Mercifully, it was the best outcome
Welcome to the Unconventional Review, an instant reaction to standouts, stats, and story lines from the Patriots’ most recent game . . .
Since it’s the week after Thanksgiving and all, it feels appropriate to first offer our gratitude to Patriots kicker Chad Ryland for hooking what would have been a tying 35yard field goal with six seconds left.
Some of us may be gluttons this time of year, but it’s hard to imagine anyone among us is enough of a glutton for punishment to want to watch that game and those teams go to overtime.
Besides, it was the best outcome for the Patriots. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that in the immediacy of the moment when you’re steaming after watching Mac Jones throw his first interception, or his second interception, or watching Bailey Zappe throw a Maclike pick after mercifully taking over in the second half. They needed this loss, their fourth straight. Six games may remain, but this season is all about getting a high draft pick and an influx of talent on the roster.
As for the quarterback situation, it’s a cliché to call Jones broken at this point — he’s now been yanked from four games this season, which must be a franchise record — but it’s the truth. Zappe probably isn’t any better — he throws into triple coverage because he doesn’t see the field well, while Jones does it because he feels the rush, whether it exists or not. But Jones can’t go out there again. You know why.
Some further thoughts, upon immediate review . . .
THREE PLAYERS WHO WERE WORTH WATCHING
Players suggested in the Unconventional Preview: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Saquon Barkley, Rhamondre Stevenson.
Jalin Hyatt: The rookie third-round pick out of Tennessee probably was familiar only to Giants fans and those among us who pay serious attention to their fantasy football leagues. He entered the game with 12 catches for 221 yards — an impressive 18.4-yard average — but without anything resembling a true breakthrough performance, unless you’re counting his twocatch, 89-yard output way back in Week 2 against the Cardinals. Well, that breakthrough came Sunday. Hyatt was nothing short of fantastic, with five receptions on six targets for 109 yards. (While targeting receivers other than Hyatt, Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito was 12 for 19 for 89 yards and a touchdown.) Hyatt stood out right away, with a 29-yard catch on the Giants’ third play from scrimmage, then a 22yarder on the first play of their second possession. He accounted for the longest offensive play of the game, a 41-yard catch on third and 16 in the third quarter. And on the Giants’ lone touchdown drive, which culminated with a DeVito-to-Isaiah Hodgins connection late in the second quarter, Hyatt converted a third and 8 at the Patriots’ 24, faking out J.C. Jackson to pick up 12 yards. Hyatt looks like a good one, and he made sure people know his name.
Jabrill Peppers: This guy deserves to be on a better Patriots team. He continues to play with aggression and relentless energy even as the season seems to hit a new low every week. Peppers made his usual assortment of standout plays, including recovering a fumble on a botched handoff at the Patriots’ 26 to thwart the Giants’ promising first series. He also recorded a sack and three tackles, and deserves further plaudits for seeming willing to fight the Giants’ entire roster after Demario Douglas was clotheslined (but, ridiculously, did not draw a flag) by Cam Brown on a punt return early in the fourth quarter. The Patriots’ defense has been relatively resolute this season even after losing Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez in Week 3, and Peppers is a major reason.
Rhamondre Stevenson: Presuming that Bill Belichick was trying to win, it was odd that the Patriots put the ball in hopeless, hapless Jones’s hands twice as often in the first half (21 passing attempts) as they did Stevenson’s. He had 10 rushing attempts for 44 yards before the break, a decent workload, but perhaps less usage than he should have had — again, presuming the Patriots were trying to win — considering the Giants were without stalwart defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. Stevenson ended up delivering his third straight strong performance, finishing with a season-high 98 yards on 21 carries, including the Patriots’ lone touchdown on a patient 7-yard run in the third quarter. Stevenson provided the biggest play on that 11-play, 60-yard drive, picking up three yards on a fourth-and-1 direct snap at the Giants’ 38. He has 580 rushing yards on the season and needs to average 70 yards per game the rest of the way to reach 1,000 for the second straight year.
GRIEVANCE OF THE GAME
You mean beyond the state of the franchise in general and the quarterback position in particular? Well, specific to this game, and excluding everything related or adjacent to Jones, I’d say it’s Belichick and the coaching staff ’s general lack of boldness. Yeah, they did convert a couple of fourth downs, which is always welcome. But they established a passive approach early, punting on fourth and 7 from the Giants’ 37 on their first possession rather than having Ryland attempt a 54-yard field goal. (I know he missed from closer range later; he does have the leg to make 50plus yarders, and perhaps taking a shot at it would have established some confidence.) And on the last drive, it was lame that they played for the tying field goal rather than trying to win the game with a touchdown. If Zappe throws a pick, who cares? They’re long past the point of having something to lose.
THREE NOTES SCRIBBLED IN THE MARGINS
Predicted score: Patriots 19, Giants 17 Final score: Giants 10, Patriots 7
One thing Jones has slightly improved upon this season: tackling defenders after they pick him off. (All together now: “Well, he has had a lot of practice.”) With assistance from guard Sidy Sow, he brought down Bobby Okereke at the New York 19 after the linebacker had returned Jones’s first interception 55 yards and looked to be headed for the end zone . . . Jonathan Vilma, the color analyst on the Fox Sports broadcast, referred to Vince Wilfork as a “soon-to-be Hall of Famer.” Vilma acknowledged his bias — Wilfork is a former University of Miami teammate and good friend — but hopefully he’s proven correct . . . I think we’ve officially heard the “Tommy DeVito lives at home with his parents” human interest story line more than the “Did you know Kurt Warner stocked shelves in a supermarket?” angle 20-plus years ago. Say, does anyone know if DeVito likes chicken parm?