The Patriots had their worst offensive performance of the season and possibly their worst offensive game in years on Sunday.
New England had a season-low 288 yards of offense and mustered just 12 points in an 18-12 loss to Denver.
The first three quarters of Sunday’s game were particularly bad. The Patriots scored just three points entering the fourth quarter, marking their lowest point total through three quarters in a game since a shutout loss against the Bills in 2016. Jacoby Brissett started that game, filling in for a suspended Tom Brady and an injured Jimmy Garopollo.
However, the Patriots had their starting quarterback under center on Sunday. Cam Newton made his return after missing a game after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Newton completed 17 of 25 passes for 157 yards and threw two interceptions. Both picks resulted in Bronco points.
While Newton’s only hit the practice field once over the last two weeks, he said that shouldn’t be an excuse for the turnovers he made.
“My job here moving forward is to find ways to win football games and to put this team in the best situation and it just starts with protecting the football,” Newton said. “That’s what this game came down to, no matter what the sputtering was on the offensive side the defense gave us opportunities by holding them to field goals… that’s what we can only ask for as an offense. We just let this game slip away by the lackluster performance of protecting the football.”
The Patriots’ other turnover came early in the third quarter when tight end Ryan Izzo fumbled, giving the Broncos the ball in Patriots territory. Denver got a field goal on the ensuing drive. As a matter of fact, all 18 points Denver scored on Sunday came from field goals, marking the first time a Bill Belichick-coached New England team lost without allowing a touchdown. The Patriots were 39-0 in such games before Sunday.
Newton was sacked four times for 24 yards, one of which was a strip-sack that the Patriots recovered. Jermaine Eluemunor, who started at right tackle, left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury and didn’t return.
Eluemunor’s injury, which caused the team to shuffle lineman, comes after the team placed guard Shaq Mason and center James Ferentz on the COVID-IR list earlier this week. Center David Andrews was already placed on injured reserve.
“It’s just football and kind of the next-man-up mentality,” Patriots interior lineman Joe Thuney said when asked if all the shuffling on the line is hurting the team. “We’ve got a lot of trust in the guys, everyone in that room – the coaches, players. It always comes down to execution, you’ve got to execute on Sundays. Regardless of positions, people, our whole room has that mentality of ‘next man up’ and ‘just got to execute better.’”
Thuney was disappointed that the Patriots’ running backs rushed for just 41 yards on 15 carries.
“Obviously wish we would have done a better job on opening some lanes for those running backs,” Thuney said. “We’ve got a great running back room…Got to take a look at the film and see what was going on. But I think everyone on the o-line, we just want to do better.”
While Thuney was hard on himself for the offensive line’s performance, running back James White was complimentary in what they were able to do with all of the injuries the group has suffered.
“You’ve got to give credit to those guys,” White said. “They’re moving to all different positions, new guys stepping in there. Those guys are competing, fighting their tails off trying to help us win football games so you’ve got to take your hat off to them. It’s definitely not easy swapping off different positions and knowing different plays and things of that nature, so those guys have been trying to fight for us.”
White didn’t have a great day rushing the ball (he had eight yards on four carries), but he did lead the team in receiving, catching eight passes for 65 yards. Meanwhile, Newton struggled to connect with his wide receivers, who as a group only had six receptions for 62 yards.
The Patriots had some offensive success in the fourth quarter, with two scoring drives and a third drive that ended in Broncos territory when they failed to convert on fourth down. Despite the stronger closing, White still harped on the offense’s poor play.
“Obviously, we have to find a way to get in a rhythm, offensively especially, and just get it going,” White said. “We’ve got to help our defense out. They did a great job stopping their offense in the red zone, and then we weren’t giving them any help in the beginning of the game. So we have to do a better job offensively going out there and stringing drives together and try to score points to help the defense out.”
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