Bedard: All right, Mike Vrabel, you're on the spot with this mess of your creation

There will be a glass-half-full portion of this program (because this season is far from over), but it might take a while.

Like I'm sure many of you, it's time to vent about the state of the Patriots after their embarrassing 35-6 loss to the Jaguars.

And it starts with head coach Mike Vrabel.

This is his team, his creation, and he's responsible for where the team is. And it's his job to get them out of it. At least Vrabel was saying the right things after the game.

"We have to get it fixed," he said. "We have to practice, we have to work, get it corrected, and everybody else has to do much better, starting with me. I mean, that's how it goes. Starts with me, and I've got to get guys in there to do the things the way that we need them done.

"From now until the time that we practice, we're gonna meet, we're gonna watch it. You know, we'll show the good, the bad, and the stuff that gets us beat tomorrow. I'll think of everything I possibly can for us to perform better."

It should be a lengthy "stuff that gets you beat" portion of the film. Because, holy hell, that was terrible in a bunch of different ways, besides Drake Maye doing his Mac Jones In Frankfurt imitation.

Let's start with the defense:

• The Patriots' defense allowed the Jaguars to score on all five of their red zone possessions.

• The Jaguars' top two running backs rushed 23 times for 110 yards (4.8 average).

• The pass rush produced one sack and two additional quarterback hits (per PFF). They pressured Trevor Lawrence on just 31% of dropbacks, despite blitzing 50% of the time.

• The Jaguars converted 8 of 12 third downs, including 3rd and 9, 3rd and 11, and 3rd and goal from the 17 on a Lawrence touchdown pass to Parker Washington.

• The Jaguars had 23 first downs, and it was perfectly symmetrical: 10 by rush, 10 by pass, 3 by penalty.

Speaking of penalties, let's put that in its own Clown Show Section:

• Cameron Latu, a waiver wire claim, had a block in the back on a kickoff, and later added a false start on offense;

• Not only did Morgan Moses have a hold that negated a Maye touchdown run, but Romeo Doubs also pushed off on the next play to take a 1st and 10 at the Jaguars' 21, to 1st and 30 at the 41.

• The Patriots' defense had successive encroachment penalties (Gabe Jacas, Elijah Ponder) to gift the Jags a first down after having them at 2nd and 9. They added another encroachment by Milton Williams later to gift the Jags another first down.

• Mack Hollins got a taunting penalty — trailing 28-3, mind you — that changed a 4th and 1 at the Jacksonville 7 with 13:21 left to a 4th and 16.

• Patriots totaled nine penalties for 68 yards — the highest marks in almost a year (Oct. 12 at New Orleans, 11-65).

Special teams:

• Andy Borregales missed a field goal for the second straight game, this one from 38 yards.

• Mitch Wishnowsky had a 73-yard punt ... for a touchback (we call that the Bryce Baringer special around here).

• Latu's block in the back negated a 31-yard kickoff return to start at the 20.

• This gem: C.Little kicks 57 yards from JAX 35 to NE 8. Kyle Williams ran ob at NE 9 for 1 yard.

For a coaching staff, especially Vrabel, that had to be humiliating in all three phases, and that doesn't happen that often (usually it's one, maybe two phases, unless you're a 4-13 team).

"Well, my concern level is very high for this football team," Vrabel said. "I just want to coach and improve. I think that's the biggest thing when you come off a game like that, that you just want to get back and work. But there's nothing you can do about it. We have to take care of the football, we can't force things, we can't do things in all three phases that end up getting you beat. So certainly we have to fix a lot of things."

As far as the offense, Giardi covered the mess Maye is right now (I guess I wasn't too strong after the Steelers game when I called him a puddle and a basket case), and you saw what I saw.

Here are some humdingers about the offense:

• From NextGenStats: "The Patriots drove into Jaguars territory on seven occasions but failed to score a touchdown on any of those drives, their most drives in opponent territory without a touchdown since Week 8, 2003, against the Browns. Entering today, the Patriots had gone 33 consecutive games scoring at least one touchdown." ... Hey, at least that '03 team went on to win the Super Bowl (too soon?).

• That stat led me down a rabbit hole. 

Since the first quarter in Seattle (11 quarters), the Patriots have had 25 meaningful drives.

- 19 (76%) have gone into opposing territory ... that's good.
- 7 scoring drives (37%) - 29 points (2 TDs, 5 FGs) ... not good.
- Turned the ball over 9 times (47%) - 4 INTs, 2 FUM, 2 MFG, 1 downs ... hideous.
- Haven't scored a TD on last 12 drives into opposing territory ... Good lord!

Basically, they are moving the ball, and then 35 grenades go off (mostly pulled by Maye). (I did not miss the grenade offense of yore.)

• Maye has seven turnovers through the first three games of the season, the most by any player in the NFL. His seven turnovers are the most by a Patriots player in the team's first three games of a season over the last 30 years.

