Hurley: The Patriots appear broken beyond repair
FOXBORO -- This was, in many ways, the line of demarcation.
Sure, nobody believed the Patriots would amount to much in terms of Super Bowl contention or even as a legitimate playoff threat. But they still seemingly had enough talent and coaching experience to put forth a legitimate NFL team, one capable of beating lesser teams and one frisky enough to pull off an upset or two over the course of the season.
Being that is admittedly not much. But it's something. Yet in order to even reach those meager goals, the Patriots would have to handle their business by beating the teams they're supposed to beat, especially at home. Sunday's home date with the Saints was supposed to be the light at the end of the tunnel after a grueling first four weeks. It was supposed to be the day when the Patriots regained their footing, succeeded in what they do well, and dispatched a mediocre Saints team while earning a much-needed second victory of the year.
But the Patriots couldn't do that. They couldn't even come close. A 7-0 hole became a 14-0 hole, which became a 21-0 hole. The offense was brutal, the defense was bad, and even the special teams committed numerous missteps.
Forget about celebrating a touchdown; the 68,000-plus fans who decided to dedicate their Sunday to attending this game found themselves giving a sarcastic ovation when the Patriots' offense picked up a single first down in the second quarter. It was that bad. And there was no one individual area holding them back.
Obviously, a disproportionate level of focus goes on the quarterback, and Mac Jones throwing his third pick-six of the season to kick off the scoring was a problem. And Jones -- who was 8-for-15 for 72 yards with the pick and two sacks at halftime -- was not impressive. But he also was hit while throwing that pick, extending a theme of awful offensive line play that has plagued the whole season. He finished with two picks and a lost fumble after spending the past week talking about how he needs to take care of the football. (The second interception wasn't his fault, but still.)
Add in receivers who continue to struggle to get open and some incredibly unimaginative play-calling (third-down jump balls for DeVante Parker are more like 10-90 balls than the 50-50 balls the Patriots believe them to be), and the offense looks ... hopeless.
But the defense was a major part of the problem, too, allowing chunk plays to an offense that was facing as many questions as the Patriots' unit entering this game. The Patriots allowed three chunk plays of 25 or more yards in a span of less than four minutes, and the defense allowed the Saints to score on both of their red zone trips in the first half.
There's also this: The Saints entered the game with the worst red-zone offense in the entire NFL, having reached the end zone on just 33.3 percent of their trips this season. Yet they were 3-for-3 at scoring touchdowns while opening up their 31-0 lead.
At that point, the Patriots had been outscored 76-5 over a span of about eight quarters, dating back to the fourth quarter of Week 3's narrow win over the Jets. It stretched 79-5 by the end of the game, as New England never got on the scoreboard in the 34-0 shutout loss.
And in the surest signs of things being broken, the Patriots couldn't even execute on special teams. Jabrill Peppers fair-caught a punt at the 5-yard line, giving the New England offense little hope of scoring on its first drive. Joe Cardona then launched a low snap, leading to a 26-yard punt by Bryce Baringer. Chad Ryland missed a 48-yard field goal when the game was still 7-0. Even Matthew Slater -- almost universally regarded as the perfect special teamer -- picked up a penalty for illegal touching on one New England punt.
Maybe it could have gotten better coming out of halftime ... if Mac Jones didn't throw the ball away on a play that was supposed to trick the opposition. Instead, Mac tricked himself.
From bad to worse, from worse to unimaginable. That was the mood in Foxboro on Sunday, which was -- without hyperbole -- arguably the lowest day in the 21-year history of Gillette Stadium.
Where they go from here is hard to say. Bill O'Brien was supposed to fix the offense; he hasn't. Jerod Mayo sticking around in Foxboro was supposed to keep the defense elite; he hasn't. And Bill Belichick's unrivaled resume was supposed to be enough to keep the Patriots afloat and relevant; that, too, has not helped.
And so one week after Belichick suffered his largest loss ever, the Patriots came one point shy of matching that deficit while at home against a much lesser opponent.
Last week was supposed to be rock bottom. This one felt distinctly worse.
Things are truly worse than ever for the Patriots since they became a perennial Super Bowl powerhouse 22 years ago. And if this is how this particular era of Patriots football ends, it's doing so with a tremendous thud.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
