Patriots bottom out with embarrassing 34-0 home loss to Saints

The 2023 New England Patriots may have just hit rock-bottom. They are now 1-4 on the season after a 34-0 drubbing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium.

Unfortunately for Mac Jones, the Saints' first points came from their defense. As Jones faced a swarm of pass-rushers, the quarterback tried to get rid of the ball and it came out fluttering. Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu was right there to grab the interception, and he also made a clean lane for himself to the end zone, pulling New Orleans out to a 7-0 lead.

Jones came back out at quarterback for the next possession after his pick-six, and managed to connect with rookie wide receiver Demario Douglas for a 24-yard catch that got the Patriots into field goal range. But rookie kicker Chad Ryland missed wide left, keeping the score at 7-0.

The Saints would respond to that in a big way. Quarterback Derek Carr completed passes of 26 and 25 yards to Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed to set up first-and-goal. Alvin Kamara would punch it in three plays later to make it 14-0 Saints.

Things would only go bad to worse from there. After another Patriots three-and-out, plus a weak punt by rookie Bryce Baringer, the Saints went 59 yards in five plays for another touchdown to make it 21-0. Carr hit an open Chris Olave in the back of the end zone for the Saints' second offensive score.

Jones and the offense got the ball to start the second half ... and they ended up giving it away. Rhamondre Stevenson botched a backward pitch from Jones for a fumble, which the Saints' Cameron Jordan recovered. The defense was able to hold the Saints to a field goal attempt on the ensuing possession, but that still made it 24-0.

Amazingly, it just kept getting worse for the Patriots. The offense turned the ball over one more time, a Jones "interception" that was really a bad bobble by Ty Montgomery. The Saints would cash in on the pick, as tight end Foster Moreau powered his way through would-be tacklers for a touchdown, making it 31-0.

After that, with the game clearly out of hand, the Patriots opted for Bailey Zappe at quarterback. Of course, it didn't get any better for them offensively.

At 1-4 on the season, including 0-3 at home, the Patriots are going to face some serious questions about the future of the team and organization, both in the short-term and long-term. Mac Jones and the offense are surely facing a lot of criticism, but it's going to be an especially rough week for Bill Belichick.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt's content here.

It's time for the latest Mazz's Tiers! Instead of his weekly NFL power rankings, Mazz decided to mix it up and go with his NFL Head Coach rankings for the 2023 NFL season!

But before the tiers....here's some other things you need to know from the NFL's communications department: 

The San Francisco 49ers have won 13 regular season games in a row and will look to get it to 14 in a row on Sunday Night Football when they host the Dallas Cowboys.

The Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars will meet in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday. It will be the second consecutive week playing in London for the Jaguars. The Jaguars topped the Atlanta Falcons 23-7 last week in London.

Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, can reach 3rd on the all-time list for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with just one rushing TD in Sunday's game. Allen would pass Jack Kemp on the list and would be behind just Cam Newton and Steve Young.

The Miami Dolphins have 2,044 total yards on offense, which is the most ever though a teams first four games of a season. If they get 456 total yards of total offense this week they can join the 2000 St. Louis Rams as the only teams with at least 2,500 totals yards of offense through their first five games.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts, will play in his 50th game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. With a rushing touchdown in the game Hurts would become the third quarterback ever, joining Cam Newton and Josh Allen, with at least 30 rushing touchdowns in his first four career seasons.

Houston Texans quarterback, C.J. Stroud, will look to move into the top-five all time for most passing yards by a player in his first five career games on Sunday. Stroud needs 273 passing yards against the Atlanta Falcons to pass Patrick Mahomes for 5th on the list.

Andy Reid - Kansas City Chiefs

John Harbaugh - Baltimore Ravens

Sean McVay - Los Angeles Rams

Kyle Shanahan - San Francisco 49ers

Sean McDermott - Buffalo Bills

Zac Taylor - Cincinnati Bengals

Matt LaFleur - Green Bay Packers

DeMeco Ryans - Houston Texans

Shane Steichen - Indianapolis Colts

Mike McDaniel - Miami Dolphins

Mike Tomlin - Pittsburgh Steelers

Pete Carroll - Seattle Seahawks

Mike Vrabel - Tennessee Titans

Jonathan Gannon - Arizona Cardinals

Arthur Smith - Atlanta Falcons

Mike McCarthy - Dallas Cowboys

Dan Campbell - Detroit Lions

Doug Pedersen - Jacksonville Jaguars

Kevin O'Connell - Minnesota Vikings

Brian Daboll - New York Giants

Nick Sirianni - Philadelphia Eagles

Ron Rivers - Washington Commanders

Bill Belichick (the current version of him) - New England Patriots

Frank Reich - Carolina Panthers

Kevin Stefanski - Cleveland Browns

Robert Saleh - New York Jets

Todd Bowles - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Matt Eberflus - Chicago Bears

Sean Payton (the current version of him) - Denver Broncos

Josh McDaniels - Las Vegas Raiders

Brandon Staley - Los Angeles Chargers

Dennis Allen - New Orleans Saints

Click here for complete New England Patriots coverage at 985TheSportsHub.com.