The New England Patriots’ 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday featured great moments on both sides of the ball. A Patriots offense that struggled coming into the year looked not only consistent but also explosive at times against a middling Ravens secondary.
And New England’s defensive front looked absolutely dominant facing a beat-up Baltimore offensive line.
Despite the offensive and defensive positives, three interceptions by Patriots quarterback Mac Jones made it difficult for New England to keep going toe-to-toe with the Ravens’ offense, and a late-game fumble by wide receiver Nelson Agholor iced the game in Baltimore’s favor.
Here are five immediate takeaways from New England’s well-fought but disappointing loss to the Ravens.
1. Welcome to New England, DeVante Parker
Wide receiver DeVante Parker had himself a day.
With five catches for 156 yards, multiple contested catches, and an incredible sideline grab on the touchdown drive early in the second half, Parker absolutely balled out in this game.
This performance came off two very lackluster games for the eight-year veteran, who had a combined one reception for nine yards in the first two matchups of the season. Parker was acquired by the Patriots in a trade with the Miami Dolphins this offseason and was thought to be a surefire upgrade at the downfield, jump ball wide receiver position, after N’Keal Harry failed to live up to his first-round draft pedigree.
Parker was making catches and generating explosive downfield plays that we haven’t seen in New England in years.
2. Mac Jones is still in development
Considering the high floor he had coming out of the University of Alabama, it can be easy to forget that quarterback Mac Jones is still in development. The second-year quarterback showed his flashes of excellence throughout the game, but he also got too aggressive at times and made some crucial mistakes.
Two key interceptions later in the game severely jeopardized New England’s ability to keep up with the Ravens’ high-flying offense, while a third at the end of the contest iced the game for Baltimore. The first two occurred in crucial situations for the Patriots, and it seemed that Jones never got off his first read and tried to force the ball into tight coverage.
Jones is already one of the better starting quarterbacks in the league and is only going to improve with time, but he can’t be treated like Tom Brady. He’s a young quarterback still trying to figure out the NFL and a new offensive system.
He needs to be cut some slack.
3. Remember the name: Deatrich Wise Jr.
Outside linebacker Matthew Judon gets most of the praise for New England’s pass-rushing attack, but this game proved that Wise is equally an important piece on the defensive front.
Wise was consistently forcing himself into the Ravens’ backfield against Baltimore’s backup offensive tackles, generating five solo tackles (four for loss) and three sacks throughout the contest.
He signed a four-year, $22 million contract extension in the 2021 NFL offseason, and so far looks to be worth the money, both as a leader on the Patriots’ defense and as a playmaker opposite Judon. While an underrated piece of New England’s defensive front, Wise looks poised to make a significant impact this season, and this game was just the start.
3. Speed kills, and the defense was the victim
One would have thought that New England’s shift to a more versatile defensive scheme and personnel in the offseason would have allowed them to better defend explosive offenses like Baltimore’s. However, the Ravens repeatedly gashed the Patriots’ defense for explosive plays throughout the game, using their speed and open-field elusiveness to run circles around New England’s secondary.
When the defense did seem prepared to defend against Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s dual-threat ability, they left tight end Mark Andrews uncovered, and Jackson routinely found him to pick up chunks of yardage on multiple occasions.
Jackson is a one-of-a-kind player in the NFL, but there are other quarterbacks who also possess the ability to make plays on their feet if the passing option isn’t there. Hopefully, the defense can understand their mistakes in practice this week and improve upon them soon.
5. The new offense finally kicked into gear, and it looks awesome
Despite Jones’ inconsistent play and top slot wide receiver Jakobi Meyers missing the game with an injury, the offense looked great for the first time all season. The preseason promises of explosive plays and quicker pre-snap movements looked to be in full form throughout the contest, a far cry from training camp headlines and even New England’s Week 1 performance against the Miami Dolphins just two weeks prior.
Of course, it was just one game against a lackluster Ravens secondary, but the Patriots’ offense was making explosive plays look almost routine at some points, working to the parts outside the hash marks for large chunk plays and back-shoulder passes.
It will be interesting to see whether the offense will maintain this same level of explosiveness in the coming weeks, but this game is a great baseline performance for a team searching for offensive consistency following the departure of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in the offseason.
