When it comes to the largely buttoned-up Patriots, there were twin tirades during the 31-20 loss to the Jaguars on Sunday that will be remembered for some time.
After the first quarter, both Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels were caught by CBS cameras ripping into the players. I didn't catch Brady's "Do your job!" screeds in the stadium, but I did watch McDaniels through my binoculars and it was better live.
To that point in the game, the Patriots' offense had just completed its third fruitless drive, and trailed as a team, 14-0. The Patriots were 1 of 4 on third downs, had averaged 2.4 yards per rush, and Brady had completed just 50 percent of his passes for 51 yards.
Obviously, things weren't going well to that point, so the frustration was understandable.
But were the outbursts warranted? It's one thing for the other team to just be better on that particular day — and we've seen Brady resigned to his fate in other games, like vs. Kansas City and Miami last season — but it's another thing for the Patriots to beat themselves.
So which was it?
The tirades were absolutely warranted — and there should have been one by Brian Flores on the defensive side as well while we're at it — as New England completely laid an egg on both sides of the ball against the Jaguars.
We'll go over all the mindless first-quarter errors and provide our usual video analysis, game charts, unit grades and 3 up/3 down — plus two plays that might cause some health worries about Dont'a Hightower and Rob Gronkowski. But let's start with this:
I had the Patriots' offense for 19 "minus" plays/mental mistakes in the first quarter. I had them for 15 over the course of the final three. The Patriots also had two players run into each other on the third play of the game. Yes, it was that bad.
Let us count the ways:
FIRST DRIVE
15:00, 1st and 10: Despite completing a quick 9-yard pass to Rob Gronkowski, LT Trent Brown completely whiffed on blocking DE Yannick Ngakoue. Luckily, Brady threw quickly.
14:26, 2nd and 1: Rex Burkhead only gains two yards because Brown was stood up by Ngakoue and wouldn't move out the gap.
13:51, 1st and 10: Patriots tried to run a wham play against Marcel Dareus, who stayed in his hole. But the bigger problem was David Andrews and Joe Thuney ran into other as Thuney was slow to get to his block on MLB Myles Jack, who made the tackle for a 2-yard gain. It could have been a much better play.
13:12, 2nd and 8: Good play on the quick 23-yard pass to Jacob Hollister (they should have used him more).
12:36, 1st and 10: Yes, Gronkowski was held and there should have been a flag. But James Develin's failed block against Calais Campbell caused Brady to have to run, and he missed Chris Hogan wide open on a crosser.
12:30, 2nd and 10: Develin gets defeated by CB Jalen Ramsey — a cornerback against a fullback — at the point of attack, and Burkhead trips over Develin's feet for just a 3-yard gain when there was more there.
11:49, 3rd and 7: James White sets a blatant illegal pick to free up Cordarrelle Patterson on a wide-open drag that had the potential to go for a touchdown but a) Brady never saw it, b) Brown and Thuney couldn't sort out a simple tackle-end stunt and allowed Ngakoue a free run at Brady, and c) LaAdrian Waddle failed to block Dante Fowler on the other side. Multiple failures on the same, crucial play. Leads to no points when Stephen Gostkowski kicks one to southern Georgia.
SECOND DRIVE
7:46, 1st and 10: Despite Brady delivering a quick pass to Sony Michel, the quarterback gets nailed to the turf by Malik Jackson, who overpowered Shaq Mason.
7:21, 2nd and 3: Nothing blatant, but you can make the case the Patriots tried to hurry this 2-yard Michel run, and to the wrong side -- where they didn't have the right numbers.
6:52, 3rd and 1: Brown completely whiffed on his block against Jackson and Michel is tackled for a 1-yard loss.
THIRD DRIVE
2:10, 1st and 10: Michel does well to get three yards on a mess of a blocking play where Dwayne Allen is completely shoved backward across Michel's face by backup DE Taven Bryan.
1:37, 2nd and 7: Michel stops his route and drops an open pass.
1:32, 3rd and 7: Good play by Brady and White under pressure to pick up 12 as Brown (Campbell) and Waddle (Fowler with a hold) are beaten.
58 seconds, 1st and 10: A well-blocked Michel run only goes for five yards because Thuney missed his chop block on Telvin Smith.
12 seconds, 2nd and 5: Brown incorrectly blocks down and leaves Campbell unblocked (nice pickup by Michel), which causes Brady to throw incomplete early to Hogan, who might have run a wrong route (hitch instead of an out). Gronkowski also missed his block.
7 seconds, 3rd and 5: Brady checks to a White run correctly when the Patriots have the numbers, but the play is blown up when Andrews is knocked backward by Jackson, causing the pulling Thuney to be late and slow up White. It only goes for three yards and leads to another punt.
At that point, the snappage rightfully ensues.
I could do the same thing on the defensive side of the ball — especially on third down — but we don't have all day. Overall, the bottom line is the Patriots played absolutely terrible against the Jaguars, especially early. That's not to take anything away from Jacksonville, which deserved to win the game. While this is out of the norm for a Patriots team, we've seen this before ... and it gets cleaned up as the season goes along. The execution will get better.
