Patriots Get Run Out of Jacksonville, 35-6, and It Wasn't Even That Close
The Jaguars scored on five possessions, including three straight touchdown drives that blew the game open, while the Patriots could only muster two field goals in a 35-6 loss that drops New England to 1-2.
Let's rip the Band-Aid off fast: the Jaguars led 35-6, and this one felt every bit as lopsided as the scoreboard says. Jacksonville scored touchdowns in the second, third and fourth quarters, while New England's offense produced exactly two Andy Borregales field goals (35 and 40 yards) and not a single trip to the end zone. Zero. As a guy whose own career highlight involved a well-placed fair catch, I know a little something about special teams carrying a rough day — Borregales did his job. Nobody else really did.
The turning point wasn't really one play, it was a stretch of the game where Jacksonville just wouldn't stop scoring. Trevor Lawrence hit Josh Cameron for a 12-yard score to make it 7-0 in the second quarter, and after Borregales' first field goal cut it to 7-3, Lawrence found Jakobi Meyers for a 10-yard touchdown to make it 14-3 late in the half. Then, late in the third quarter, Parker Washington caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Lawrence, and Chris Rodriguez Jr. punched in a 5-yard touchdown run right after — three straight Jacksonville scoring drives that made it 28-3 before the third quarter was out. New England's only answer in that stretch was silence. Borregales' 40-yarder in the fourth made it 28-6, but Bhayshul Tuten's 1-yard touchdown run with 8:02 left slammed the door at 35-6.
Drake Maye finished 14 of 25 for 199 yards with two interceptions — not the line you want, and those two picks loom large next to a Patriots turnover margin of minus-2 (three turnovers to Jacksonville's one). Mack Hollins was the one bright spot in that passing game, hauling in six catches for 87 yards, a nice number on a day when not much else clicked. On the ground, nobody found much room — TreVeyon Henderson led the backfield with just 8 carries for 23 yards, and the Patriots as a team managed only 83 rushing yards on 26 attempts (3.2 a pop).
A few things I can't stop thinking about:
- Zero for three in the red zone. THREE trips inside the twenty and the Patriots came away with nothing but two field goals earned from outside it and a whole lot of nothing when it mattered most. Jacksonville, meanwhile, was a perfect 5-for-5 in the red zone. That's the ballgame right there.
- Nine penalties for 68 yards is the kind of self-inflicted mess that turns a manageable deficit into a laugher.
- Carlton Davis III led the Patriots with 8 tackles, and Marcus Jones chipped in an interception. The defense wasn't the whole problem here — giving up 35 hurts, but this offense needs to show up too.
New England actually won the total-yardage battle on paper, 317 to 315, and out-gained Jacksonville through the air, 234 to 178. Doesn't matter a lick when you're 4-of-12 on third down, 0-for-3 in the red zone, and coughing the ball up three times. That's the story of a 1-2 start: enough talent to move the ball, not enough finishing punch to turn it into points.
Now it's on to Buffalo. The Patriots are back at it Sunday, October 4, at 1:00 PM ET on the road against the Bills. If this Patriots team wants to prove Jacksonville was a bad day and not a preview of the season, next week is the time to show it.