Greg Bedard of BostonSportsJournal.com joined Felger and Mazz on Tuesday, as he does every Tuesday during the football season, to discuss the latest with the New England Patriots following their 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts across the pond in Germany on Sunday. Bedard gives his 3 up and 3 down from the loss for the Patriots!
Some notes from the game courtesy of NFL.com…
The Patriots loss to the Colts in Germany was their first loss in an International game. They had previously won two games in England and a game in Mexico.
Rookie wide receiver Demario Douglas led the Patriots in receiving yards in the loss with 84 reception yards on 6 catches. His longest reception was a 30 yard play.
Rhamondre Stevenson led all Patriots rushers in yards with 88 rushing yards in the loss. Stevenson also caught 3 passes for a total of 14 yards.
Mac Jones threw his 10th interception of the season in the loss. It was the 3rd consecutive game that he has thrown at least once interception and the 6th time in the last 7 games that he has been intercepted.
The Patriots ran 68 plays on offense in the loss. The Colts ran 54 plays on offense.
Since the game was considered a home game for the Patriots, the team has now fallen to 1-5 on the season at home. This is the 2nd time in 3 seasons that the Patriots have lost at least 5 games at home.
Davon Godchaux led all Patriots defenders with 8 total tackles in the game. Jahlani Tavai and Anfrenee Jennings each had 7 tackles in the loss for the Patriots.
Myles Bryant intercepted Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew in the 3rd quarter on Sunday. That was the 1st interception of the season for Bryant.
The Patriots enter their bye week at 2-8 in the season. They would currently possess the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
3 UP
Christian Barmore
Foxboro, MA, Sep. 25, 2022: New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore reacts during a game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium. (Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports)
Greg Bedard: He’s just been outstanding for the last five or six games. In this game he had a hit, two and a half hurries, three run stops. And what stood out in this game, he had a couple unbelievable two-gap reps, even against the real good guard Quenton Nelson, which shows another step for him that he could be an every down player. He was he was awesome in this game. He really was against, you know, a pretty good offensive line.
Jahlani Tavai
Nov 12, 2023; Frankfurt, Germany; New England Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai (48) reacts after a play against the Indianapolis Colts in the third quarter during an International Series game at Deutsche Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Greg Bedard: He caused the interception. He was all over the place. He’s way better than Ja’Whaun Bentley is in terms of getting into his drops, reading the quarterback and knowing, you know, where the routes are going to be. He’s excellent at that and he was very impactful in this game and they needed it. With Ja’Whaun Bentley out of the game.
Rhamondre Stevenson
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 05: Rhamondre Stevenson #38 of the New England Patriots runs the ball for a touchdown in the game against the Washington Commanders during the first half at Gillette Stadium on November 05, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: This was prime time Rhamondre back to who he was. I mean, not only just his speed and back to finishing runs, which was awesome, he had a blitz pick up against DeForest Buckner, who is a mountain of a man, and Stevenson stopped him. He also had a ten yard run and a five yard run, sort of back to back in the second half where thjey were incredible runs and incredible finishes. He looked awesome.
3 DOWN
Special Teams
Nov 12, 2023; Frankfurt, Germany; New England Patriots punter Bryce Baringer (17) and place kicker Chad Ryland (37) react after a missed field goal against the Indianapolis Colts in the second half during an NFL International Series game at Deutsche Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Greg Bedard: The special teams. I just had to group them together. So missed field goal from what, 35 yards, 34 yards? No one back on the punt return on the 69 yard punt, which was embarrassing. Gave up a 42 yard kick return. Bryce Baringer had two touchbacks. Just a horrendous special teams effort. They have not gotten better this year. They are one of the worst special teams units in the league.
Mac Jones
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 26: Head coach Bill Belichick and Mac Jones #10 of the New England Patriots walk off the field after the loss to the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium on September 26, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: Mac Jones. You know what’s interesting, they obviously went into this game with “we don’t need to do much on offense and Mac is in the place, set’s just manage the game”, and he did it well. In the first half, I had him for two plus plays, zero minus plays.
Offensive Line
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 22: Patriots’ offensive linemen Mike Onwenu and Sidy Sow during the fourth quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on October 22, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Greg Bedard: The offensive line, which is my number three down, is the pass blocking. Five legitimate sacks. I didn’t put any on Mac Jones. There was one you could quibble with, but he really didn’t have any escape routes. Five sacks in a first half in 67% pressure. Any other time, we wouldn’t even be talking about the quarterback. We would be talking about how bad the offensive line was to the point where I think Bill Belichick went to Bill O’Brien at halftime and said, “we can’t block anybody. Run the crap out of the ball, don’t even bother throwing, just run”, which is probably what they should have done to start the game.
