The Patriots’ Struggles Continue With Loss to Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (PSF)—The New England Patriots are handed their ninth loss of the season against the New York Giants after a close 10-7 loss on the road.

Photo Credit: Eric J. Adler, New England Patriots

Offense:

The Patriots’ offensive struggles continue to persist each week. Coming off a bye week, the question about who the starting quarterback would be lingered in the air until it was decided Mac Jones would start against the Giants.

The Giants started the game with the ball but quickly turned it over to the Patriots after QB Tommy DeVito fumbled the ball. The Patriots were unable to generate anything and quickly punted the ball back to the Giants.

The first quarter, and most of this game, was filled with back-and-forth punts until Jones’ pass intended for wide receiver Demario Douglas was intercepted by Giants cornerback Deonte Banks. Even after the big play, the Giants did not capitalize on this takeaway.

Two drives later, Jones’ pass intended again for Douglas was intercepted by linebacker Bobby Okereke. This time, the Giants were able to score from the turnover as DeVito connected with WR Isaiah Hodgins for a 12-yard touchdown.

The first half ended with the Patriots trailing by seven.

The Patriots came out of the locker room and decided to bench Jones and put backup QB Bailey Zappe in. On his first drive, Zappe took the offense 60 yards down the field, and running back Rhamondre Stevenson ran in a seven-yard touchdown to tie the game.

Unfortunately, even after the electric first drive, the offense under Zappe continued to struggle. The Patriots’ third turnover occurred when Zappe’s pass intended for WR JuJu Smith-Schuster was intercepted by safety Xavier McKinney. This interception led to the Giants’ 42-yard field goal to put them up by three in the middle of the fourth quarter.

With a little over three minutes remaining in the game, the Patriots had the ball and were moving down the field. With six seconds left, the Patriots decided to kick a field goal to tie the game, but the 35-yard kick was wide left and instead secured the Giants’ win against the Patriots.

The Patriots did find some success in the run game, rushing for 147 yards compared to passing for only 136 yards. Unfortunately, New England was unable to generate enough yardage per carry to effectively move the ball down the field enough to score.

The offensive line did well, holding the Giants’ defense to only two sacks for seven yards and three QB hits.

Douglas and WR DeVante Parker were the top receivers for the Patriots this game, but both were under 50 yards receiving.

Ball security is something both teams need to work on. Even though the Patriots’ turnovers were all interceptions, they also had three fumbles that were thankfully recovered by another Pats player. Similarly, the Giants also had three fumbles and were able to recover two of them.

Defense:

The Patriots’ defense was able to hold their own against the Giants. They took advantage of the Giants’ lack of an offensive line and sacked DeVito six times for 29 yards and hit him seven times.

CB J.C. Jackson was back this game after not traveling with the team to Germany because of reliability issues. Jackson showed his commitment to the team in this game as he led the defense with six tackles and a pass defended.

The Patriots’ defense shut down the Giants’ run offense, holding them to only 58 yards. S Jabrill Peppers also came up with a fumble recovery, which helped set the tone for the defense early in the game.

Takeaways and Looking Forward:

This was one of the cleaner games for the Patriots regarding penalties. They only had two penalties for 13 yards.

It was evident in this game that the QB dilemma in New England is still ongoing. After Jones’ and Zappe’s performances this game, it will be interesting to see what head coach Bill Belichick will do for the rest of the season, along with what might happen in the offseason.

The Patriots will host the 4-7 Chargers on Dec. 3.