Bedard: Loss to Ravens proof Belichick can't fix everything - and Jones' injury won't help

FOXBOROUGH — If you ever wondered what a Patriots game would look like if Bill Belichick was offensive coordinator, Sunday's 37-26 defeat to the Ravens was about as close as you're going to get to it.

Belichick spent the entirety of Sunday's game working with the offense. He met with Matt Patricia after virtually every series. Five different times he spoke with Mac Jones, including three lengthy one-on-one conversations when the coach was on one knee in front of Jones. When the defense was on the field, Belichick at times had his back to the field while dealing with the offense — and he spent the rest of his time going over photos — probably of the offense.

And not once did Belichick converse face to face with defensive playcaller Steve Belichick.

When Lamar Jackson was rattling off four consecutive scoring drives to take control of the game and going 5 for 5 in the red zone against the Patriots, Belichick wasn't actively involved in countering Baltimore's switch to a more ground-based attack. Apparently, the days of seeing Belichick gathering some of the defense around him to give them the secret sauce for the next series to shut down the opponent — back when he left the offense up to Bill O'Brien or Josh McDaniels — are over.

As expected, the matchup with the Ravens pushed the limits of how Belichick has constructed this coaching staff.

Was it better? Yes, you could say that. The offense had three scoring drives of over 70 yards — they had three in the first two games combined. The Patriots had seven explosive pass plays of at least 20 yards against the Ravens — five combined vs. Miami and Pittsburgh. The Patriots scored more points in this game (26) than they did in the first two games combined (24). They put up 447 total yards.

But at the end of the game, despite Belichick coaching the ever-living stuffing out of his offense, it still wasn't good enough to deliver a win as key drives stalled with four turnovers (including once on downs in Baltimore territory). 

And it leaves you wondering, if the Patriots had just a little more BB available to them on defense, could they have held Jackson in the Ravens in the 20s and secured a victory?

What can Bill do you for your Patriots? A lot, just not apparently enough. And it's only going to be made worse if Mac Jones misses time with a severe left ankle injury. You think Brian Hoyer is going to have to be less managed than Jones? 

Even with Belichick bridging the gap between Patricia and Jones in this game, it sure didn't seem like the quarterback was all that enamored with what was going on at some crucial points:

SECOND QUARTER

Timeout #1 by NE at 10:00.
3-9-BLT 39 (10:00) (Shotgun) D.Harris right guard to BLT 33 for 6 yards (C.Campbell; C.Clark).
4-3-BLT 33 (9:25) (Shotgun) M.Jones pass short left to K.Bourne to BLT 33 for no gain (M.Humphrey).

Trailing 7-3, Belichick takes a timeout and the Patriots come out and run a draw for 6 yards on third and long — causing me to wonder if I got the down wrong — and then a throw into the flat for no gain that the Ravens seemed to be waiting for. Nobody loves flat throws like these Patriots.

THIRD QUARTER

2-7-NE 28 (4:09) M.Jones pass short middle intended for D.Parker INTERCEPTED by J.Bynes at NE 43. J.Bynes to NE 43 for no gain (D.Parker).

The Patriots decided this was the moment to trot out, for the first time, a Kyle Shanahan staple — fake the wide zone run, boot the other way and hit a pass down the middle of the field. This was the play the Patriots were trying to build to all training camp. Normally you call it in a circumstance when you're hoping the defense is selling out to stop the run and will be sucked in. The Patriots called it on 2nd and long yardage?

Predictably, the Ravens were in zone coverage, didn't care about the run and there were four Ravens around Parker to make the easy interception. You could argue this was a playcall fail, but not sure why Jones felt the need to force it.

FOURTH QUARTER

1-10-BLT 10 (10:40) (Shotgun) M.Jones pass short left to D.Harris to BLT 14 for -4 yards (M.Williams).
2-14-BLT 14 (9:53) (Shotgun) D.Harris up the middle to BLT 10 for 4 yards (O.Oweh).
3-10-BLT 10 (9:12) (Shotgun) M.Jones pass deep left intended for D.Parker INTERCEPTED by M.Humphrey at BLT -8. Touchback.

Patriots are driving for a go-ahead touchdown trailing 31-26 as they arrive at a goal-to-go situation. On first down, do the Patriots power a run between the tackles? No. Do they look for Hunter Henry to post up? Who? Is he still on the team? No, the Patriots for about the 5th time this season throw a swing pass in the flat to Harris that goes for minus-4 yards.

On second down, now — now — they run up the middle to get back to the original line of scrimmage, leaving them in long yardage again. Jones doesn't see the corner blitz coming, gets rushed hard, throws it up into the end zone thinking Parker will be physical and fight for the ball. He doesn't, Jones was picked off and he was steaming on the bench for several minutes — he walked away from his normal spot, stood behind the defense and then sat by himself on the defensive bench.

Oh, and on the last offensive play of the game, Jones was under a heavy rush, threw his fifth pick of the season — he had 12 as a rookie for the entire season — got injured and needed x-rays after the game for the second time in three games.

A reminder that all of this happened with Belichick heavily involved in the offense.

Meanwhile, the defense didn't have a ton of answers themselves.

This was always one of the fears when Belichick decided to entrust his offense with Patricia and Joe Judge. Would Belichick be able to contribute and make up for some of their shortcomings? Absolutely. But at what cost? When Belichick went heavy to the offense in his previous stints (Cleveland, 2005 Patriots after Charlie Weis left), Belichick had Nick Saban and Dean Pees running his defenses.

Did Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo, out on a coaching island, seem to have a lot of answers for Jackson, who accounted for five touchdowns, a 110.3 passer rating and 107 rushing yards?

Now the Patriots have to go to Lambeau Field and deal with Aaron Rodgers, and a Packers defense that just held Tom Brady and the Bucs to 285 total yards and 2 of 11 on third down in Green Bay's 14-12 victory. And they very well may have to try to win the game with Hoyer at quarterback.

What can Belichick do now?