New England Patriots
“When your best players don’t play good, you don’t have much of a chance in this league.”
FOXBOROUGH — When the Patriots crossed the t’s and dotted the i’s on a four-year, $135 million contract with Christian Gonzalez this fall, they signed him for games like Sunday evening.
Gonzalez — now the league’s highest-paid corner — was going to be tasked with snuffing out key pieces of the Packers’ explosive offense.
Green Bay entered Sunday’s matchup at Gillette Stadium with the most downfield throws in the league. Jordan Love has found plenty of success when uncorking passes deep downfield to either Christian Watson or Matthew Golden.
But the presence of Gonzalez — who has long held court as one of the stickiest cover corners in the league — suggested to Mike Vrabel and Zak Kuhr that at least some of the gears in Green Bay’s offensive operation were going to grind to a halt.
Instead, it was Gonzalez who was stuck in neutral on a miserable night for both the veteran cornerback and the Patriots organization overall.
The Packers dominated just about every facet of Sunday’s game against the Patriots, leaving Foxborough with a 45-27 win — the most points New England has ever allowed at Gillette Stadium.
Together, Watson and Golden combined for 18 catches, 335 yards, and two touchdowns. As a team, the Patriots generated 387 total yards of offense.
It was an embarrassing night for the Patriots’ defense as a whole, with Gonzalez playing a central role in New England’s defensive splintering.
“When your best players don’t play good, you don’t have much of a chance in this league,” Mike Vrabel declared after a game where Gonzalez was torched and Drake Maye threw three interceptions. “We expect a lot more, he expects a lot more, we need more from him and everybody else”
“It wasn’t just [Gonzalez]. Again we’ve got to be able to coach and be prepared and we have to execute, so, just like it is every single week when we don’t win, it’s all of us, and it starts with me.”
Gonzalez wasn’t the lone culprit on a night where several miscommunications marred New England’s secondary.
But the 24-year-old defensive back sure didn’t help — especially when matched up against either Watson or Golden.
Whereas many opposing offensive units have often shuddered at the thought of targeting receivers blanketed by Gonzalez, Love and the Packers were rewarded whenever they threw in No. 0’s direction.
According to Next Gen Stats, Gonzalez allowed seven catches for 105 yards to Golden on Sunday, and also surrendered three catches and 82 yards when matched up against Watson.
This marks the first time since at least 2018 that a defensive player has allowed more than 80 receiving yards to two different players in the same game.
“Kind of like when I come up here every week — obviously, it’s frustrating,” Gonzalez said postgame. “I want to be who I am for the team and everybody [who] knows what I am. But I mean, it’s football. I’m not going to be able to — I’m [going to] have a bad game. … So the same as [when] I come up here, week in and week out, and if it’s a good game, I say, ‘Alright, we move on.’”
“It’s just like that. I’ve said that multiple times. You have a good play? Wash it. Bad play? Wash it. Good game? Wash it. Bad game? Wash it. So there are things I messed up on, and I’ll be back to it next week.”
Gonzalez doesn’t seem to be fretting over Sunday’s result: a game in which he allowed 187 yards in coverage, the third-most allowed by a player this season (per Next Gen Stats).
For what it’s worth, Gonzalez has allowed only 196 total yards in coverage over his first six games this season.
But since returning from a shoulder injury that ruled him out for two games, Gonzalez has been much quieter after starting the year with lockdown performances in man-to-man matchups against Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Pittsburgh’s DK Metcalf.
Entering Sunday’s game, Gonzalez had recorded zero pass breakups over his previous three games — getting knocked three catches allowed to a weak Miami wideout grouping in Week 8.
And clearly, things bottomed out against the likes of Golden and Watson on Sunday in Foxborough.
“I mean, they did a good job. He came out and ran good routes,” Gonzalez said of Golden. “Ran the routes they had in the game plan, and Jordan Love was able to get him the ball.
“I just gotta be able to finish and make those plays. I’m right there, I just gotta make those plays. I mean, it’s not the end of the world. I had a bad game. I’m not shaken up by it, I’m not too worried about it. I’ll move on and be ready for next week.”
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