What we learned in Patriots-Jaguars: Pats have a toughness problem

What we learned in Patriots-Jaguars: Pats have a toughness problem originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

It might’ve been the closest the Patriots would get to a “must-win” game in a season where wins were always going to be few and far between.

Taking on a fellow basement-dweller, the Patriots had a chance at a rare victory against the Jaguars in London. If they lost it, they’d be looking at a long and slow slog to the end of what would feel like a meaningless season.

The pressure was on. (As much pressure as there could be, at least, in a game between one-win teams.) And the Patriots folded, getting embarrassed on an international stage, 32-16.

Here’s what we learned…

Patriots have a toughness problem

Toughness in New England, from a football standpoint, has long been defined by a team’s ability to a) run the ball, b) stop the run and c) cover kicks.

That’s how Bill Belichick defined it during his tenure, and it’s how Jerod Mayo defines it now.

They went 0-for-3 in that regard against Jacksonville. The whiffs were so obvious that Mayo pointed to those three elements — and his team’s no-show when it came to all three — almost as soon as he positioned himself behind a microphone after the game.

“We’re a soft football team across the board,” Mayo explained. “What makes a football team? That’s being able to run the ball, that’s being able to stop the run, and that’s being able to cover kicks. And we did none of those today. They controlled the ball for most of the day… Back to the drawing board.”

The Patriots allowed the Jags to average 4.4 yards per carry on Sunday, totaling 171 yards on the ground in a performance that included 17 consecutive runs at one point. They knew the Patriots couldn’t get stops on the ground, and they continued to hammer downhill run calls as they drained the clock through the second half.

And if that wasn’t deflating enough, the Patriots picked up just 20 yards on 12 running back carries for an average of 1.7 per attempt. They also got…

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Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-10-20 21:26:43

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