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4 takeaways from Patriots’ 32-16 loss to Jaguars in London
Drake Maye threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, but a disastrous second quarter hampered New England in London.
A trip across the pond did little to alleviate the Patriots’ woes on Sunday.
Despite jumping out to a 10-point lead, the Patriots could not sustain that strong play against the Jaguars — relinquishing 25 unanswered points en route to a 32-16 loss at Wembley Stadium.
Be it more defensive breakdowns, special-teams gaffes, or conservative play-calling on offense, it was another frustrating game for a 1-6 Patriots team that has now dropped six games in a row.
Drake Maye finished with 276 passing yards and two touchdowns, but New England’s defense coughed up 364 total yards to Trevor Lawrence and the Jags.
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Here are four takeaways from Sunday’s loss in London.
Patriots start strong …
After Drake Maye injected some life into New England’s offense during last week’s loss to the Texans, it looked as though some of the momentum gained from Maye’s first start carried over across the Atlantic.
New England capitalized on its first drive of the morning against Jacksonville, with Maye completing six of his seven throws for 62 yards.
The Patriots eventually cashed in via a 16-yard touchdown off an impressive individual effort from running back JaMycal Hasty.
It was a much-needed change of pace for the Patriots, with Hasty’s score standing as New England’s first opening-drive TD since Week 17 of the 2023 season against Buffalo.
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After New England’s defense responded by forcing a Jags punt on their first drive, Maye and the Patriots once again went to work.
After starting on their own 15-yard line, the Patriots ran a 12-play, 48-yard drive that ended with a 41-yard field goal from Joey Slye early in the second quarter.
New England might have left more points on the board after Kendrick Bourne couldn’t reel in a third-down catch off a crossing route that would have put New England in the red zone.
But Syle’s field goal at least gave New England some breathing room against a very desperate Jags team.
At the end of the first quarter, New England had possession for 11:30 of game action — with Jacksonville finishing with 3:30.
Everything seemed to be going New England’s way, until …
… and implode in second quarter
The 1-6 Patriots have had a lot of bad stretches of football already this fall.
But the second quarter of Sunday’s game was arguably the worst 15-minute stretch of an arduous season for Jerod Mayo and Co.
While New England’s offense stalled out with three consecutive 3-and-out drives, the Patriots’ defense and special-teams unit completely imploded.
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After holding Jacksonville to 25 yards off of five plays and a punt on their opening drive, New England’s defense coughed up an eight-play, 68-yard drive early in the second quarter that ended with rookie Brian Thomas Jr. reeling in an easy touchdown catch off a miscommunication in New England’s second and third layers.
The Jags took the lead later in the second off of a six-play, 82-yard drive — headlined by a 58-yard snag from Thomas with Christian Gonzalez in tight coverage. Just four plays later, Tank Bigsby ran into the end zone to give Jacksonville a 14-10 advantage.
Things went from bad to worse after New England’s offense promptly punted on the following possession — with Parker Washington reeling off a 96-yard punt return touchdown to put New England completely on the ropes.
After holding a two-score advantage at the end of the first quarter, the Patriots entered halftime staring at a 22-10 deficit. It was a lead that Jacksonville did not relinquish throughout the rest of the game.
Defense continues to get gashed
After New England’s lopsided loss to the Texans last week, Jerod Mayo took his defense to task — noting that they should “feel like crap” after letting down the offense in a 41-21 game.
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But things didn’t get much better in London, with New England’s run defense and propensity to surrender big plays once again burning a unit that has been taking on water for weeks now.
In total, Jacksonville generated 364 total yards of offense against New England on Sunday.
The case can be made that a season-ending injury to linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley has been the most devastating setback to this defense in 2024, especially given the erosion of the Patriots’ run defense.
After giving up 192 rushing yards to the Texans in Week 6, the Patriots allowed 171 yards on the ground to Jacksonville — a poor reflection against a Jags team playing without its top running back in Travis Etienne Jr.
Even if Jacksonville didn’t reel off a pair of 50-yard runs like Houston did last week, the Jags still had six runs of 10 yards or more. Add in Lawrence (15-of-20, 193 yards) and Thomas (five catches, 89) torching New England’s secondary, and it was another rough showing from New England’s defense in this one.
If there was one bright spot for New England’s D, it was in the fourth quarter — with Eric Johnson and Raekwon McMillan stopping Bigsby on a 4-and-1 from New England’s six-yard line.
That fourth-down stop negated a 17-play drive from Jacksonville, with Maye and the Patriots going down the field and scoring minutes later to make the game somewhat competitive down the stretch.
It was a great play from Johnson and McMillian, but one that was too little, too late, in this game.
Maye shines again, but more struggles on offense
If there’s any positive news to draw from a sixth-straight loss in New England, it’s that Maye continues to look like the real deal at quarterback.
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Maye finished Sunday’s game completing 26 of 37 throws (70.3 completion percentage) for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 18 yards on the ground.
Even with a few close calls with misfires or throws into coverage, Maye (zero turnovers) was better at taking care of the ball when compared to last week’s game against Houston (three turnovers).
Along with the Patriots’ aforementioned strong start in the first quarter, Maye once again gave his team life in the fourth quarter.
