Fan Notes from the Patriots' loss to the 49ers

I don’t think anyone is particularly surprised that the New England Patriots lost to the 4San Francisco 49ers yesterday. The Niners were heavy favorites and are legit Super Bowl contenders this year. And the game could have been a lot worse for the Patriots overall.

The only real surprise, for me at least, is that I’m sitting here at a bit of a loss this morning. I watched the game yesterday, I got on with the rest of my Sunday, I slept pretty well, I woke up this morning, and I’m still not sure what to think about the Patriots overall.

Well, I know what I think. They stink, that’s what I think. But do I have anything to offer other than that?

1. In terms of any actual game analysis, I really don’t have all that much to say. We know what this team is and what this team isn’t, and I don’t see any of that changing anytime soon. So I guess I’ll take a few notes to point out the obvious, then maybe take a step back and treat today’s Fan Notes as a forum for healthy discussion and debate about the other Obvious Thing we’re all wondering.

First up, let’s get to the good stuff.

2. If the Patriots are going to send a single player to the Pro Bowl this year, it’s going to be Bryce Baringer. He’s running away with Team MVP for the second year in a row.

3. Joey Slye has also found himself in the middle of a mini career revival in New England, and I’m here for it. Being able to hammer it in from 50+ is absolutely crucial when you’re on a team like New England, because the odds of them getting into chip shot FG range are pretty damn slim.

4. If you want an example of how clearly numbers that show up on a spreadsheet don’t even remotely translate into reality, look no further than the New England defense yesterday. You look at the final score and the 148 rushing yards surrendered and only one sack generated, and it’s easy to think that the 49ers just ran all the Patriots. But that it was only 30-13 is nothing short of a miracle, and that’s on the defense.

5. There was obviously the pick-six, which takes one score off the board. You also have one score coming off of a 53-yard, perfectly thrown bomb to Deebo Samuel as an injury-ravaged Patriots secondary didn’t have a deep safety in position. The other touchdown required George Kittle to somehow come down with the ball in the middle of three Patriots defenders and contort his body mid-air to come down in bounds on the third try. Marcus Jones was in incredible coverage on the 45-yard Jennings reception — that was just a great throw and catch. Peppers picked one off in the end zone to short-circuit a strong Niners drive and the defense just kept it closer than it should have been overall.

6. There are for sure some issues with the D, particularly edge contain and a hopefully injury-dictated decision to have Jahlani Tavai in the back third of the field in coverage, but against one of the most potent offenses in the league, Purdy and company earned almost every single yard that they got.

7. And once again, Christian Gonzalez just takes whoever he’s covering and renders him a complete non-factor. It seems that every time the Patriots play press-man, good things happen, and when they switch to a soft zone, they give up chunk plays. I’d put Gonzo up against any receiver in this league and feel comfortable leaving him on an island there.

8. I genuinely believe that there are some extremely talented receivers on this team. We’ve seen what DeMario Douglas can do, and we can all see what Polk can and will be under some different circumstances- I still think that sideline grab was a catch. But everything that involves passing and catching the ball is more or less a wash this year.

OK, enough of the back-patting. Down to the meat and potatoes of the suck.

9. This team’s only real offensive weapon has put the ball on the ground at least once every single week. I know how things like that can get into your head, but in years past Mondre would be on the bench until he got that straightened out.

10. And honestly, Antonio Gibson has been an under-the-radar bright spot for this offense. He’s a good runner, a good outlet receiver, and had the only big play of the game yesterday for the Patriots. If they do decide to bench Stevenson for a bit, I’m OK with Gibson taking the lead back role.

11. This team’s best offensive lineman left the game with a shoulder injury and didn’t come back. Though if I found out that David Andrews was faking it just to get a break, I wouldn’t blame him.

12. I’d make a joke about how Nick Bosa and Demontrey Jacobs should never line up within 10 yards of each other — but that’s kind of what happened yesterday anyway.

13. The only fun and creative offensive play we’ve seen all season got called back due to a block in the back.

14. It’s going to sound crazy, but calibrating for overall suckitude, it’s not like they’re playing horribly. This isn’t some talented squad that can’t seem to put together a complete game or is prone to blow leads or can’t close it out. This is a young, inexperienced team with an extremely weak offensive line protecting a QB with a very limited ceiling. The receivers have potential, but it’s tough to make an impact when the quarterback takes six sacks per game and faces pressure on almost half of his dropbacks. The offensive product we saw yesterday is right where it should be, and it’s tough to get all that upset about it.

