The hole got even deeper for the New England Patriots on Sunday, as they were served up an embarrassing 34-0 shutout loss on their home field by the New Orleans Saints.
There will be plenty of discussion on who deserves the most blame for the Patriots’ current predicament. They are sitting at 1-4 on the season with hardly a fighting chance left in the AFC East division.
Buy Patriots TicketsWhen it comes to Sunday’s game specifically, every Patriots player and coach deserves some blame for what was one of the worst losses in the history of a Bill Belichick-coached team. So don’t be surprised if today’s list is a bit light in the stud department.
Here are the Patriots’ Week 5 studs and duds:
Mac Jones: DUD
This was supposed to be a crossroads for Mac Jones, following one of the worst performances of his NFL career in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys.
And it was another pitiful performance.
Let’s go ahead and get all of the excuses out of the way. The offensive line was terrible for the Patriots, and the running game was a complete non-factor. Also, the receiving corps looked like one of the worst in the league. All of those excuses are valid.
But Jones was the guy with the ball in his hands, and he started things off by throwing his second pick-six in two games. It was the third defensive touchdown he’s allowed altogether in his last two outings. There’s been enough evidence from Jones at this point to consider he isn’t the right guy to be starting under center for New England.
Rhamondre Stevenson: DUD
Rhamondre Stevenson made an already bad situation even worse by giving up an easy fumble on the Patriots’ first possession in the second half.
For a player many thought would be New England’s best offensive weapon at the start of the season, Stevenson’s third-year run has been a complete disappointment up to this point.
That obviously isn’t all on him when playing behind a makeshift offensive line, but he also hasn’t looked anything like last year’s running back, who looked like a future breakout star.
Joe Cardona: DUD
Joe Cardona isn’t playing up to par for being the third-highest paid long-snapper in the NFL.
There have been far too many botched snaps by the veteran in games, and Sunday’s run-in with the Saints was no different. Cardona’s struggles are obviously impacting the punting of rookie Bryce Baringer.
The defense now has to worry about Jones giving up takeaways, and Cardona messing up snaps and field position. It’s death by a thousand paper cuts for New England.
Vederian Lowe: DUD
The blame could easily be placed on the entire offensive line for another horrific outing, but this time, we’re specifically pointing towards right tackle Vederian Lowe.
Look, I get it. At this point in the year, there aren’t a lot of options for the Patriots at offensive tackle. But surely, there has to be someone out there better than Lowe, who had the right side protection open like a 7-Eleven for free pass-rushing lanes.
The #Patriots offense finally started stringing positive pass plays together, then back-to-back sacks allowed killed the drive
Vederian Lowe wasn’t the only one who took Ls, but he lost almost immediately on both. NE options aren’t great right now with both starting guards hurt pic.twitter.com/Frawlx01AF
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) October 8, 2023
The Patriots had an opportunity to snag an offensive tackle early in the draft, but they chose to go all defense. That decision has haunted the team from the start.
Chad Ryland: DUD
It’s crazy to think the Patriots spent a fourth-round draft pick on kicker Chad Ryland instead of using that pick on another offensive tackle. So far, it has proven to be another bad decision by the franchise.
Ryland missed his only field goal attempt of the game on Sunday, a 48-yarder that would have finally put points on the board for the Patriots. He is 4-of-8 kicking field goals this season.
The Patriots probably would have been better off keeping Nick Folk and using their mid-pick elsewhere on the roster.
Bill Belichick: DUD
The Patriots came out completely flat after getting embarrassed in a road loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4.
That’s on the coaching.
Bill Belichick has mismanaged the Patriots’ roster at every turn, and the team looked like it had no fight under him in their home building against a struggling Saints team coming off back-to-back losses.
Over the last two weeks, the Patriots have looked like the worst team in football, and that starts at the top with the coach/general manager.
DeVante Parker: DUD
DeVante Parker got the job as the No. 1 receiver in New England, but he has underwhelmed at every turn.
He hasn’t been able to separate consistently enough, and he isn’t a great enough threat in jump-ball situations to force defenses to take him seriously.
To be fair, Parker is a talented player, but he has never been an elite receiver. He’s simply another player that came on a bargain bin discount that Belichick tried to shoehorn into that position.
And it hasn’t worked—at all.
Ja'Whaun Bentley: STUD
The defense could have played much worse given the circumstances.
They were dealing with bad field position all game long from turnovers and botched special teams play. We aren’t loading up on studs this week, but linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley does deserve a mention as the Patriots’ leading-tackler in the game.
He also notched a sack under his belt, along with the 11 total tackles he had against the Saints. On a day when there wasn’t much praise to go around, Bentley was consistently reliable on defense.
Hunter Henry: DUD
What happened to Hunter Henry in this game?
The veteran tight end came in leading the team in yards and didn’t catch a single reception against the Saints defense.
Granted, the Patriots were playing one of the best defensive teams in the league, but the fact that Mac Jones’ most reliable receiving target didn’t haul in a single throw on just two targets is troublesome.
In a year where the tight ends were supposed to play a major role on offense, Henry and Mike Gesicki combined for a total of two catches for 17 yards.
