Thursday Night Football is beginning to look like it’s cursed for the New England Patriots. A week after dropping a heartbreaking loss to the Minnesota Vikings, the Patriots got rolled on at home by the Buffalo Bills.
Perhaps the most disappointing part about the 24-10 loss is the fact that they looked like they didn’t even belong on the same field as the Bills.
The loss to the Vikings was easier to digest with the bad officiating and promising offensive strides made throughout the game. But how do you digest what happened to the Patriots against Buffalo?
They’ll have a mini bye week to try to figure it out before returning for another primetime matchup with the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football. For now, here are the winners and losers in Week 13.
Loser: Jonathan Jones
I wasn’t sure if I was watching Thursday Night Football or “Kitchen Nightmares” with the way Stefon Diggs was cooking Jonathan Jones in this game. That performance was a nightmare Jones won’t be forgetting anytime soon, either.
There were plays in the game where Diggs just made it look easy, even when he was being held. He was clearly unstoppable in the matchup. This comes a week after Jones struggled against another elite wideout with Minnesota Vikings’ star receiver Justin Jefferson.
Jones is obviously undersized as an outside receiver, and those disadvantages are starting to show down the stretch with the Patriots facing some of the better offenses in the league.
Winner; Marcus Jones
Forget about the defense and move Marcus Jones to receiver as soon as possible. The rookie defensive back flexed out wide, caught a short pass and took it to the house for the Patriots’ only touchdown scored in the game.
The kid can do it all 🤯@MarcusJonesocho | #ProBowlVote #BUFvsNE on @NFLonPrime pic.twitter.com/1Bu00fgnqE
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 2, 2022
Do you want to know the sad part? Jones looked like the Patriots’ most explosive playmaker at receiver, which continues to be a problem position for the team.
He needs to be catching practice throws from Mac Jones from here on out. His calling is clearly on the offensive side of the ball.
Winner: Rhamondre Stevenson
Rhamondre Stevenson was carrying the Patriots offense on his back, literally.
Despite the atrocious offensive line play in the game, the second-year running back always seemed to find a running lane to pick up extra yards. If there were no running lanes, which was often the case, he made them himself.
Always love an EARLY #AngryRuns submission, @KyleBrandt 😤 pic.twitter.com/yeipEJIQth
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) December 2, 2022
Keep in mind, this performance came on a night when the Patriots didn’t have Damien Harris in the lineup. So it was all pretty much on Stevenson’s shoulders to carry the load, and he did not disappoint.
The only hope is that his effort is contagious enough to get others at the skilled positions to step up and contribute. It’s one thing to rack up yards against bad football teams, but the real stars shine in the primetime spotlight against the best in the league.
And that’s exactly what Stevenson did on Thursday night.
Loser: Offensive line
The offensive line for the Patriots had arguably their worst game of the season. Mac Jones barely had time to throw in the pocket, and Rhamondre Stevenson had white jerseys on him before he even reached the line of scrimmage.
There was no time to get much of anything going on the field. The unit looked like an absolute mess.
To be fair, they were facing an uphill battle coming into the game with Isaiah Wynn and Yodny Cajuste both being out. Meanwhile, David Andrews is working his way back from an injury, and Trent Brown was dealing with an illness. The Bills weren’t even at full strength and still dominated in this matchup.
Losers: Receivers and tight ends
We’re calling out everyone for this pitiful all-around effort at home against the Bills.
Marcus Jones isn’t even a receiver, and he still led the Patriots in receiving yards in the game. It was just a reminder of how badly this team has failed at finding and developing quality receivers.
Oh, and those tight ends the Patriots paid big money for on the team, Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, they combined for a grand total of four receptions for 19 yards.
Even when the score was only 17-7, it never felt like the Patriots were actually in the game because they lack offensive firepower to compete with the best teams in the league. They can’t even compete with the best teams in their division anymore.
Loser: Matt Patricia
It was another rough night for Matt Patricia and the offensive play-calling. The Patriots were once again too predictable with run plays and quick outs for short gains. There were few real attempts to push the ball downfield.
Of course, it isn’t like Mac Jones would have had much time in the pocket to get the deep passing game going, especially with the offensive line playing as poorly as they were on Thursday night. But the team clearly has to make more of an effort to take some deep shots to at least keep the defense honest.
Make no mistake, the objective here isn’t to just simply pile on Patricia, the longtime defensive coach that took on the responsibilities of an offensive play-caller for the team, The decision to put him in that position falls squarely on the shoulders of Bill Belichick alone.
