Monday morning dawns with the recall that the Patriots are still not playing so great, and no amount of coffee will change that! There was some bad, and there was some ugly, but was there any good? Hold tight folks, I’ll answer that one in a minute.

For those of you who perhaps did not see the game, it has been commented that it was a pretty darn bad showing at Gillette Stadium, and plenty of us were really hoping that Julian Edelman would crack open that jersey case and put it on!

To be honest, many of us were hoping that, even if the Patriots had played well, we miss you JE11!

Now, I am well known for my tight endage enthusiasm, and whilst I had a little bit yesterday (a touch more on that later), Jonnu Smith did not raise any. 

Since the big tight end free agency signings, I have been a Hunter gal, whilst recognising that Smith is more of a versatile weapon, but I like me a traditional bit of tight endage. However, I am afraid last night Smith showed less tight endage than we saw in 2020 (yeah I said it folks – you know I still love me some Ryan Izzo). But in grave seriousness, Smith was not great at blocking, he had a poor block in the third quarter that would have helped Brandon Bolden power through, but Jonnu’s target got free and took Brandon down for zero gain. His “not so great hands” that I mentioned last week were still around and he had too many drops/failed catches for someone of his calibre. Sticky gloves anyone?

Shockingly, plenty of negative reports can be handed out towards special team. We saw poor punt coverage, two special team penalties, a blocked punt, and surprisingly, for the second game in a row, a Jake Bailey kick out of bounds. 

The word of the day, the week, maybe the season, is inconsistent – and not really any of the team hasn’t fallen foul of this.

Whilst Matt Judon brought it in beast mode again with two and a half sacks, two tackles for losses, and three quarterback hits, veteran Kyle Van Noy had two solo tackles, and Dont’a Hightower… one.

The front defense weren’t actually too bad but the same cannot be said for the offensive line as Mac Jones took 11 hits. 

But before you decide to drown yourself in the last bit of coffee in your mug, hear me out.

Now, I’m not going to try and sell you sunshine and rainbows, sure I’m bubbly and a little bit crazy, but I am realistic, and Sunday’s display was not good, not good at all.

However! (Ah yes, there it is!) There were some glimmers of hope amongst the “dumpsta fiyah” some are branding the game.

The front defense wasn’t bad, it has improved a teeny amount, and that is good! They had some containment of Alvin Kamara, not all the time, but Davon Godchaux showed his prowess. Ja’Whaun Bentley and Adrian Phillips definitely showed up, whilst Deatrich Wise had a lovely clutch defense play taking Jameis Winston down towards the end of the second quarter.

So, Smith may have put his gloves on the wrong hands yesterday morning, but Hunter didn’t and he was undertaking some good blocking, playing 52 of the 72 offensive snaps. There was a beautiful throw from Mac Jones that resulted in a catch where Hunter powered through with a guy hanging off him. I have put in a formal request for more of this but am still waiting to hear back from the Coach.

Kendrick Bourne attended the party with a lovely 31 yard catch, playing 55 of the snaps. A glorious little quarterback rush by Mac was followed by a long ball to Bourne who orchestrated great body positioning for the touchdown. Nice.

The two things that I take away from this game are: 

1. The surprise at how much I’m not concerned about the one thing I thought would be at the forefront of my mind for this 2021 season, worries over Mac Jones (other than his literal safety after all the hits the kid has taken).
2. How we are on a road not very well travelled. 

This team isn’t looking like the Patriots of old. Of course it isn’t, it isn’t the Patriots team of old and not just because of the quarterback. Things are different now, and things are changing. And good or bad we are in it for the long haul. 

A phrase I am sure I will use far too much early on in this season, but is so apt and I am rather proud of it is, the journey is long and we are still at the beginning. There may be trouble ahead, but there will be moonlight and music so let’s grab the coffee and just love! 

Go Pats!

Mac Jones. Mac Attack, Mac the Knife, Mac and Cheese – please!

He may have only played two games in the regular NFL season, but the 23 year old quarterback, first round pick to the New England Patriots, has already had plenty of nicknames and rather lot of comparisons with the legend that is Tom Brady.

But comparisons are the name of the game in this industry, and Doug Flutie recently gave an interview to discuss the quarterback he would compare himself to in the NFL for 2021.

Although obviously not actively encouraged, Mac hasn’t shot those Brady comparisons down, and why should he?

The kid has been modelling himself on the greatest quarterback of all time for years and although only having 17 college starts under his belt, he came out with the cool, calm, collectiveness of a player with much more.

