Patriots left with sick feeling after loss to Denver
Newton, Pats offense stumble in ugly home loss to Broncos
FOXBORO » During the week, the Patriots needed time.
To practice, to heal, to gather themselves as COVID-19 picked off player after player. So the NFL obliged, postponing their game against the Broncos one day and then a full week. The Pats held a single padded practice last Thursday and continued to prepare. They felt ready.
When kickoff came Sunday, they still needed more time. To stop turning the ball over, to force Denver to punt and lastly, to come back. Somehow, one more minute might’ve done it.
Instead, Cam Newton’s pass on fourth-and-10 from the Broncos’ 24-yard line fell well wide of N’Keal Harry and sealed an ugly 18-12 defeat in the final seconds at Gillette Stadium. The Pats scored nine points in the fourth quarter around two interceptions by Denver quarterback Drew Lock, who seemed insistent on giving the game away. The Broncos led 18-3 entering the fourth, having ended every prior possession with a made field goal.
Sunday marked the first time a Bill Belichick-led Patriots team has lost without allowing a touchdown. The Pats (2-3) now sit below .500 in mid- October for the first time since 2002.
Around 233 total yards, Newton also threw a pair of picks and took four long-developing sacks. He had little help, though it was no fault of a patchwork offensive line comprised almost entirely of players out of position.
No Pats running back rushed for 20 yards. Julian Edelman threw as many passes as he caught (two), as the Patriots reached late into their bag of tricks hoping to pull out a win. Tight end Ryan Izzo lost a fumble in the third quarter and finished as the team’s leading receiver with three catches.
Collectively, the offense reached the Broncos’ 20-yard line once before the fourth quarter. On that trip, they immediately went backward 15 yards because of a bad snap. On
their next trip, Newton marched on to the 1-yard line, where he eventually broke the plane on a quarterback sneak to slice Denver’s lead to 18-9.
Ensuing Bronco mistakes welcomed the Pats back into contention, starting with J.C Jackson’s interception of Lock at 5:15 remaining, which he raced back to the Denver 25-yard line. After another sack of Newton, Patriots kicker Nick Folk made a 38-yard field goal to trim the deficit to six. Still in a giving mood, Lock fired deep into double coverage on the very next play from scrimmage and found a diving Jonathan Jones at midfield.
Prior to Lock’s picks and two preceding punts, Denver sapped significant clock on every drive, churning out steady gains on the ground against a thin Pats defensive front. The Broncos surpassed more than 100 rushing yards early in the third quarter. Lock also drilled completions of 41, 35 and 27 yards, all on separate drives, to set up three field goals.
Otherwise, he failed to puncture a sound secondary that prevented him from connecting on any of his seven end-zone attempts. He finished 10-of24 for 189 yards and two interceptions. Patriots safety Devin McCourty kept Lock from a rushing touchdown late in the third quarter, sprinting
from the back line of the end zone to meet him a few feet shy of the left pylon on a third-and-goal snap.
Denver then extended its 12-3 halftime lead with a field goal. The Broncos led 6- 0 after the first quarter
efensively, Pats linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley topped all players with a dozen tackles. He and Shilique Calhoun each finished with a half-sack. John Simon notched the Patriots’ only other takedown of Lock, his first sack of the season. Jones’ three pass breakups were a game-high.
Here were the best and worst performances from Sunday’s loss:
Best
CB JoNatHaN JoNes Lock started 0-for-3 targeting Jones, including two passes in the end zone. His last settled into Jones’ outstretched arms for a gamechanging pick.
P JaKe BaILey » Bailey’s first two punts dropped Denver at its own 9 and 15yard lines. His other soared 60 yards.
Worst
Wr N’KeaL Harry » Two targets, zero catches. He was totally invisible until Newton’s final pass whizzed by him.
Wr JuLIaN edeLmaN Eight receiving yards is a bad, bad day, especially in a game when the offense struggles as a whole. The Pats need the old Edelman back, not just old Edelman.
oL IsaIaH WyNN » Wynn got trucked by Bradley Chubb on one of Newton’s sacks.