo Doubs away from the Packers in free agency. In his first game with his new team, he was targeted three times, with one target being an interception, one being a bad drop that led to an interception on the next play, and the third falling incomplete on a third down.
Doubs looked slow, showed off bad hands, and couldn’t get open all night. Other than that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?
In case Brown is going to miss time due to his ankle injury, the Patriots are going to need Doubs to step up in a big way. Mack Hollins looked roughly better than Doubs on Wednesday, and that simply cannot happen given the investment made in the latter.
Gabe Jacas plays well
Gabe Jacas basically looked like he didn’t belong on an NFL field for most of training camp and preseason. In his first regular season game, however, he finished with a sack and two tackles for loss. He did have a bad penalty on special teams, but he showed some promise along the edge, and that is exactly what the Patriots are going to need from him moving forward.
Of all the negatives in this game, Jacas wasn’t one of them, and that’s a good thing.
Will Campbell plays well
Speaking of positives, Campbell was much-maligned in the playoffs and Super Bowl, and people like me told you that it was because he was injured and that he would be better. I’m happy to report that, at least for one game, the glass-half-full outlook appears to be the correct one.
Campbell received a questionable holding call and had a correct block in the back call, so it wasn’t perfect. Unlike the Super Bowl, however, he held his own against a very good Seahawks defense. It was a definitive step in the right direction.
Maybe the Patriots should have played their starters in preseason
Of all the criticisms, the most obvious one is that New England simply should have played its guys in the preseason. And there is an argument for that, just ask ex-Patriot Jason McCourty:
The Patriots looked rusty and uncomfortable at times out there. The offensive operation was clunky, and Drake Maye certainly needs more time to develop chemistry with his new receivers. Now, did they lose this game because they didn’t play their starters in the preseason? Absolutely not, but I am always an advocate for giving players at least a series or two to get them back to full-speed and full-contact football.
Joint practices are fine, but they are not tackling, and they can’t hit the quarterback. It’s a different feeling when you have 11 guys bearing down on you trying to knock you out, and it seems that Maye could have used those reps.
Mini-bye awaits
The Patriots are going to have 10 days to let this one settle, as they don’t play again until September 20 when they host the Steelers for their home opener. As poorly as the Patriots played, it’s important to remember that it was against a fantastic football team. The Steelers, on the other hand, are a good bounce-back opportunity.
If Drake Maye plays like he did in the fourth quarter, then the Patriots could lose to any team in the NFL. However, they have plenty of time to lick their wounds and get back out there and compete against a team led by Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy. If this was 2010, that would scare me, but it’s 16 years later, so I’m expecting a very motivated Patriots team to handle their business at home.
