New England Patriots links 10/04/21 - Missed it by *that* much: Bucs hold on to win 19-17

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Buccaneers at Patriots. Patriots defense holds Tampa Bay to 19 points; TEs Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith had first TD receptions as members of the Patriots; LB Matt Judon records a sack in third straight game; WR Jakobi Meyers completed two passes; now 4-of-4 on career pass attempts; Mac Jones ties team record with 19 straight completions; More.
• Gamebook: Full Patriots vs. Buccaneers stats.
• Erik Scalavino’s Game Observations: Maybe not a classic, but memorable nonetheless; Here’s why.
• Mike Dussault picks 5 keys from the loss to the Bucs. 1. Sloppy play catches up. 2. Defense shows up.
• Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Buccaneers.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick - Mac Jones - Matt Judon - Jonathan Jones - Devin McCourty - David Andrews - Jakobi Meyers.
• What Went Wrong: Patriots lose 19-17. (1.34 min. video)
• Highlights: Tom Brady tribute. (1.10 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Evan Lazar shares ten things we learned from the Patriots’ 19-17 loss to the Bucs: The Patriots are getting closer but not close enough to overcome mistakes to win football games. 1. Pats HC Bill Belichick delivers masterful game plan against Tom Brady. /Good read.
• Zack Cox tells us six things we learned Sunday night. 1. The Patriots’ defense did its job; 5. The Patriots might need to do something at running back.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Ain’t that a kick? — Patriots fall to Brady, Buccaneers 19-17. Mac Jones proved that the Patriots future at the position is bright. The rookie completed 31 of 40 passes for 275 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Late FG miss sinks the Patriots in 19-17 loss to Brady and the Bucs.
• Chad Finn says somehow this game actually lived up to the hype — even if it didn’t work out for the Patriots.
• Clare Cooper (PatsPropaganda) The Patriots may have lost, but the torch has truly been passed in Foxborough!
• Mark Daniels recaps the Pats loss to the Bucs; Mac Jones rose to the test and looked like the real deal.
• Zack Cox explains why Mac Jones looked like he was worthy to be Tom Brady’s heir.
• Michael Hurley mentions how Mac Jones continues to win over his teammates: ‘He looks like a baby Tom.’
• Tony Massarotti declares the real winner last night was Mac Jones.
• Zack Cox notes the Pats’ (-1) record-breaking rushing performance last night was one of the worst in NFL history.
• Zack Cox says the numbers support Bill Belichick’s decision to kick that field goal in the final minute.
• Matthew Geagan picks his ups and downs from last night’s loss. Ups: Matt Judon, Mac Jones, more.
• Matt Dolloff picks his Patriots ups & downs: Untimely mistakes costly in loss to Bucs.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Robert Kraft still hopes that Tom Brady will retire a Patriot.
• CBS Boston reports Tom Brady now has beaten every team in the NFL.
• Logan Mullen considers if the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady relationship is blown out of proportion, noting Bill Belichick continues to insist things with him and Brady are fine. /Yeah, but what does he know?
• Dakota Randall highlights Tom Brady’s initial Mac Jones review and thoughts on the Pats’ offense.
• CBS Boston relays Antonio Brown saying his brief Patriots career was ‘the best experience of my life’.

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Game Center (NFL.com) Buccaneers at Patriots: Drives, stats, highlights.
• Anthony Treash (PFF) NFL Week 4 game recap: Buccaneers 19, Patriots 17. This moment wasn’t too big for rookie QB Mac Jones. ... The area where Jones shined the most was when he faced one of Tampa Bay’s vaunted blitzes. Instead of crumbling like most inexperienced passers, Jones made the right decisions and got the ball out quickly.
• Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Off camera and behind closed doors, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick got to hash things out after Bucs’ victory.
• Albert Breer (SI) Monday Morning QB: Brady, Belichick reunion lives up to hype in historic clash; Plus, insight into where the Bears stand at QB, from Matt Nagy, why Dallas is starting to look scary good and more from Week 4.
• Peter King (NBC Sports) FMIA Week 4: Tiring homework for homecoming—Inside Tom Brady’s triumphant return to New England. ‘It felt like old times, really: Brady won, the Patriots look like they have a quarterback for the long term, and New England’s defense confounded a strong offense. Patriots fans can wake up this morning feeling good about the past, present and future.’
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) 2021 NFL season, Week 4: What we learned from Sunday’s games. Pats-Bucs: 1. It wasn’t a high-flying, emotionally volatile battle for the ages, but it was something. 3. Mac Jones certainly did his part to keep pace with the G.O.A.T. 4. Bill Belichick’s game plan worked well, even if it didn’t end up securing a win.
• Gary Gramling (SI) Week 4 Takeaways: Kyler takes Cards to another level, Browns defense is spectacular, Rookie QB redemption week; Plus, Packers win ugly in Green Bay, the Giants show what they can be, the Ravens dominate in Denver, Matthew Stafford’s bad day, and much more!
• Nate Davis (USA Today) 32 things we learned from Week 4 of 2021 NFL season: More than Tom Brady’s Patriots showdown.
• NFL Nation (ESPN) NFL Week 4 takeaways: What we learned, big questions and stat leaders for every game.
• Tyler Sullivan (CBS Sports) Mac Jones has first statement showing with Patriots after going toe to toe with Tom Brady in loss to Bucs.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 4 grades. Patriots: B+, Buccaneers: B-. They didn’t get the “W,” but they deserve a lot of credit. With a clearly inferior roster, they took it to the wire for a number of reasons, none bigger than Jones; More.
• Tyler Sullivan (CBS Sports) Patriots vs. Buccaneers: Tom Brady victorious in return to Foxborough.
• Conor Orr (SI) For Belichick, Sunday night wasn’t about Brady after all; There were silver linings for the coach of a young team in the midst of a hasty rebuild—as well as frustration over taking the ball out of Mac Jones’s hands.
• Shalise Manza Young (Yahoo! Sports) Mac Jones couldn’t deliver in Tom Brady-like fashion, but he didn’t shrink from the moment.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Mac Jones: We don’t really do moral victories.
• Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! sports) Tom Brady gets best of Patriots, Bill Belichick in dramatic return to New England. “The Bucs’ victory had more to do with the bruising running of Leonard Fournette (91 yards), a terrific defensive performance and a turnover and mistake prone Patriots team, but when they needed a drive, their legendary quarterback delivered one like seemingly always.”
• Jarrett Bell (USA Today) Tom Brady not at his best but still serves Bill Belichick some humble pie.
• Grant Gordon (NFL.com) Bill Belichick didn’t ‘really’ think about going for it before Nick Folk’s missed field goal.
• Analis Bailey (USA Today) Mac Jones shares what Tom Brady said after Buccaneers beat Patriots.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Tom Brady: “Great night of football” in return to New England.
• Judy Battista (NFL.com) ‘Very emotional week’ for Tom Brady concludes with surreal Bucs victory over Pats.
• Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers of Week 4: Tom Brady vs. Bill Belichick was Adele-worthy. Plus: The New York football teams share a rare day of winning, Drew Brees loses his passing record, and Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t know how fourth down works.
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) NFL winners and losers: Bills are still worthy of the hype.
• Mario Pilato (PFF) Week 4 NFL injury recap & analysis: David Montgomery injures knee, Jimmy Garoppolo leaves game with calf injury. /Same guy half the media wanted Belichick to keep over Brady five years ago. Don’t remember that being part of the Belichick-bashing coverage last week.
• Andrew Bucholtz (Awful Announcing) Drew Brees was there to clap for Tom Brady breaking his passing record thanks to on-location Football Night in America.