• From Doug Clawson, a CBS Sports researcher: Drake Maye has 9 fumbles and 10 INTs since the start of last postseason. He’s the 1st player with 9+ fumbles and 10+ INT in a 7-game span since Jameis Winston in 2019 (during his 30-TD, 30-INT season).

• For the entire picture dating back to last postseason (7 games, 15 turnovers, 3 fumbles recovered):

Yikes.

And if I hear one thing about his shoulder or a bloody ball, I'm going to lose it. Related to that, Maye is not helping himself by answering those questions. Tom Brady would say, "I just dropped the ball ... There's nothing wrong me with me." The guy played an AFC Championship Game with a freaking hole in his hand.

But I am going to come to Maye's defense a little bit, and it's directed at Vrabel.

As I wrote this morning (boy, was I wrong about the going down south and coming back thing ... oops), Vrabel invited a very slow start by Maye with his personnel moves that erased any comfort Maye had last season with his receivers and offensive line. The moves were well-intentioned and may very well work out by the end of the season. But if you gave Vrabel, John Streicher, Ryan Cowden and Eliot Wolf truth serum on the flight back, they'd admit that this scenario never entered their mind as a possibility, and maybe they changed too much in one offseason (maybe keep Stefon Diggs and pair him with Brown).

That may have started this, but Maye made his bed with the three horrible interceptions in Seattle that he admitted were his fault. "We had the game under control," he said. "Thought we had a good plan to start chipping away and be patient and lost patience and it cost us, decisions that cost us the game on my part, on my end."

You can't just "lose patience" when you're leading the defending Super Bowl champions at Lumen Field. That's your job as the quarterback.

After that, Maye started second-guessing himself, and that's how we ended up here, with the Mac Jones version of Maye.

But Vrabel didn't help his quarterback. All it takes is one drive, one throw, to get quarterbacks back on track, and Vrabel, in my opinion, robbed Maye of that opportunity.

The Patriots had first and goal at the Jaguars' 5 with 1:12 remaining, trailing 14-3. The Jaguars had two timeouts remaining, and the Patriots were set to get the ball to open up the second half.

This could be it. If Maye and the Patriots get a touchdown and go into halftime feeling good, get points on the first drive, this could change everything for the Patriots.

On first down, Josh McDaniels called a designed run by Maye that got 1 yard because Josh Hines-Allen didn't fall for the run fake (I'm guessing Maye's fake also wasn't great, it's been a weakness).

Timeout #2 for the Jaguars.

On 2nd and goal at the 4, Rhamondre Stevenson is run up the gut for 2 yards.

Timeout #3 for the Jaguars.

On 3rd and goal from the 2, Maye forces an interception to Travis Hunter. And Maye's mental struggles continue to slide downward.

It was a decision Maye absolutely can't make with three points in the offing (his fumble/drop also took at least a field goal off the board). I'm guessing he saw Hunter's back, so that's why he threw it, but he has to manage the game.

But he should not have been put in that position. Either Vrabel or McDaniels screwed this up. My money is on Vrabel, with an assist from John Streicher, due to the timeouts being part of the equation.

My feeling is the No. 1 goal on the first two downs was to get the Jaguars to use their timeouts so they couldn't mount a drive at the end of the half. I've seen them do this stuff too many times in a limited sample size. If that was the case, they both helped set up Maye's interception. Screw managing the game, sometimes you have to manage your player. Read the room, and your team. In that scenario, what was more important: Maye and the offense scoring a touchdown to feel better about themselves with 30 minutes to play, or worrying about what the Jaguars might do against your defense (oh, and could have used Khyiris Tonga today, huh)? The edict to McDaniels should have been: Don't worry about the clock, run your best stuff and get us into the end zone. The Patriots had to run playaction on either of the first two downs. You can't wait to throw on third and goal when the element of suprise is taken out, and the Jaguars will be covering and bringing pressure.

If Maye and the Patriots keep circling the drain, remember that sequence before halftime.

I think the Patriots will play themselves out of this, mostly because that's all you can do. Unless the injury situation turns into a season-from-hell scenario (they're on their way down to their third right guard), this team is too good, the coaches are too good, and Maye is too talented not to rebound.

We've seen some hellacious early-season losses and stretches by the Patriots over the years (about how about Jacksonville and Detroit back-to-back in 2018?). I know Brady is no longer here, but it happens all the time in the NFL. Also, this is the fourth straight year (and 5th in 7 years) that Vrabel has started 1-2. I know 1-3 looks likely heading to Buffalo, but this team was in the same spot last year (five-turnover loss to Steelers to fall to 1-2) and rebounded.

There's no shortcuts to getting out of this. They're not trading for anybody. There's not a book of special plays or gameplans. All the coaches, Maye and the players can do is keep working the problem. It just takes one drive, one play, one comeback to change everything.

Now it's on Vrabel to solve the problem, because he got them here.

"I think it's one day at a time," Vrabel said. "It's about what we can do to get healthy, what we can do to improve individually and as a football team, and that's all we can do. And it's going to start with me and my ability to teach, my ability to get the guys in the right spots, and then also having a practice plan that I feel like gives us the best chance to be ready on Sunday."