Patriots' Loss to Eagles: Exasperating or Encouraging?
It's come to this for the New England Patriots: a radical re-calibration of expectations and a sad shifting of standards. A franchise that reminded fans Sunday it was once judged by winning Super Bowls at the end of the season, is now earning praise - and momentum? - from a competitive home loss in Week 1.
The Pats spotted the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles a 16-0 lead Sunday in Gillette Stadium before producing a gutsy comeback that came within a Kayshon Boutte toe drag of shocking the NFL. But ... bottom line: They lost. They are 0-1. They are 25-26 since Tom Brady departed.
Said veteran center David Andrews after the 25-20 loss: "There's no moral victories."
True. For a six-time Super Bowl champion organization the thought of earning "atta boys" for simply being competitive is blasphemous. But can the Pats at least be encouraged by parts of Sunday's performance?
It is, after all, New England's "best" loss since Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled inside the 10-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in a loss to the playoff-bound Cincinnati Bengals last Christmas Eve.
*The Patriots bludgeoned the Eagles on the stat sheet, producing more first downs (24-17), yards (382-251) and trips inside Red Zone (5-2). Twisting numbers is usually an exercise reserved for losers, but over the game's final 40 minutes New England outscored Philly 20-9 and quarterback Mac Jones completed 70 percent of his passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns. "Mac Jones I thought did a really nice job,” Eagles' coach Nick Sirianni said. “Bill O'Brien did a good job of getting the ball out of Mac’s hands, and Mac did a good job of seeing it.”
*Despite being forced to start two mid-round rookies at guard in Sidy Sow and Atonio Mafi, the Patriots' offensive line allowed only two sacks in 58 drop-backs to a Philly pass-rush that led the NFL last season.
*The Pats suited up 11 rookies, and got promising glimpses of potential from first-round cornerback Christian Gonzalez (a sack and key 4th-down pass breakup) and second-round edge rusher Keion White (who was seemingly harassing Jalen Hurts all game).
*Receiver Kendrick Bourne (two touchdowns) is back, and running back Ezekiel Elliott (despite a rare, costly fumble) still has something left in the tank.
*New England's defense limited an Eagles' high-powered offense that scored 35 points in last February's Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs to only one touchdown, and it came on a "drive" of just 26 yards after Elliott's fumble on a screen pass.
The counterpoint to that optimism? The Eagles weren't great on the road last season either, beating the 3-win Bears by five points, the 4-win Colts by one and the 4-win Cardinals by three.
The Pats couldn't run the ball, gaining only 76 yards on 22 carries. The turnovers by Jones and Elliott led to 13 Eagles' points. And the penalties were costly: An offside by Deatrich Wise extended Philly's first drive that netted a field goal, a holding call on Kyle Dugger set up the Eagles' lone offensive touchdown, and a holding on offensive tackle Calvin Anderson wiped out Jones' two-point scamper that would've pulled the Pats within three points with 3:37 remaining.
After its season-opening loss and with the explosive Miami Dolphins coming to town Sunday night, New England has a lot to work on. But it might also have a lot to work with.