15. I really don’t blame any of the players. Other than Mondre’s fumbleitis, it’s not like I’m looking at an individual guy on the team and thinking he can be doing more or playing better than he is. It’s just the top-down offensive problem that we all saw coming back in April, convinced ourselves it wasn’t that bad when they beat Cincy, and now have to deal with the reality that it may be even worse than we could have imagined. But it’s not on any one guy.

16. Pats fans in 2023: Ah, crap, Vederian Lowe is starting today!

Pats fans in 2024: Ah, crap. Vederian Lowe is out today!

17. The question, then, is what do we do from here? We all know what we’re going to be asking this week, and pretty much every week going forward: when is it time to pull Brissett and start Drake Maye?

18. I’ve been on record as saying that Week 5 makes a lot of sense. The Dolphins are a mess without Tua, and October begins a nice little home stand and a relatively soft part of the schedule.

But based on what we’ve seen so far, is starting Maye the way to go?

19. On one hand, this whole Brissett-run offense seems pretty pointless. It’s not going anywhere or doing anything. Any growth or experience the young guys are getting has to be minimal at best, unless “run half a route before your quarterback gets sacked and you have to return to the huddle” counts as meaningful game reps and some added cardio.

20. Through four games, Brissett has completed 61 passes for 536 yards with two TDs and a pick. In case you blocked the game out, Tommy B threw for 505 in Super Bowl LII alone. He’s benched in almost every other circumstance, and as long as he’s out there, the whole team is just treading water. So what do we have to lose?

21. To answer that question, let’s play out an imaginary scenario.

“Happy 16th birthday, son! And congratulations on getting your driver’s license. I know you’re eager to get started on your cross-country road trip, so I bought you a car. There are no brakes, the right turn signal doesn’t work, you need to fasten the seatbelt by tying it into a knot, somebody etched a picture of a butt onto the rear window glass and you can’t see out the back, the rearview mirror is just a piece of tinfoil, and I’d advise you to pull over every 400 yards or so to re-inflate the front tires with the hand-pump in the trunk. Just make sure not to slam the trunk closed when you’re done, that will cause the transmission to drop out. Close it very gently and fasten it with the latch I duct-taped on last night. Call me when you get to LA!”

22. Would the birthday boy get some invaluable life and real-world driving experience taking that jalopy on the highway? Absolutely. Would he make the trip in one piece? Perhaps, if everything goes exactly right. Would you feel totally fine if that was your child pulling out of your driveway in a cloud of black exhaust? Hell no.

23. Which means, then, that the only reason Maye isn’t getting the start at this point is for safety reasons. The team has decided to throw Jacoby out there to get mauled every week while protecting their future. And there’s no way that Brissett can’t understand that to some degree. It has to be tough knowing that the only reason you have your job is because you can take a beating.

24. Furthermore, if David Andrews is out for an extended period, the offensive line has, impossibly, just gotten much worse. Whatever center is out there — we’re four weeks into the season and I couldn’t name the Patriots linemen — isn’t the one that Maye needs to develop a rapport with. So I think I’m now in the camp of leaving Maye on the bench at least until Andrews comes back.

25. But if they decide to start Maye sooner rather than later, I’m all in. All signs point to Jacoby being the guy until he inevitably gets hurt and Maye is forced into starting duty. But until he starts taking the bulk of the starting snaps in practice, this is and will remain Brissett’s team. The coaches have already more or less said as much.

26. Are there really some Patriots fans out there saying that Mayo has to go? There can’t be, right?

27. On a more macro level: the league really, really needs to do something about the officiating. Not only are there an absurd number of flags flying around each at every game, but the calls are often flat-out wrong. It has been steadily getting worse with each passing season, and in 2024 games are becoming completely unwatchable. Perhaps one of the reasons offensive production is down this year is because offenses never have any time to get into a rhythm with every other play getting called back on some nonsense. It needs to stop.

28. I would imagine that it’s under the purview of overall player safety, but I don’t see how making teams run even more plays because of phantom holds or face masks called against the wrong team somehow makes things safer.

29. Speaking of player safety, I would have loved to be in the meeting with whoever it was who decided that the new kickoff rules were going to bring the excitement back to the play. I bet they all left that meeting thinking that they had it all figured out.

30. And to their credit, it seemed to work during the preseason, during those few games where nobody gave a crap and were just trying things out. But all we have now are touchbacks and a bunch of special teamers sprinting to the end zone for no apparent reason.

31. The new rules also mean that an offense only needs like 35-40 yards to get into field goal ranger coming off that inevitable touchback. It makes 4th quarter comebacks a bit less impressive.

32. Watching Jabrill Peppers celebrate his end zone pick with what looked like an overly full diaper on his helmet was the one real joy I took out of yesterday’s game.

What will October bring for this team? Your guess is as good as mine. But I’m here for it, whatever it is.