Down 22-0 a halftime, Patriots hear lots of boos at Gillette Stadium
FOXBORO -- It's not a very merry Christmas Eve at Gillette Stadium. And the fans in attendance are letting the team know.
The Patriots were booed off the field as they went to the locker room at halftime, down 22-0 to the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cincinnati offense met very little resistance from the New England defense, with four of their five drives ending in points. Their first two possessions ended with touchdowns, and they added a third after a 12-play, 80-yard drive just ahead of halftime.
Joe Burrow has surgically picked about the New England defense. The Bengals QB completed 28 of his 36 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns. His only blemish was a second-quarter interception by Devin McCourty, which only happened because Bengals receiver Tyler Boyd stopped running his route.
The Bengals racked up 303 yards on offense in the first half. Mac Jones and the Patriots had just 71.
The Bengals had 21 first downs in the first 30 minutes on 48 total plays. The Patriots picked up a new set of downs just three times.
Jones is 5-of-8 for just 34 yards, and chants for Bailey Zappe filled Gillette Stadium after the Patriots went three-and-out on their first two possessions. But the issues are much deeper than just the quarterback. No one on offense seems very interested in playing in Saturday's game.
The play-calling continues to baffle. On the first 3rd-and-4 that New England faced, every receiver ran downfield -- including Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, who collided on their cross routes leading to a knee injury for Henry. With no options open, Jones scrambled and was brought down before the line of scrimmage.
Then, just before halftime, the Patriots dialed up an 11-yard pass to Jakobi Meyers in the final eight seconds. The team called a timeout, and then took a kneeldown to get to halftime.
Bill Belichick has spent most of his afternoon giving it to the officials. The Patriots were flagged for six penalties in the first half.
It's been a really ugly day for the Patriots, and the fans are letting them know it.