Here are the positional ratings against the Jaguars:
Quarterback (3.5 out of 5)
Brady played well in this game considering all the circumstances. Probably the one notable part of this game was how much the pressure affected Brady. He made several throws pointing his plant foot at the sideline instead of the intended target, despite not being under an average amount of pressure (26.3 percent). This is unusual for him — his mechanics are normally very sound — and indicates to me he's not trusting his protection at this point. I expect it to get corrected the more he plays behind Brown and Waddle and with Michel, but it's worth monitoring. ... Brady had nothing open on the third down before the field goal near the end of the half. ... On the strip sack, Brady shared part of the blame, at least as far as ball security. As opposed to the strip sack in the Super Bowl, where Brady didn't see Brandon Graham coming, Brady knew Fowler was coming off the edge, which is why he climbed the pocket. He needs to secure the ball better there, especially knowing that taking a sack kept them in field-goal range.
Running backs (2.5 out of 5)
Most of the issues in the running game had to do with the blocking up front, but this group had a lot of issues from Burkhead (sack), Develin (knockdown, poor run block) and Michel (drop). ... The Patriots need more out of Burkhead. He needs to replace some of the swagger and toughness that went out the door with Dion Lewis and Danny Amendola. ... Michel flashed a little bit, especially on the 14-yard run. Needs to be a player this year. ... Patriots need to get the ball into the hands of White a lot more, but they might be monitoring his touches. His 27-yard swing pass was special.
Receivers (2.5 out of 5)
Outside of his opening catch, Gronkowski was a complete non-factor in this game. Part of it was the Jaguars, as they were very aggressive in coverage, especially in the red zone (you'd think other teams would take note to not give Gronk a free release off the line, but they won't learn). But Gronkowski had a lot of self-inflicted issues in the game, especially when it came to his blocking, which was poor for him. I wondered if at one point he was dealing with a concussion. He was stunned after this play:
Dorsett was solid. Hogan (two touchdowns) was good, but they need more. Hollister was outstanding with three plus plays in 14 limited snaps. ... Run that third-and-4 swing pass to Edelman and Amendola instead of Patterson, it’s definitely a first down. It’s the difference between those Patriots teams, and this iteration. Patterson is not a great all-around athlete. Needs the ball in only certain conditions.
Offensive line (1.5 out of 5)
[table id=142 /]
We hit on the plethora of issues the line had in the first quarter, and they only had only five other errors in the final three quarters. Dante Scarnecchia had to be furious. A terrible early showing from his group. ... The line in order of effectiveness: Mason, Andrews, Waddle, Brown, Thuney. .... This was one of those three games per season where Thuney is just not good. Figured he might be past that.
DEFENSE
[table id=143 /]
Defensive line (2.5 out of 5)
Adrian Clayborn might have had two pressures, but three times he got too high on his rush and allowed Blake Bortles to pick up easy first downs. Not good enough. ... Keionta Davis had his moments in this game (five plus plays), but he was again defeated on the edge for two big running plays early and it looked like the Jaguars were targeting him. On a 15-yard run, Davis was erased from the play by light-blocking TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins. On the next play, Davis can't get off a block, and Hightower is dominated by RG Andrew Norwell.
Linebackers (1.5 out of 5)
One of the biggest plays of the game was the Jaguars' first third down. Patriots hit on a blitz and Ja'Whaun Bentley had a free shot on Bortles. He doesn’t even touch him, which allows Devin McCourty to be beaten by Seferian-Jenkins. ... The 11-yard pass to T.J. Yeldon to start the two-minute drive was the easiest completion you will ever see. Hightower was not competitive. ... Speaking of Hightower, he's obviously dealing with a right knee injury. This is likely going to be an issue all season, and it's not good news for the defense. Watch him on this play, and he was also taken out on the following play. Can't believe he stayed in. Ultimately, Hightower was a liability in this game.
Secondary (1.5 out of 5)
Patriots brought a lot more pressure than they normally do (nearly 30 percent in this game), but it didn't have much of an effect because the coverage didn't match the pressure. New England gave Bortles way too many easily declared throws due to their off coverage. Tight coverage causes hesitation, which allows the pressure to get home. Didn't happen in this game. Rush and coverage were not synced up well. Flores will likely have to adjust to that with his calls. ... Patrick Chung looked to be suffering concussion effects in the first quarter, but stayed in and his play suffered. First quarter, 8:23, third and 7: he got caught flat-footed, beaten by Corey Grant on easy middle route. ... Second quarter, 1:56, 3rd and 7, Patriots bring seven rushers against seven blockers. Devin McCourty gives way too much cushion, easy completion to Seferian-Jenkins for 8 yards. ... No jam by Eric Rowe on TD by Cole. Hesitated too. He gave up three big plays, but there has to be another reason why he was benched after just one quarter, like he didn't follow instructions on how to defend receivers off the line. I've seen many corners be a lot worse for this team and stay in games (like Malcolm Butler last year). ... Really nice play by Jonathan Jones to drop off his off coverage to cause the interception. However, he was terrible on the 61-yard touchdown (his effort could be questioned) and he likely got an earful in the film review.