Right after New England’s clutch fourth-down stop in the red zone, Maye led his team on a six-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that was completed in under three minutes.
New England’s decision to start throwing the ball downfield led to immediate results, with a 32-yard snag from Hunter Henry and a 31-yard catch from Kayshon Boutte putting New England in the red zone.
Maye followed that up with a 22-yard strike to KJ Osborn up the seam, making it a 25-16 game.
Maye has continued to impress since taking over as QB1, offering up hope for the future in Foxborough.
But the end results still haven’t been there for New England, even if little of it has to do with Maye’s own play.
Be it New England’s defense struggling to get Jacksonville off the field or Alex Van Pelt opting for a more conservative set of plays after the first quarter, New England struggled to generate any sort of momentum for most of the game.
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Before Maye’s 94-yard drive in the fourth quarter, New England ran only five total plays on offense in the second half.
New England’s run game also had another forgettable game, even with Rhamondre Stevenson back in the lineup. The Patriots generated just 38 rushing yards in the loss.
Even with more encouraging play from receiving targets like Henry (eight catches, 92 yards) and Boutte, it was another disastrous game from rookie Ja’Lynn Polk.
After declaring after his rough showing against Houston that he had the “best hands in the league”, Polk dropped another couple of passes from Maye on Sunday — while also slipping on New England’s two-point conversion chance midway through the fourth.
Polk was eventually tabbed as questionable to return in Sunday’s game due to a head injury and did not return. Further compounding New England’s woes was the availability of DeMario Douglas, who was limited due to illness. Douglas finished with two catches for 14 yards.
LIVE UPDATES
12:15: Patriots fall to the Jags, 32-16. New England is now 1-6.
12:12: Maye’s throw is incomplete on fourth down. New England is about to drop its sixth straight game.
12:03: Jags punt — and New England has a chance to try and tie things game up. 9-point game with 4 minutes left on the clock.
11:50: Patriots touchdown. Drake Maye and the Patriots have some life. K.J. Osborn with a 22-yard TD.
2-point conversion is no good.
25-16 game.
11:47: New England’s offense is waking up. Hunter Henry reels in a catch for 32 yards and follows it up with a 31-yard catch from Boutte.
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New England is in the red zone.
11:41: New England’s defense does respond, forcing a stop on fourth and 1 after the Jags reeled off a 17-play drive.
11:34: End Third: Jags up, 25-10.
11:31: Marcus Jones tries to take down Lawrence off the blitz, but Lawrence rolls out and runs for a first down. Rinse, repeat.
11:27: Patriots confirm that Pop Douglas is questionable to return with an illness.
11:26: Meanwhile, it seems like Pop Douglas is limited today.
11:23: Another drop for Polk, and then Maye is nearly picked off. Everything is going off the rails for New England.
11:18: Patriots hold the Jags to a field goal. It’s the little victories, I guess.
25-10 Jags.
11:10: Patriots D picks up right where they left off. A missed tackle leads to a 26-yard pickup from New England.
10:54: Halftime: Patriots trail the Jags, 22-10. A complete disaster of a second quarter for New England.
10:44: Well, so much for New England’s hot start. Parker Washington reels off a 96-yard punt return TD.
It’s now 22-10 Jags after the 2-point conversion.
10:36: Tank Bigsby scores to give the Jags a 14-10 lead. New England starts off hot with a 10-0 lead, but it’s all gone downhill since then. The Patriots’ D continues to struggle.
10:33: What a grea throw and catch from Lawrence to Thomas – especially with Gonzalez close in coverage. 58-yard pickup by Jacksonville.
10:29: Not a good drive by New England’s offense. Multiple negative plays. Baringer on to punt.
10:23: Jags are on the board. Brian Thomas Jr. converts a quick route and snags a throw from Lawrence. 10-7 Patriots lead.
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A rough drive from New England’s D.
10:20: Patriots linebackers keep getting chewed up.
10:12: Layden Robinson is questionable to return with an ankle injury.
10:10: Joey Slye connects on a 41-yard field goal. 10-0 Patriots.
10:06: End First: Patriots holding onto a 7-0 and driving down the field. This offense looks far better with Maye in place.
10:04: Layden Robinson limps off the field.
9:58: Maye reels off of a 15-yard scramble. He’s got good wheels.
9:57: Nice response by New England’s D to rebound from giving up a first down. Good overall response.
9:55: Maye on that opening drive. 6/7, 62 yards, TD
9:44: Touchdown, Patriots. JaMycal Hasty with a great run after a catch, leads to a 16-yard touchdown. 7-0 Patriots.
9:43: Stevenson picks up a first down, but then Devin Lloyd picks up the sack.
9:40: Gibson walks off under his own power, but heads to the blue medical tent.
9:39: Antonio Gibson is down after gaining seven yards.
9:36: Right after Douglas converts on a first down, Polk drops another ball. It’s been on an issue for the rookie.
9:35: Jags win the coin toss and defer.
9:14: 7 games, 7 different O-line combinations for New England.
9:11: A soggy day at Wembley, it seems.
9:10: No Vederian Lowe at LT for New England today, although the return of Rhamondre Stevenson does bode well for New England’s ground game.
9:00: Warmups underway:
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