The Morning (afternoon) after a blowout loss on national tv at home is not always fun. The New England Patriots looked frankly outmatched and outcoached against an inferior team in the Chicago Bears. But then again, that is the beauty of football.
Anyone can win.
The Patriots fell to 3-4 and have yet to have any consistency on the season in either direction. Mac Jones was benched early after a rough start returning from his four-week absence. Bailey Zappe looked good at first, but then things started to quickly unravel.
And one of the league’s worst rushing defenses beat one of the league’s best rushing offenses, allowing just 71 rushing yards, with 24 of those yards coming from Jones before he left the game.
What are we doing at quarterback?
In a puzzling move, Mac Jones was pulled early for Bailey Zappe after throwing an interception on national tv. But what irks me even more is that Bill Belichick embarrassed his franchise quarterback, who was working hard to return from a high ankle sprain. This is the same quarterback he spent a first-round draft pick on in 2021.
My point is, if there was that short of a leash, why not start Zappe and allow Jones to fully heal. Now, Jones’ reputation, ego, confidence and development are in question, and its a huge distraction, which is something Belichick always loves to avoid. But he did it to himself.
It doesn’t matter if he told Jones beforehand or not. The team looked distracted, and frankly pissed. The team’s head wasn’t in the right space, and it showed across the board.
Moving forward, I expected Belichick to praise/name Jones the starter for New York on Tuesday, which would have blown this all over. But he refused to do that, sparking concerns for QB controversy and more distractions this week for the team. If the Patriots have a plan, they need to do a better job of sticking to it. Direction sets intention and right now, there is a clear lack of both in the Patriots’ organization.
Anfernee Jennings is coming along
Jennings is starting to fill that weak side linebacker glaring hole left by Kyle Van Noy, which is a spot the team has seemingly struggled to fill this season. Deatrich Wise is a great end, but they need someone more versed in coverage that can play all three downs.
And Jennings is starting to look the part.
He looked great in camp, but he has yet to really put it all together until Monday night. If the third-year linebacker out of Alabama can put some consistency together, when the team gets healthy, the front seven should have much more versatility than they currently do.
This game, to me, was more of an anomaly defensively due to the heavy reliance on zone, which mobile quarterbacks tend to exploit.
More Marcus Jones, please
Marcus Jones is starting to put it together on defense, flashing his raw pursuit and breaking speed on the ball that he was heavily skilled at in Houston.
He has already won the returner job, but if you watch his tape, he didn’t go in the third-round just to be a returner. His skillset should allow him to be one of the better short area corners the Patriots have on the roster. Jones made some flashy plays with a pass breakup, and in my opinion, he has been less of a liability than Myles Bryant.
