Initial observations from Week 7 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The New England Patriots carried a perfect 2-0 record into their third ever game in London. However, after winning their first two games in the United Kingdom in blowout fashion, the team of first-year head coach Jerod Mayo was on the wrong end of a lopsided game this time around.
The Patriots lost their Week 7 game at Wembley Stadium with a final score of 32-16, dropping to 1-6 on the year. Here are our quick-hit observations from the contest.
Patriots unable to sustain quick start
The Patriots fell behind by multiple scores in three of their five losses this season, and they flew into London with a clear goal in mind: start quicker. Head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed as much during one of his media availabilities this week.
“We’ve got to start games faster,” he said. “That’s definitely a point of emphasis this week.”
Mayo’s message was put into practice by his team against the Jaguars, at least early on.
The Patriots found success on both sides of the ball to start the game, jumping to a 10-0 lead in the early second quarter. The Drake Maye-led offense opened with an 11-play, 68-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 16-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to running back JaMycal Hasty; it later added a field goal as well.
In between those two possessions, the defense forced a punt after only one Jaguars first down. However, things started to unravel as the second period went along.
The Patriots ended up surrendering 22 straight points, to take a 12-point deficit into the locker room at the half. Their early momentum quickly evaporated as all three phases of the game failed to perform at an adequate level.
Offense moves away from pass-heavy opening script
The Jaguars entered Week 7 dead-last in passing yards (1,660) and passing touchdowns (14) given up. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt made sure to challenge the Jacksonville defense through the air early on, calling nine passes versus two runs on the opening drive.
Drake Maye went 6-of-7 for 62 yards and a touchdown, as the Patriots offense showed serious life to start the game. As with the entire game, that early rhythm was not kept alive — potentially because of a change in play selection.
From the second series to the half, Van Pelt called 12 passes versus eight runs. That in itself might not have been a problem, but a look at the third, fourth and fifth drives in particular show where things went sideways for New England’s offense: all three of those possessions went run, pass, pass, punt.
The yardage gained on those first down runs: -1, 1, -4. Those plays put New England behind the eight ball early on, and the unit never recovered.
The final run-pass split of 12-to-42 is obviously misleading. The Patriots were forced to more or less abandon he run after falling behind by 15 points in the early third period.
Drake Maye-Hunter Henry connection proves fruitful
While it did show some signs of life early and late in the game, the Patriots’ passing offense as a whole was inconsistent throughout the day. One connection, however, looked rather promising: rookie quarterback Drake Maye and veteran tight end Hunter Henry came to play.
In total, the pair connected eight times on nine targets for 92 yards; the lone incompletion going Henry’s way was a desperation attempt on 4th-and-25.
With DeMario Douglas in and out of he lineup due to an illness, and with the rest of New England’s pass catching personnel rather quiet, Henry stepped up. It was not enough to propel the Patriots to a win, or even a consistent showing, but it was still encouraging to see.
As for Drake Maye himself, he finished the game completing 26 of 37 pass attempts (70.3%) for 276 yards and touchdowns to JaMycal Hasty and K.J. Osborn. The rookie passer’s performance was one of the few positives from the contest.
Explosive plays continue to plague Patriots defense
The Patriots’ brand of defense is fairly simple in principle: keep the opponent from making big plays, and instead force it to string positive plays together. The last two weeks, however, the unit of first-year coordinator DeMarcus Covington has not been able to do that.
After giving up six explosive plays — i.e. runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards — to the Houston Texans last Sunday, the Patriots surrendered nine of them versus Jacksonville. Five of those came in the second quarter alone, and helped turn the tide in the Jaguars’ favor before the half.
Patriots decisively lose the line of scrimmage
With starting left tackle Vederian Lowe ruled out even before the Patriots took the trip to London, the team had to string together yet another starting offensive line combination. The combo of Demontrey Jacobs, Michael Jordan, Ben Brown, Layden Robinson and Michael Onwenu was the seventh different configuration in the first seven weeks of the season.
It also was not meant to last. Robinson suffered an ankle injury on the 17th offensive play of the day, and subsequently was announced as questionable to return to the contest. He never did, with the Patriots ending the game playing Sidy Sow at the right guard spot down the stretch.
As a whole, the unit had a hard time.
Drake Maye found himself under pressure on several occasions, and was sacked twice. The bigger issues, however, was New England’s ineffectiveness in the running game.
In large part because of inadequate blocking up front, New England finished with just 38 rushing yards. Of those, a mere 20 came via the running backs (with 18 more through Drake Maye scrambles): Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty averaged just 1.7 yards on their 12 combined carries.
The issues at the line of scrimmage did not stop on offense, though. The defensive line also failed to hold up its end of the bargain. Quite the opposite, in fact.
After surrendering a whooping 5.5 yards per carry over the last four games, the Patriots gave up 171 yards on 39 carries on the ground to the Jaguars. The average Jacksonville run gained 4.4 yards.
A significant portion of that came on runs to the inside. New England’s interior defensive line and second-level defenders simply did not generate the consistent push to stop Jacksonville from gashing them on the ground again and again. With the exception of a 4th-and-1 stop in the early fourth quarter — credit goes to defensive linemen Eric Johnson and Jaquelin Roy as well as linebacker Raekwon McMillan — the Jaguars imposed their will.
Special teams contributes to Patriots’ demise
Early in the season, New England’s special teams unit seemed to have turned a corner after some lackluster performances the last few years. However, the tide has started to shift a bit for coordinator Jeremy Springer’s group.
After struggling in the kickoff return game last week, the unit had a monumental breakdown in punt coverage. In the second quarter, Bryce Baringer sent a 66-yard punt flying down the field that was fielded by Jaguars returner Parker Washington at his own 4-yard line. 96 yards and several coverage busts later, he found himself in the end zone.
Washington’s punt return will go into the books as the eight-longest in NFL history, and added salt to the Patriots’ wounds in the late second quarter.
Veterans keep penalty issues going
The Patriots entered Week 7 as the 10th most-penalized teams in the NFL, getting flagged a total of 48 times in the first six games. And while the raw number of infractions called against New England went down on Sunday, there still were some big issues that — once again — contributed to the collapse.
First was tight end Hunter Henry taking a false start to turn a 3rd-and-5 into a 3rd-and-10 the team was unable to convert. On the next snap, Parker Washington scored his 96-yard punt return.
On the extra point following that TD, linebacker Jahlani Tavai lined up in the neutral zone. The penalty made Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson reconsider, and send his offense back onto the field for a two-point try. The attempt was successful.
Later on, guard-turned-tackle-again Michael Onwenu was called for a false start on a 3rd-and-10. Drake Maye did manage to hit K.J. Osborn for a 22-yard touchdown on the very next snap, but the bigger point still stands: Onwenu, and other members of New England’s veteran core, had a rough go on Sunday.