Don't be fooled by the final score. Don't let the spinmeisters alter what you saw today in Arizona. The Patriots got their ass whipped for nearly the entirety of the game by the middling Cardinals. Not even Drake Maye's performance should be enough to get you to take your eyes off the totality of this mess - they didn't convert a single third-down, people. It's a 53-car pileup. The Pats aren't good (duh). They're not trending toward good.
Yes, we know they're not talented. We know they're not particularly well-coached by this hodgepodge of a staff led by a first-time head coach and a first-time defensive coordinator. But coming off a bye week against a struggling team (the Cardinals had lost three straight), they had an opportunity to take a step forward. Maybe two. But aside from the performance of the backfield (Maye, Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson and Christian Gonzalez), no forward progress was made. Instead, this team went backward, and the significantly more physical Cards helped keep them in reverse.
"We are what we put on film," said Jerod Mayo after the game. "We are what our record says."
There were a couple of glimmers of hope and potential turning points on Sunday. The first came in the third quarter, down 16-3. The Pats offense found a rhythm. Stevenson ripped off runs of 15 and 10 yards, and Gibson added gains of 13 and 9. But after that nine-yarder on second down, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt called back-to-back runs up the gut. It looked like Gibson may have gotten the short end of the ref's spot on third down, but on fourth, Stevenson was met head-on in the hole by an unblocked linebacker, Krys Barnes, and stopped short. This time, there was no need to call for a measurement. He wasn't close.
This was an obvious second- or first-guess (if you were on it). Maye is a mobile dude and weighs around 220 pounds. Mayo was asked if there was consideration for letting the quarterback run it down there. His answer was a jaw-dropper in a season full of them.
"You said it, I didn't."
Excuse me? Say what?
"It's always my decision," he said when pressed. "I would say the quarterback obviously has, you know, a good pair of legs. We just chose not to do it there."
That was an attempt by Mayo to distance himself from Van Pelt ("head coach, offense"). Yet, if Mayo is on all the channels on the headset and does, in fact, have the final say, why didn't he overrule the OC? Perhaps because it's easier to second-guess the results and, in the process, save your own ass? For his part, Maye said he needs to have that conversation with Van Pelt about the option to sneak.
"That's a good point," he said. "(I was) a pretty good quarterback sneaker in college. Big dude. Heavier than people think. ... Maybe a conversation for that. It's tough to stop a six-foot-five dude for one yard, but also, at the same time, Rhamondre is pretty dang good at getting one yard as well."
In the fourth quarter, playing with tempo (several players, including Maye, stumped for more of it postgame) the offense cut through the Cards quickly. Maye delivered a beautiful go-ball to Kendrick Bourne (37 yards). That put the Pats on the doorstep. The 22-year-old signal caller then made an incredibly creative play on a scramble, luring the defender off DeMario Douglas by showing that he would run the ball. Instead, the rookie displayed the poise of a 10-year veteran, flipping the ball to the quickly uncovered Pop for a score, cutting the lead to 13 points with 8:14 to play. So, you're telling me there's a chance? No. Don't be stupid. This team hasn't earned that respect.
Nine plays covering 70 yards and nearly five minutes later, James Conner waltzed untouched into the end zone, and that was the official time of death. However, the reality is that it came sooner than that, maybe when the Pats came out of the tunnel. Or, more likely, during the week of practice. Oh, sure, we get the obligatory "we had a good week," but when has that translated? What position group - aside from QB - has improved this season?
And while we got a cutaway of Jonathan Kraft (with a pen and paper in hand) appearing to criticize the offensive play calling - will that be part of their weekly debriefing (and how many times will I be told that it's about decision-making and not the actual Xs and Os)? - where was that same shot of him and his father when the defense got emasculated on the ensuing drive? Bueller? Bueller?
Someone lip read this. Sure looks like Jonathan Kraft is frustrated by what’s happening down on the field. Shaking his head. Also, it appears he’s scrolling down some notes? pic.twitter.com/V0a9ZTsMNt
— John Zannis (@John_Zannis) December 15, 2024
The Pats are becoming everything they mocked privately and, on occasion, publicly during their nearly two decades of success. They were an organization that prided itself on being a cut, or two, above everyone else. They were efficient with their dollars (or so they wanted you to believe). Smarter with personnel and on the sidelines. Or at least could pretend to be because of in-their-primes Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Now? They ooze dysfunction - even after the guy they blamed for it is gone - and that, my friends comes from the top down. That's worrisome because the Krafts, who once thought they had all the right answers, haven't had many recently (lighthouse anyone), and they aren't going anywhere.