FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots landed in the loss column for the first time under Jerod Mayo on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Seahawks 23-20 in overtime at Gillette Stadium.
The two evenly-matched teams played to a stalemate through 60 minutes, but ultimately, New England didn’t do enough little things well enough to leave with 2-0 start to the season. Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson ran the ball really well, but the Patriots couldn’t get much going in the passing game and the defense had a subpar day by their standard.
Here are seven takeaways from a picturesque September day in Foxborough.
1. Margin of error is thin
Just about everything went right for the Patriots last weekend against the Bengals, and they left Cincinnati with the biggest upset win of Week 1. The operation wasn’t as clean on Sunday at Gillette Stadium and Mayo’s group paid the price.
With 1:39 left in the first half, the Patriots got the ball back on their own 8-yard line. Rather than running the clock out or going aggressively, Mayo middled things. New England ran with JaMycal Hasty on first down, bled the clock, and then threw back-to-back incompletions. They wound up punting, Seattle got the ball back near midfield with 0:35 left in the half, and the Seahawks kicked a field goal. It was essentially three free points.
In the fourth quarter, Jacoby Brissett took a 9-yard sack on 3rd-and-6 that turned an extra-point-length field goal attempt into a 48-yarder for Joey Slye. The longer kick was blocked and three points came off the board. The Patriots aren’t talented enough to leave points on the board or gift them to their opponents.
“It’s all about the details,” Mayo said. “If we get the little things right, the big things will take care of themselves. We just didn’t take care of the little things, and we weren’t as detailed or on top of our P’s and Q’s like we should have been. Which is my responsibility. I take 100 percent responsibility.”
2. Wanted: WR production
The Patriots almost managed to win a game where their wide receivers combined for three catches for 19 yards — yes, the entire wide receiver room. Pop Douglas didn’t see a single catchable target — he was given one on a Brissett throwaway in the box score — and the Patriots offense looked punchless throwing the football.
“Obviously we would like more in our passing game,” said Brissett (15-of-27, 149 yards). “I’ve got to do a better job of getting a lot of those guys involved in the game plan and throughout the game. I take responsibility for that.”
3. Pass defense too leaky
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith went 33-of-44 for 327 yards, and those numbers would have been even bigger if he hadn’t been victimized by at least four drops. The Patriots had an uncharacteristically bad coverage bust early in the game, allowing D.K. Metcalf (10 receptions, 129 yards) to haul in a 56-yard touchdown pass with nobody near him; Metcalf simply ran past Christian Gonzalez and Kyle Dugger.
“Just a bad read by myself,” Dugger said. “They caught us in a call that was kind of problematic.”
Jaxon Smith-Njigba gave the Patriots fits too, catching 12 passes for 117 yards. For a secondary that’s usually air-tight, this was a disappointing showing.
“Guys were just balling,” Smith said. “JSN is a great player. We have to get the ball in his hands as many chances as we can. I thought he did a great job throughout the game and just making those clutch catches and finding windows when it was zone, beating man when it was man, and I thought he did a great job today.”
4. Huge day for Henry
Hunter Henry was a bright spot for the Patriots offense, catching eight passes for a career-high 109 yards. A number of those were improvised scramble plays, as Brissett fled the pocket and Henry kept running downfield.
“(The chemistry is) growing,” Brissett said. “Towards the tail end of training camp he wasn’t out there as much, but getting him back into the rhythm and flow of the offense, he’s a really good player. Obviously had a bunch of good plays today, and it’s a lot of fun having him on my side of the ball. I just look forward to progressing that relationship and chemistry and continuing to make more plays.”
5. Can’t get the gotta-have-it
Facing a 3rd-and-1 at their own 39-yard line in overtime, the Patriots got away from their bread and butter. They overloaded the offensive line on the right side, aligning Henry at left tackle and flipping Caedan Wallace to the far right. In the backfield, Tyquan Thornton lined up next to Rhamondre Stevenson.
The play was a total bust. Stevenson was stopped for no-gain, and even if it had worked, Wallace was flagged for not reporting as an eligible receiver on the end of the line of scrimmage. Afterward, Mayo pushed back on the idea that the play call had gotten too cute.
“I don’t think we tried to do anything fancy,” Mayo said. “I think we tried to run the plays that we felt pretty comfortable with going into the game, and then at halftime made some adjustments. Look, this isn’t a fancy football team. This is one of those teams whether we throw it or run it that we just have to be a tough football team, but at the same time, have to be smart. We have to be able to go out there and line up and be mentally tough on a down-after-down basis.”
6. Ticky-tack call hurts
Seattle’s game-winning field goal drive was aided by a 20-yard pass interference flag on Jonathan Jones, who had tight coverage on Tyler Lockett down the left sideline. The cornerback shared an interesting exchange in the home locker room after the game.
“Without getting fined – I would like someone from the officiating office and NFL to show where the penalty was,” Jones said. “Overtime, I don’t feel like that’s a penalty. (Lockett) acknowledged that wasn’t a penalty. At that point, it’s out of my hands. He’s got the flag. He threw it.
”(Lockett) said, ‘That’s not a penalty.’ Straight up. That’s what he told me,” Jones said. “It sucks. I kind of feel like that was the play of the game. I’ll go back and watch it on film. I haven’t watched it on film to see if there’s something I could’ve done better and take it from there.”
7. Uneven performance from o-line
A glass half-full observer could look at Sunday’s showing in the run game as a positive for the offensive line, as the Patriots ran for 5.1 yards per carry and picked up 185 yards; it was a great day on the ground. However, a glass-half-empty perspective can point to the passing game, where Jacoby Brissett was hit eight times and sacked three.
Things could get even more complicated from here, as left tackle Vederian Lowe left the game with a knee injury, and his backup, Chuks Okorafor, was placed on the exempt/left squad list on Saturday afternoon.
