What we learned in Pats-Jets: Unblocked rushers wreak havoc on Brissett originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Each and every week, we’ll be highlighting a variety of the lessons gathered from the latest Patriots matchup. Of course, there was no shortage of teaching moments in Thursday’s 24-3 loss to the Jets.
Here’s what we learned…
Maye’s debut not exactly storybook
With the game out of reach, and with starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett getting walloped on a regular basis, the Patriots got their rookie signal-caller into a regular-season game for the first time.
They gave Maye four designed runs and 12 dropbacks. On those dozen would-be passes, he actually got throws off on eight of them, completing four for 22 yards. He was sacked twice and scrambled twice — once for a first down on fourth-and-8, once yielding a massive hit after a 1-yard pickup — and he took one shot as he threw incomplete.
His best throw might’ve been his last one, a dig to DeMario Douglas over the middle to convert a fourth-and-10 situation. But he was sacked on his final snap as time wound down, losing his helmet in the process, to finish off his rocky debut.
The question now is whether or not the Patriots were simply hoping to give Brissett a breather after a rough night with starters pulled in a meaningless fourth quarter… or if the team would ever think about playing Maye more in Week 4.
Ja’Whaun Bentley was missed
The Jets racked up 252 yards in the first half alone. They averaged 6.5 yards per play. They averaged 4.9 yards per rush. And when the Patriots had an opportunity to bring down ball-carriers with a hard shot early in the play, there were too many occasions when they didn’t.
Raekwon McMillan and Jahlani Tavai had issues at times. Keion White was caught flat-footed on one tackle attempt, Anfernee Jennings missed a sack, and Joshua Uche nearly had a tackle for a loss that he couldn’t finish. Alex Austin’s poor angle and tackle attempt on Allen Lazard led to a touchdown. Christian Gonzalez missed a tackle near the goal line on Garrett Wilson.
Rough showing without their defensive captain on a Thursday night.
Search for the fourth CB continues
The Patriots want to manage Jonathan Jones so that he lasts. They also know they’ll need a fourth cornerback eventually, so they’re trying to give some younger options reps early in the year to ensure they’re ready to go later.
But to this point, getting those reserve corners some work has proven costly.
In Weeks 1 and 2, Marco Wilson subbed in for Jonathan Jones and picked up pass interference penalties in both games. Against the Jets, it was Alex Austin who subbed in for Jones, and Aaron Rodgers immediately sought him out and hit Lazard for a catch-and-run score.
The Patriots aren’t wrong to want to get a fourth corner in the mix. But they’re getting burned when they try.
Rodgers is still Rodgers…
…When it comes to getting the football out of his hands quickly.
He picked the Patriots apart on slants, including one third-down conversion to Garrett Wilson with Christian Gonzalez in coverage. He also got Tyler Conklin for a 22-yard gain on what looked like a skinny post. It was an explosive play, but the ball was still out of Rodgers’ hands with alacrity.
The Patriots had issues bothering Rodgers — New York found a way to keep Keion White mostly quiet — and when they did, he showed a willingness to use his legs to slither away from pressure, extend plays and pick up yardage.
Outside of a Joshua Uche sack in the third quarter, it seemed like Rodgers essentially did what he wanted.
Unsustainable number of unblocked rushers
On the Patriots’ very first offensive snap, an unblocked end-of-the-line rusher was all over Brissett’s play-action pass attempt. Two plays later, a blitzer waltzed through the “B” gap — between the guard and tackle — untouched.
Two drives later, the Patriots allowed two more unblocked rushers in a three-play sequence. A safety blitz got to Brissett and Will McDonald IV got to him again as an unblocked end-of-the-line defender on a designed quarterback roll-out play.
Leaving backside defenders unblocked on those play-action looks is part of the design… but since training camp, those defenders have not been fooled, rarely chasing the run fake. Either the Patriots need to figure out a way to make those defenders pay for not honoring their run-stopping duties, or they need to get away from that type of play call, because it’s been a near-disaster on a regular basis.
The Patriots have had myriad moving pieces along their line for weeks now — Caedan Wallace had a rough time in his first start at left tackle, including back-to-back holding penalties in the third quarter — but those unblocked problems need to be solved quickly before they lead to any more high-impact shots on the quarterback.
Brissett’s early inaccuracy hurt
There was a point early on when the Patriots had an opportunity to make it more of a game.
Down by a touchdown, the Patriots got the ball back and quickly converted a third down with a 9-yard toss from Brissett to Hunter Henry. Two plays later, the Patriots had a shot at a shot. Off a play-action look, Brissett had Austin Hooper open for a chunk gain. Would’ve put the Patriots on the edge of scoring range and generated some positive momentum. Instead, the pass sailed out of bounds, uncatchable.
The Patriots then found themselves in an obvious passing situation — a bad situation for this line — and allowed a sack (with Wallace picking up an illegal formation penalty for good measure).
The Patriots didn’t bring the same level of energy for their Week 3 divisional matchup. There are very few “what ifs” in a game where one team gets thoroughly dominated the way the Patriots did. But that incompletion by Brissett was one.
Loose grips sink ships
Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled in each of his first two games this season. He hadn’t lost one until Thursday night, though. On the first snap of the fourth quarter, with the Patriots trailing 21-3, Stevenson took a handoff and promptly had it punched out for a turnover.
As strong a start to the year as Stevenson had through two games, his third was forgetful. He averaged just 3.8 yards per carry. And he now has an established fumbling issue he’ll need to get cleaned up. Teams will be looking to test his ball-security on a weekly basis until he proves it’s not a problem.
