New England Patriots links 10/30/23 - Offense regresses, defense can’t contain speedy Miami WRs

Mac Jones’ interception late in the second quarter was the killer. The energy-sucker. The pass wasn’t tipped. It was just a careless throw that turned a would-be touchdown pass instead into the waiting arms of CB Jalen Ramsey. Later in the game Mac took too many sacks behind a mostly solid offensive line.

The offense’s inability to sustain drives kept the defense on the field too long against the speedy Miami receivers. Result: Another loss and more disappointment.

I’m starting to get the feeling Mac Jones may not be the answer. The Patriots aren’t the only team with a franchise quarterback problem but man, was I hoping they would beat the odds and avoid one. Midway through Mac’s third year, it’s not looking good.

I’ll be curious about any trade deadline activity. The beat-writers are screaming “sell!” But what they don’t add, is which team is going to buy high from this roster? In my opinion, it doesn’t help to give away good defensive players for draft peanuts. We’ll see what happens.

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes - Patriots at Dolphins: Kyle Dugger sets up first Patriots TD with his first pick of the season; JuJu Smith-Schuster has first touchdown with the Patriots; Christian Barmore sets career-high in sacks; More.
• Gamebook: Full Patriots-Dolphins stats.
• Evan Lazar’s Game Observations: After building some momentum in a win against Buffalo last week, the Patriots couldn’t find enough winning plays to upset the Dolphins on Sunday.
• Mike Dussault picks out six keys from the 31-17 loss in Miami. 1. Barmore, Dugger get it going.
• Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Dolphins.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick - Mac Jones - Hunter Henry - David Andrews.

LOCAL LINKS

• Doug Kyed recaps how Mac Jones and the Patriots couldn’t keep up with the speedy Dolphins in Week 8’s 31-17 division loss.
• Matt Dolloff recaps the Pats’ 31-17 road loss that drops them to 2-6 at the midway point of the season.
• Karen Guregian explains how the Dolphins exposed all that ails the Patriots. What happened in Miami is simply going to ratchet up the noise for both Bill Belichick and Mac Jones.
• Chris Mason gives us seven takeaways from the loss in Miami: Mac throws a game-changing interception; Bizarre day for JuJu; Bourne injury hurts; Time to sell; More.
• Nick Goss shares his Pats-Dolphins takeaways: Hill, Waddle power Miami to Week 8 win. Patriots offense takes a step back, tough day for J.C Jackson; More.
• Taylor Kyles’ Week 8 takeaways: A day plagued by inconsistency on both sides of the ball. The Pats had a chance to turn their season around in Miami, but that performance may have proven they are who we thought they were.
• Doug Kyed says Sunday’s loss shows the Pats’ recent offensive surge was just a fluke.
• Chris Mason notes Mac Jones can’t escape the big mistake. When Mac throws an interception, the Patriots lose.
• Darren Hartwell highlights the players reaction to the controversial no-call on the helmet-to-helmet hit to DeVante Parker that should have been penalized.
• Mark Daniels relays JuJu Smith-Schuster when asked why it looked like he was benched on Sunday.
• Matt Vautour thinks that after Sunday’s loss, the Patriots need to be sellers at the trade deadline.
• Andrew Callahan says Robert Kraft should command the Patriots to sell at the trade deadline. He says that Kraft has done that before, quoting that ESPN article where Kraft supposedly demanded that Jimmy Garoppolo be traded - an assertion that Kraft emphaticly denied. Callahan also assumes there is a big market for the roster.
• Matt Vautour takes a look at the Patriots’ 2024 draft position, noting the team moved up to No. 4.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Trevor Sikkema (PFF) NFL Week 8 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 31, New England Patriots 17. Rookie spotlight: Patriots wide receiver Demario Douglas saw seven targets. He hauled in a team-leading five of them for 25 yards. Twenty-three of those yards came after the catch.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Week 8: What we learned from Sunday’s games. Patriots’ offense takes a step back following last week’s breakout performance.
• NFL Nation (ESPN) Week 8: Biggest questions, risers and takeaways. Patriots: Will QB Mac Jones find answers to avoid committing costly turnovers? Stock up: S Kyle Dugger. Stock down: Team health. The Patriots lost three key players — top WR Kendrick Bourne (knee), top off-the-ball LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (hamstring) and WR DeVante Parker (head) — adding more problems to a 2-6 team.
• Peter King (ProFootballTalk) FMIA Week 8: Dramatic turns for Burrow and Bengals, Cousins and Vikings.
• Jeff Kerr (CBS Sports) NFL Week 8 overreactions, reality checks.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 8 grades: Chiefs, Steelers each get a ‘D’ after ugly losses. Patriots: C-. This was another ugly loss in what’s turning out to be an ugly season for New England.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Officials got a replay assist to rule Cardinals short on fourth down. /Where was the replay assist to call the hit to the head on DeVante Parker?
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Bill Belichick on Mac Jones continuing to start: “We all need to play better.”
• Cody Benjamin (CBS Sports) Week 8 winners and losers: 49ers, Vikings mourn QB concerns.
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) NFL Winners and Losers: Jordan Love draft pick was a fiasco for the Packers.
• Jonathan Jones (CBS Sports) NFL trade deadline 2023: All of the latest rumblings, including which teams are buyers and who they may target. Patriots LB Josh Uche mentioned as potential target.
• Josh Edwards (CBS Sports) 2024 NFL Draft order: Bears, Cardinals in battle for No. 1. Patriots 5th.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Five reasons why the NFL won’t make meaningful improvements to officiating.