We believed Sunday could be a “get-right” game for Drake Maye and the struggling New England Patriots offense against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead, it was a disastrous day all around for Mike Vrabel’s group.
The Jaguars cruised to a 35-6 win while Maye tossed two interceptions and lost a fumble. The third-year quarterback leads the NFL in turnovers with seven (six INTs).
It might be time to hit the panic button on Maye, but he wasn’t the Patriots’ only letdown on Sunday. Here’s our Patriots Stock Watch heading into a tough Week 4 showdown in Buffalo:
Stock Up
Carlton Davis, CB
In a day when it was hard to find bright spots anywhere, Davis played pretty well.
The No. 2 corner for New England picked up a pass breakup — and nearly intercepted it — when he read a quick-hitting screen to the outside. He also made a forceful tackle near the line of scrimmage for one of what seemed like very few negative plays for the Jags.
Davis may have gotten a little handsy as he picked up a facemask penalty on a Jags completion. But he showed some toughness by cleaning up a missed tackle by Jaylen Reed. Davis was shaken up upon contact, looking like he may have aggravated a recent neck injury — Jacksonville did a good job of punishing Patriots corners with physicality throughout the game — but he returned.
Will Campbell, LT
Arguably New England’s best offensive player through three weeks, Campbell was stout yet again in Jacksonville.
Per Pro Football Focus, the left tackle didn’t allow a sack or a quarterback hit in 39 pass-blocking snaps. He did have one pressure allowed, but against an edge group that featured Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, you’ll take that kind of performance.
Jared Wilson, C
The only reason Wilson was part of the postgame discussion Sunday was that Drake Maye let it be known that he’d bled on the football prior to Maye’s otherwise inexplicable fumble. Otherwise, Wilson’s quiet game was a good sign.
After one of his worst games as a pass-protector in Week 2 against the Steelers, Wilson was sound in the passing game, allowing no pressures on 33 pass-blocking snaps.
Stock Down
Drake Maye, QB
This makes three consecutive weeks that last year’s runner-up for MVP has landed in the Stock Down section. Three turnovers, giving Maye seven for the season, were the primary driver behind a Patriots loss for the second time in three weeks.
And it could have been worse. The football was out on two other occasions — the Patriots recovered both — and he had another pass nearly picked on third down early in the fourth quarter.
It’s as rudimentary as rudimentary football analysis gets, but it’s also true that the Patriots can’t turn this thing around until their quarterback does a better job taking care of the football.
Phil Perry, Tom E. Curran, Ted Johnson and Michael Holley break down Drake Maye’s shocking performance in the Patriots’ 35-6 loss to the Jaguars.
Defense
Lost in all of Drake Maye’s mistakes is the fact that the Patriots defense wasn’t much better in this one.
They allowed the Jags to score touchdowns on all five of their red-zone possessions, and the hosts were able to convert on eight of their 12 third-down opportunities — including a third-and-17 from the 17-yard line that led to a Trevor Lawrence touchdown pass.
The Patriots picked up two consecutive neutral-zone infraction penalties in the two-minute drill before halftime and had a hard time bothering Lawrence in the pocket. They blitzed on 53.1 percent of their dropbacks, per NextGen Stats, and had some success — Lawrence went 10 for 15 for 84 yards and an interception — but perhaps they should have blitzed even more. All three of Lawrence’s touchdown passes came on in-breaking routes against split-safety coverage and no blitz.
Special teams
None of New England’s three phases were immune to criticism after this one. The kicking game let them down, too.
Andy Borregales missed a kick for the second consecutive week. Kyle Williams fielded a kick and then strolled out of bounds instead of fielding the kick while straddling the line and picking up a Jags penalty that would’ve placed the Patriots on their 40-yard line — a 30-yard mistake. Additionally, they picked up a block-in-the-back penalty on Cameron Latu that wiped out a 31-yard kick return by Corey Kiner.
Forgettable day for all involved on the Patriots sideline.
