BSJ Game Report: Cardinals 30, Patriots 17 - New England lays in egg after bye

Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ loss to the Cardinals in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

HEADLINES

Patriots outclassed by a team that didn't even play well: The Patriots won the toss and took the ball for the first time all season, had a Layden Robinson hold that led to a missed field goal by Joey Slye. And things didn't get much better from there. The Patriots were coming off their bye week and seemed to lack much enthusiasm. Execution was sloppy, tackling was poor. Cardinals were 10 of 15 on third downs. Patriots were 0 for 6. Cardinals were 3 of 4 in the red zone. If it wasn't for Christian Gonzalez locking up Marvin Harrison Jr. - and Kyler Murray continuing to target him - this game would have been an early blowout.

"At the end of the day, we are what we put on film," Jerod Mayo said. "We are what our record is, you know, penalties, you know, kind of get into that, you know, again, kind of sets us back on some of these drives where we're really making headway. ... Today we won the coin toss. I thought the best thing to do for us was to put the offense out there. I thought was an opportunity for us to go out there and start fast, which it was, unfortunately, you know, we walked away with no points on the missed field goal.

"We all got to take accountability. And what does that look like? Accountability is not really, you know, the my bad, the accountability isn't coming in saying things like, you know, if we would have just done X, Y and Z, like we've been talking about that all year, accountability is going out and correcting that. That's about action. It's not about just sitting here saying, you know, that's my fault. You have enough of those, and that's what you have out there on the field today."

The Patriots had their chances but playcalling in focus: Everyone will rightfully point to two series and wonder what Alex Van Pelt was doing.

This was at the end of the first half:

That sequence led to this from Jonathan and Robert Kraft:

JK's reaction was similar to this from last season:

Then there was this sequence from the Arizona 4-yard line in the third quarter.

Mayo had a curious answer when asked if there was a consideration of using Maye's legs in those situations.

"You said it, I didn't," Mayo said.

After a follow-up, he said: "It's always my decision. I would say the quarterback obviously has, you know, a good pair of legs."

Patriots get a bad call: After getting stuffed at the 4, Kyler Murray had an absolutely horrible interception to Jonathan Jones that appeared to give the Patriots another chance for a touchdown at the Arizona 18. But Anfernee Jennings was called for a roughing the passer penalty that was questioned by everyone on the telecast, including the rules expert.

"They just told me that, you know, even though he is a runner at that point, they still have some of that protection, as far as hits of the head," Mayo said. "So they said Jennings hit him in the head, and they called it. Got to live with it."

Maye stars in fourth quarter: Patriots scored 14 of their 17 points in the fourth quarter with just 3:57 of possession thanks to Maye being dialed in, and the Cardinals playing looser on defense with a 23-3 lead.

Maye was 7 of 7 for 120 yards and a Patrick Mahomes-ish touchdown pass to Demario Douglas on a scramble shovel pass.

He also had a 37-yard dime to Kendrick Bourne and a 5-yard scramble touchdown run eluding the Arizona blitz.

TURNING POINT

Getting stuffed on back-to-back plays at the Arizona 4 in the third quarter. At the time, the Patriots trailed 16-3. A touchdown there completely changes the game. 

SECOND GUESS

Not using Maye's legs in either of the above situations. If Van Pelt is not going to do it, they need to find someone who can. 

No answers on defense in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were 6 of 6 on third downs in the fourth quarter to thwart any dreams of a comeback. Patriots had no answers as Murray was 8 of 8 for 91 yards and TE Trey McBride caught 5 of 5 passes for 71 yards.

THREE UP

CB Christian Gonzalez: Had no problem staying in Marvin Harrison's jock the entire game, especially the red zone. He dominated and kept the Patriots competitive.

QB Drake Maye: These Patriots don't deserve him, and he needs a coordinator that doesn't keep him in shackles for three quarters. Completed 82.6 percent of his passes for 202 yards and ran for another 14 yards. The interception was not his fault.

Running backs: Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson combined for 102 yards on 20 carries. Gibson had a 29-yard jaunt. It's weird to say the QB and RBs played well but they had 3 points through 3 quarters, but it is what it is.

THREE DOWN

Alex Van Pelt: Just a brutal game for him and the head coach threw him under the bus.

DeMarcus Covington: The Cardinals never had a three and out, couldn't get them off the field on third down and one had one stop in the red zone. Cardinals ran 32 times for 163 yards and could have done more damage there. Not good enough.

Jerod Mayo: This team looked like it didn't accomplish anything during the bye week. That's on him.

INJURIES

None that I could see. 

TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

The line struggles are not just about talent: When you're an offensive coordinator and you know you're at a talent disadvantage, you can't just ignore it and hope for the best. It's on you to provide help where you might need it. Too many times this season - and this is normal for old-school West Coast coordinators like Alex Van Pelt - the Patriots' offensive coordinator has not helped his tackles enough to send more people out in the route. That Vederian Lowe ruined the second drive with a sack is as much on Van Pelt as Lowe. It's a continuation of the mess we saw when Jeffrey Simmons and Chop Robinson were allowed to ruin games. You can coach around that, and Van Pelt chooses not to.

Just let Drake Maye play: We wrote about this after the Colts game, but it's the same thing again. How many more times do we need to see Maye just make plays when the score allows him to in order for Van Pelt to realize that he just needs to play into his QB. The Patriots are 3-11, who cares if he makes mistakes? The focus should be helping the line a bit, and then just letting Maye be creative. I'm tired of watching Van Pelt put shackles on Maye early in these games. Just let him play.