Patriots’ week 3: can they come back?
(PressBoxOnline.com)
Despite an obvious increase in efficiency and teamwork by the New England Patriots, they were still unable to stop Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in their Sunday game which ended in a 37-26 loss.
After two drives resulting in punts, the Ravens were the first to score in the first quarter with a five-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews. However, the Patriots refuse to give up.
The Patriots began the second quarter with a field goal by Nick Folk. They were then able to stave off an intense drive by Jackson by intercepting him with Jonathan Jones. The following Patriots drive was concluded by a three-yard rush by Mac Jones.
The success of the New England offense was not enough to impede the Ravens though. Jackson led the Ravens through another drive to get a 16-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews and lead the game by three.
Just before the half, Mac Jones brought the Patriots within field goal range to where Nick Folk was able to drive the ball through the post from 50-yards out to make the score 14-13.
The Patriots and Ravens returned from the half and New England used Damien Harris to score take a lead of 20-14. But the Ravens returned the favor with Josh Oliver scoring a one-yard touchdown pass for a new lead of 21-20.
New England’s offense began to crumble under the pressure as Jones was sacked, then intercepted, and the Ravens turned the punt into another touchdown. The touchdown is then followed again by yet another field goal to make the score 31-20.
The Patriots, led by Rhamondre Stevenson, were able to score another touchdown, but failed the two-point attempt.
The rest of the fourth quarter was full of turnovers from interceptions and fumbles, but the Ravens were able to score again with Lamar Jackson rushing for nine yards.
Even with New England coming back and making it a close game against the Ravens, injuries and unstable ball handling led to the loss of much needed momentum.
Regardless of the loss, the Patriots still have time to take back the reins and make more headway to getting closer to their potential as a team.