Here is who caught our eye, for better or worse, in the Patriots’ Thursday night loss.
The New England Patriots fell 24-3 on Thursday Night Football to the New York Jets to drop to 1-2 on the year.
Here is who caught our eye for better or worse upon live viewing.
Loser: Offensive line. New England’s pass protection continues to be their biggest issue through three games. It was no different Thursday night, as Jacoby Brissett was sacked five times and faced a 56.5 percent (!) pressure rate. Drake Maye was then sacked twice in his one drive of work.
Every starter up front was tabbed with at least two pressures as the Jets defense blitzed at their highest rate under Robert Saleh since 2021. The offense will continue to be stuck in the mud unless the pass protection can improve.
Winner: P Bryce Baringer. The biggest bright spot of the night for New England was Baringer, who continued his red-hot start to his second NFL season. Out of Baringer’s five punts, he finished with three inside the 20 with no touchbacks — finishing with a total net of 43.6 yards.
Losers: LB Raekwon McMillan and LB Jahlani Tavai. Filling in for the injured Ja’Whaun Bentley, it was a tough showing for both McMillan and Tavai. New England’s tackling was a disaster the entire night missing 13 total, according to NextGenStats, with the linebacker duo involved in several of those misses. Aaron Rodgers also had no issues attacking the middle of the field while poor contain also led to him extending plays outside the pocket.
“That’s one of the things I’m very disappointed in as a defensive-minded coach, especially the second level. We struggled all day as far as tackling,” Jerod Mayo said. “Once again, even when we hit them in the backfield, just the lack of fundamentals, the lack of discipline, and the lack of just execution definitely continued to show up.”
Loser: RB Rhamondre Stevenson. New England’s game plan out of the gate was puzzling, as they ran just twice on their opening two drives. But, Stevenson failed to get much going finishing with 23 yards on just six carries. His biggest run of the night was even brought back due to a face mask penalty on the back, while Stevenson then fumbled for the third straight game — this time losing it.
Winner: WR DeMario Douglas. After seeing just three targets in the first two weeks, New England made it a point to get Douglas more involved Thursday night with several schemed touches. Douglas also caught one of the offense’s few successful play-action passes downfield for 22 yards en route to leading the team with seven receptions on nine targets for 69 yards.
Loser: CB Alex Austin. With Marco Wilson a healthy scratch, Alex Austin got his first defensive action of the season. His first snap resulted in a touchdown as he missed a tackle on Allen Lazard on a quick screen. New England’s hunt for a consistent third boundary cornerback continues to roll on as the entire pass defense needs to be better.
Honorable mentions:
- It’s tough to put too much blame on Brissett dealing with that amount of pressure, but he did have a bad miss to an open Austin Hooper over the middle. There still seems to be a few plays per game he’s leaving on the field.
- Maye’s limited playing time did not bring much action, but he did have an impressive fourth down completion to Douglas.
- Another big day for Keion White, who logged a team-high four pressures. Rodgers appeared to avoid White with a quick release on multiple occasion.
- Two defenders who finished with sacks were Deatrich Wise Jr. and Joshua Uche. They have been New England’s top secondary rushers behind Keion White, with Uche looking like his old self again after an injury-riddled 2023.
- Christian Gonzalez lined up over Garrett Wilson on 30 of his 34 routes and allowed just four catches for 25 yards and a touchdown on a perfectly placed ball from Rodgers.
- Injuries piled up Thursday night, as Michael Jordan (knee), Caedan Wallace (knee), and Alex Austin (ankle) went down.