Felger: No way the Patriots should have lost that game

Felger thinks that the New England Patriots week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks was a choke job.

Felger: Gag. Gag.  

Mazz: Yeah, they did. They gave it away.  

Felger: Choke. It's a choke. Absolute choke. No way they should have lost that ball game, on several different fronts. I mean, just again you talk about the Gibson run, first down at the Seattle 25 yard line with 6:06 on the clock up by three points. That's got to be ball game there. That's got to be. You've got to close that game.  

Mazz: Punch it in and it's over.  

Felger: Up three points, first and 10 at the Seattle 25 with 6:06 on the clock and Seattle gets the ball back with four minutes left and you've got no points. That is a gag. That's a choke. And no one should let them off the hook for that. 

Felger: Just because they are clearing the exceedingly low bar that we set for them, and they are, they've cleared this incredibly low bar and my incredibly low expectation I had for them, don't let that cloud you into not holding their feet to the fire for that loss that has got to be a win. All the things we can talk about today and we will, we'll go over all of them. First down at the Seattle 25 yard line with 6:06 on a running clock. You're up three points. You have to close that ball game either with taking time off the clock or getting 3 points and making them drive down for a touchdown. And the fact that you did neither, that is a choke job. Choke job. Gag. 

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The New England Patriots are 1-1 on the 2024 season after a 23-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Here are eight players who stood out in the game, based on their performance on the field...

The Patriots wasted the best game of Henry's career. The veteran tight end caught 8-of-12 targets for a career-high 109 yards, including a 35-yard catch-and-run from Jacoby Brissett.

If the Patriots want to impact the game through the air, they're going to need a meaningful contribution from Henry every single week. He showed on Sunday how much better the offense can look just by getting the ball in his hands.

Hooper isn't here because of his work on offense, although he was only targeted once for five yards. He's the first "DOWN" because the Seahawks' Julian Love blew by him to block a field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter.

The three points would've given the Patriots a 23-17 lead in the closing minutes, and possibly helped them close out a win. That was the Patriots' first major special teams miscue of the season, and it really cost them. Something to clean up for next week.

The Patriots offense let Gibson down in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. The veteran running back should have delivered a kill shot of sorts when he broke multiple tackles en route to a 45-yard run that put the Pats well into Seattle territory. Instead, the offense went backward from there and the Seahawks clawed their way back into the game.

But, Gibson is off the hook for this game. He's running hard and making dynamic plays with the ball in his hands.

Gonzalez covered D.K. Metcalf for most of the game, and in 1-on-1 matchups he allowed three catches for 24 yards on seven targets. But he and Kyle Dugger had what he described as a "miscommunication" when Metcalf blew right through both of them and streaked wide open down the field, as he hauled in an easy 56-yard touchdown catch from Smith.

Dugger took responsibility for checking into a bad play, but Gonzalez was the one covering Metcalf most of the time, so it's hard to let the second-year corner off the hook. He can't give up any plays that big if the Patriots want to win games this season.

Another strong game for White, who put the loss on his own shoulders after the game in a sign of maturity and leadership. But White was again disruptive up front, finishing with 1.5 sacks, two QB hits, and seven tackles. The Patriots' problem up front isn't White, but that they seem to lack impactful secondary pass-rushers aside from him.

Pressure off the left edge was a problem all afternoon for the Patriots, and quarterback Jacoby Brissett mostly did a good-enough job to mitigate the damage. That was until he took a 9-yard sack in the fourth quarter on the play before the blocked field goal try. Lowe wasn't the only player that allowed pressure on that play, but he was the most consistently troublesome offensive lineman out there.

Baringer is off to a great start this season, one of the few Patriots to string together two strong performances. He averaged 57 yards per punt, with a long of 67, three pinned inside the 20-yard line, and only one touchback in six tries.

Wilson got flagged for defensive pass interference for the second straight game, mugging the Seahawks' Tyler Lockett in the end zone on third-and-6, gifting Seattle first-and-goal from the 1-yard line and an easy touchdown run on the next play. One could argue that the pass attempt was not catchable, and therefore not a worthy penalty, but all Wilson needed to do was look back for the ball, and he didn't do it. Don't give the officials a reason to throw the flag.

We didn't see much of Wilson for the rest of the game. The Patriots may have to consider a new depth chart at cornerback.