The undefeated New England Patriots had Tom Brady at quarterback and quite possibly the greatest defense in franchise history, and it still wasn’t enough to overcome an electric Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on the road.
Halloween is over, and the Boogeymen weren’t scaring anyone anymore.
The Ravens did exactly what they’ve done throughout the season: Line up with an offense heavy on tight ends and pound the ball down the Patriots’ throat. It was a demoralizing outcome that should give coach Bill Belichick plenty of talking points heading into the bye week.
In many ways, this game was reminiscent of last season’s loss to the Tennessee Titans before the bye, when the Patriots were steamrolled on the road. They ultimately used that loss as motivation to propel them on a Super Bowl run. Losses build character, even for a team that wins as much as the Patriots.
Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s 20-37 loss to the Ravens:
Mistakes and uncharacteristically bad football cost the Patriots
New England was always due to have that one ugly performance that stands out for skeptics to continuously point at. They got caught in a maelstrom of a hot Ravens team coming off a bye week at home.
However, the Patriots still played uncharacteristically bad football. After holding the Ravens to what would have been a field goal on the opening drive, the defense committed a neutral zone infraction, resulting in a new set of downs for the Ravens to put seven points on the board instead of three. That drive pretty much summed up the rest of the game, which was full of bad penalties and costly turnovers.
Perhaps the backbreaker was wide receiver Julian Edelman’s fumble early in the third quarter that resulted in a scoop-and-score for the Ravens.
The Patriots were driving and looked to be on their way to scoring and potentially taking the lead. There was simply no coming back after that killer turnover in such a hostile environment.
Lack of dependability at tight end
It’s like beating a dead horse when delving into the many problems for the Patriots at tight end, but those issues were once again highlighted on a crucial dropped pass by Ben Watson on a dart from Brady in the fourth quarter that would have given the team a chance to come back.
There’s obviously nothing the Patriots can do at this point with the trade deadline in the rearview. No one should expect Rob Gronkowski to throw on the red cape and come out of retirement, either.
The hope is the team will have more success when rookie first-round draft pick N’Keal Harry steps onto the field. While he isn’t a tight end, his size and athleticism give him the ability to simulate some of the same routes the team used for Gronkowski. After being brought up to the 53-man roster over the weekend, he traveled with the team on Sunday and was inactive for the game.
It’s a shame because the offense certainly could have used him.
Defense comes back down to earth
Make way for the talking heads to spend the next couple weeks calling the Patriots defense overrated, which is a ridiculous take after their first bad game of the season.
The dominance they displayed over the first eight weeks was still impressive regardless of who they were playing. This was the same defense, for the most part, that stomped the Los Angeles Chargers, shut down Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs for a half and held the Los Angeles Rams’ high-flying 2018 offense to only three points in Super Bowl LIII.
On Sunday night, however, they were no match for the Ravens’ run-heavy offense.
It’s probably a good thing the Patriots ran into the Ravens in the regular season, just in case the two teams meet up again in the playoffs. You can rest assured they’ll have more answers to the Lamar Jackson puzzle if given a second opportunity.
Left tackle remains a problem
Not to heap all of the Patriots’ offensive line problems on Marshall Newhouse, but it’s clear he is struggling significantly at left tackle. It was tough watching him get beaten over and over again in the trenches to the point where he’s forced to draw holding penalties to keep Brady from getting smashed from his blindside.
Newhouse obviously isn’t the Patriots’ first option, but they’re also lacking in depth at a position where good players are hard to find at this point of the season. The Patriots are simply holding on for dear life until Isaiah Wynn returns from injured reserve. His presence up front will be a huge lift for the offense. Along with providing more reliable pass protection for Brady, he’ll also help in opening up the run game for Sony Michel.
He is eligible to return in the Patriots’ Week 11 meeting on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Sanu makes his presence felt
Let’s end on a positive note by talking up the stellar performance shown by wideout Mohamed Sanu in only his second outing as a Patriot. Given the final score, some will make the mistake of assuming the Patriots offense still looked like a mess on Sunday, but they actually looked better than they’ve looked in weeks.
Sanu was a big part of that resurgence by hauling in 10 receptions for 81 yards and one touchdown. There were obviously some drive-killing mistakes, but the Patriots moved the ball effectively against the Ravens defense after the first quarter thanks to the smooth route running and reliable hands shown by the veteran receiver. His chemistry with Brady should continue to improve as the season goes on.
The addition of Harry, to go along with Edelman and Sanu, could jump-start the sputtering offense.
