Isn’t running the ball supposed to be a strength?

Jones wound up the top rusher with 28 yards on six carries. Meanwhile, last week’s hero Damien Harris was held to 14 yards rushing on six carries. He just couldn’t hold on to the ball, catching just one of six targeted passes. His butter-fingers led to a pick-six to start the third quarter. They still can’t stop the run at key moments in the game, and they still can’t consistently generate offense, especially if the opposing team takes away the run game.ĭriving for a score at the end of the first half, with a fourth down play on the 22, Hunter Henry jumped offsides to kill that drive.Ī complete and utter disaster. It looks no better than last year’s 7-9 version. After an offseason spending spree, boosting the front seven as well as the weapons on offense, the team has struggled out of the gate. So Belichick better find some of that magic sauce or else it will be another long season. High hopes for the season have quickly fizzled. While the season is still young, sitting at 1-2 with the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers on deck doesn’t leave many with confidence of a Patriots rebound. Just have to go back to work and do better.” That’s how overmatched the Patriots looked for much of the game. Let’s just say if this is the team that shows up against Brady, it will be a slaughter of epic proportions. “(We have to) play better in the defense. “Obviously, New Orleans has a good defense, but we’ve got to move the ball better than we did today,” Belichick said. If it wasn’t Jameis Winston and the Saints, the score would have been much worse. Overall, front to back, it was one of the worst performances you’ll ever see from a Bill Belichick-coached team. Jake Bailey had a blocked punt, while he sailed a third-quarter kickoff out of bounds to set the Saints up with good field position at the 40. “That’s what it comes down to in this league, we needed to give our offense one more opportunity … that killed us. “We needed one more stop, and didn’t get it,” said defensive captain Devin McCourty.

In this case, the Saints just lined up and knocked the Pats off the ball, repeatedly moving the chains en route to the game-clinching drive. When the Patriots have needed a stop this year, the defense hasn’t provided it. After the Patriots crawled back to within eight with 9:22 to play, the Saints put together a 13-play scoring drive that took 6:47 off the clock and put the game out of reach.

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