Guregian: Patriots beyond help after embarrassing 33-6 loss to 49ers

To borrow a phrase from Cam Newton, the Patriots can’t go to the excuse basket.

That bin emptied out after last week.

What happened against the 49ers, what everyone witnessed who happen to tune in, spoke for itself.

The Patriots were thoroughly embarrassed and can’t blame COVID-19 and the pandemic. They can’t blame injuries, and they most certainly can’t blame a lack of practice time.

The reality for Bill Belichick’s team, after getting blown out 33-6 by old friend Jimmy Garoppolo & Co, is pretty simple.

They just aren’t that good. They can’t fool anyone, anymore. They don’t pass anyone’s eye test.

The post-Tom Brady Patriots aren’t good, and they’re not playoff-caliber on either side of the ball.

At 2-4, it is what it is. They have trouble beating the bad teams, and can’t beat the good ones, either. It doesn’t matter if the quarterback is Cam Newton or Jarrett Stidham. They can’t score, and it’s getting more obvious they can’t defend.

“When you lose 33-6, you can’t say we’re close,” defensive captain Devin McCourty admitted after the loss. “It just is what it is. We’re 2-4, we can’t sit here and say we’re right there.”

So even the players have started to look in the mirror.

At the moment, calling the Patriots mediocre might be kind, especially after watching what transpired Sunday. They looked like they didn’t belong on the same field as the 49ers, a team ravaged by injuries.

An overreaction?

Hardly.

You have to go back to October 2002 to find the last time a Belichick-coached Patriots team dropped three straight. And putting aside the blowout, that’s the most important score right now — three consecutive losses to the Chiefs, Broncos and 49ers.

There were plenty of sky-is-falling alarmists after the Patriots’ woeful showing in last week’s loss to Denver.

And while that might have been a little premature, given the time Newton missed due to contracting COVID-19, and the lack of practices, there isn’t much doubt now about which direction the Patriots are going.

And it most certainly is not up.

As bad as the Patriots were last week without practice, they doubled down this week, and that was with practice. To a man, the players all talked about showing a little more urgency … and it just wasn’t there.

The Patriots were no match for the 49ers. Plain and simple, Behind Jimmy G, the 49ers piled on because they could, adding to the misery.

The Patriots were down by 20 at halftime, and unlike Super Bowl LI coming back from 28-3 against Atlanta, this was one monster lead Kyle Shanahan, then the offensive coordinator of the Falcons, wasn’t about to blow.

All Belichick could do was stand with his arms crossed on the sideline. Not sure if it was steam coming out of his ears, or resignation as the game progressed. He huddled with the defense at times to get that unit, and huddled with Josh McDaniels, presumably trying to decide when to yank Newton.

This was one of his worst losses since taking over as head coach of the Patriots in 2000. It was definitely the worst defeat at Gillette Stadium, fans or not. And he didn’t try to sugarcoat it.

“We were clearly out-coached, outplayed. Just out-everything,” said Belichick. “So we need to just keep working here and find a way to just do everything better. We’re just not performing at a good level right now in any area. So that’s across the board.”

It started with Newton, who was beyond awful. He had no velocity on his throws, and he was nowhere near being accurate.

What happened to the quarterback who had all the arm strength, and threw for nearly 400 yards against the Seahawks in Week 2?

What happened to the guy who provided so much hope in the early going?

Against the Niners, he completed 9 of 15 passes for 98 yards. He also threw three interceptions, none worse than his gaffe in the second quarter. The pass was intended for Jakobi Meyers, but after rolling left to avoid pressure, holding the ball too long, he basically tossed it to 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.

That might have been one of the worst interceptions any NFL quarterback has thrown.

Talk about regression. Newton remains unsure of his reads, and holds onto the ball way too long.

“In no way shape or form did I put this team in a position to compete, and that’s inexcusable,” said Newton. “This is the National Football League where a lot is put on the quarterback and I have to deliver and I haven’t done that. Quite frankly, it’s evident.”

It sure is. But he’s not alone.

His collection of receivers also haven’t helped the cause. Julian Edelman remains invisible. He was targeted a few times by Newton, had no catches. He didn’t catch his first pass until garbage time, and that was thrown by Jarrett Stidham, who came on early in the fourth quarter to replace Newton.

It was Edelman’s only catch.

Meyers, playing in place of an injured N’Keal Harry, who suffered a head injury in the first half, was the leading receiver with four catches for 60 yards. It still wasn’t pretty.

But if anyone thinks the Patriots should be buyers before the deadline, and trade for the best available wideout, that would be a waste. This loss showed their true colors.

It makes no sense to grab a rental for a team that’s going nowhere, and right now, that description fits.

The defense doesn’t get off the hook, either. Garoppolo (20-for-25, 277 yards, two interceptions) picked them apart. The Patriots also had no answers for the 49ers rushing game (197 yards).

“We didn’t perform well enough in any area, offense, defense, special teams, running, passing, defending the run, defending the pass, ball security, tackling, blocking, none of it was good enough,” said Belichick. “Maybe I left something out, but we just got to do a better job all the way across the board. I don’t think everything was bad, but there was enough bad for the results to be bad, so we need to improve in all areas.”

And no, Belichick didn’t leave anything out.

Again, it was embarrassing. Making it worse is how well Brady is now doing with his new team. Brady threw four touchdown passes against the Raiders. Patriot quarterbacks threw four interceptions.

Not a good look, and not something that’s going to make the Foxboro faithful hold out hope that the team might make a run this season.

Said Devin McCourty: “There’s not much to tell the group … there’s really nothing to talk about. There’s nothing I can tell these guys to get us out of this hole. We gotta dig and do our part … when your backs are against the wall, that’s all you can do.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/31JoCnl