Now, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The loss against the Miami Dolphins and even the win against the New York Jets had Mac Jones displaying some of his rookieness.

But, he showed his willingness to just throw down and be part of the team, even if it did make a few people nervous, when during the recent game against the New York Jets, he dropped for a block to help spring Kendrick Bourne for 16 yards. And then there was the pile up with the group, pushing Damien Harris for a touchdown.

His team-first mentality has been on display even earlier, during joint practices with the New York Giants, he ran laps with his offensive linemen when they got into a bit of a scuffle with the opposition.

At the start of the year we all began to get excited for the draft, and Mac Jones wasn’t even projected as being taken in the first round. But, he has been hailed as the only real NFL ready quarterback to be selected because of his mind, his ability to read defences, and getting the ball out quickly and accurately.

Now, it has been said that Mac Jones is not an athletic quarterback. The kid can move, but he isn’t ever going have the nippiness of the likes of Kyler Murray, not at six-foot-three anyway! But, with such a “football head” on those shoulders, with a team-first mentality, he is a guy that will throw blocks, push the pile and even refuse a touchdown ball because it’s more about the team win. He is definitely a Patriot looking QB.

It’s still early in the season but most will take the win as a win. And it was a win, Patriots 25 Jets 6.

However…

(So, if you saw Sunday’s game you knew THAT was coming.)

My biggest question to stem from the match up was this; is the offensive line really struggling or is the Jets defense actually that good? And I think, it is probably a little of both.

But I gotta say, did anyone think to tell Zach Wilson that it wasn’t the Patriots who had drafted him, and that he shouldn’t be throwing to J.C. Jackson and Devin McCourty? I jest.

There’s plenty of negativity to take away from this road game, and that’s the truth. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, there were many times that this game could have gone a bit of a different way and the Patriots still have plenty of work to do. Next week there is a good running game heading into New England and the defense has to tighten up, the offense does too!

Mac Jones did not have the best game, he still acts like a rookie a little. Well, he is a rookie, on his second ever NFL game, so I don’t know about you, but when it comes to that, i’m definitely looking at the whole journey rather than just the stop over in New Jersey.

The defense had plenty of interceptions, 4 to be exact, but should those be credited more to Zach Wilson than to J.C. Jackson, Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips? Not to say those guys didn’t play well, as those three did, but maybe they cant take the full credit.

So, the offensive line perhaps could do with a little bit of a shuffle. Maybe Ted Karras at guard and Mike Onwenu moving over to right tackle for a while. With all due respect to Yasir Durant, he may have saved the ball following a sack on Mac but he didn’t hold his guy so good, which possibly caused the sack on Mac. 

Unfortunately, after the penalty-heavy game against the Dolphins, this trip to MetLife Stadium still had plenty of penalty calls, and disappointingly, Isaiah Wynn’s name was associated with many. One even erased a nice 8 yard pick-up run by J.J. Taylor. And I don’t mean to bore you with tight end talk, but did anyone else wonder where Jonnu Smith was? He displayed some concerning “not great” hands. But you know what, these are all things that they can work on.

What doesn’t need any work is Nick Folk’s field goal finesse. 32 straight successful field goals for Big Kick Nick! Yes, he missed an extra point, but sometimes you gotta let the small stuff go.

The offense still doesn’t light up the night sky, and plenty of fans want that WR1, but Jakobi Meyers has been playing great. His “snatch out of the air” catch towards the latter half of the first quarter was *consults notes to find exactly what she wrote* utterly delicious.

Damien Harris had himself a nice little game, 62 yards and 1 touchdown. James White was utilised and back on form with 20 yards and a touchdown.

Not only did he have fingers on the ball in a possible almost-interception near the 2 minute warning towards the end of the first quarter, but Ja’Whaun Bentley had a powerful take down at the commencement of the third quarter, holding down the Jets run.

I was excited towards the end of the second quarter when Hunter Henry had a great catch with a 10 yard gain, and then in the third quarter he was targeted again and made 32 yards. Not sparkling, I know, and I was hoping for way more, but I feel like it’s a progression.

And to be honest folks, that is what I think this whole season is about. I know as fans we want to win, we want to witness fabulous plays, aggressive defense, tonnes of touchdowns. But we are also realistic, and deep down we know this year is for Mac Jones – the first round draft pick quarterback to learn, to grow and to develop a team around him that will win championships.

Go Pats!