SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It was early in the first quarter Sunday afternoon at Levi’s Stadium, New England Patriots vs. San Francisco 49ers. It was, in fact, the opening drive of the game, the Pats with the ball, and, surprise, surprise, they were even moving that ball a little bit — as in 29 yards over nine plays. But then it was fourth-and-3 at the San Francisco 41, which means it was time for the offense-challenged Patriots to be aggressive, to be daring, to take a chance, to roll the dice, to do something.
Right?
Nah.
Instead, the Patriots played make-pretend on fourth-and-3, and then, having failed to draw the 49ers offside, took the delay-of-game penalty. And then punted.
True, that one play is not the reason the 49ers came out of this aesthetically displeasing affair with a 30-13 victory over the now 1-3 Patriots. But let’s take a moment to lowlight that drive, with the incomplete pass by struggling quarterback Jacoby Brissett on third-and-4 followed by the punt.
Since it has already been established this season that the Brissett-quarterbacked Patriots are not going to be lighting up the autumn sky with majestic passes to they-went-that-a-way receivers, maybe getting to the other team’s 41 on the opening drive was an opportunity that shouldn’t have been wasted. And while it’s undoubtedly cliche to put it out there that the Pats could have “made a statement,” it wouldn’t have hurt to have the 49ers playing from behind, which never happened in this game.
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If the Patriots have a plan to outhustle their opponents, to outgrunt them, this was not the time to put that plan into motion, apparently. Instead of challenging his offense, or showing it some early-in-the-day support, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo pressed a button that sent out the punting unit.
The first-year coach was asked after the game about his decision to punt at the SF 41. And the first thing he wanted to get clear was that, yes, it was indeed his decision.
“We talk before we get to third down,” Mayo said, “and I say it’s primarily myself, but I tell (offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt), this is what I’m thinking, whether we’re going forward on fourth-and-4, fourth-and-5, or we’re going to kick it on 3 yards or less.
“That’s kind of how it plays out,” said Mayo, who then got to the much-anticipated hindsight part of the answer.
“Look, there are definitely times where it’s easy in hindsight to look back and say I wish I were more aggressive here or there, (but) this is how we decided to play the game there,” he said.
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— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 29, 2024
But, again, these are the 2024 Patriots we’re talking about. And Brissett remains the quarterback of the Patriots, even if Mayo always has a this-is-what-I’m-saying-now response whenever he’s asked if rookie Drake Maye is about to become New England’s starting quarterback. Mayo held tight to the script after Sunday’s game.
“At this point, Jacoby is our starting quarterback,” he said. “I haven’t watched any film or anything like that. He’s been a great leader.”
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Alas, Brissett (19-for-32 for 168 yards, with one touchdown and one very bad pick six) is a great leader of a not-so-great offense. He was sacked six times Sunday. All the more reason, then, to take a chance on fourth-and-3 at the San Francisco 41. Sure, the Pats did go for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the San Francisco 20 midway through the second quarter, and Rhamondre Stevenson was stopped for no gain. But the Pats were already trailing 13-0 by then, and it had been established that getting the ball deep inside San Francisco territory was going to be a challenge. It’s also worth noting that a bit o’ razzle dazzle was put on display late in the third quarter, with Brissett making a little 3-yard pass to Pop Douglas, who lateraled to Stevenson, who gained 9 yards. Alas, Tyquan Thornton was flagged for an illegal block above the waist, and that was that.
FRED WARNER PICK-6. LEGEND.
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📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/Mk2VkYc7Q9— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2024
Even when the Pats did get the ball into the other side of town, it was sometimes because they had help. There was, for instance, the third-quarter 49ers fumble that gave the Patriots first down at the San Francisco 27. (And led to a 5-yard Brissett-to-Austin Hooper touchdown completion.) And there was the 42-yard punt by the Niners’ Mitch Wishnowsky with under a minute remaining in the second quarter that was returned 11 yards by Marcus Jones to the San Francisco 39. The good news for the Patriots is that the drive, and the half, ended with Joey Slye kicking a franchise-record 63-yard field goal. The bad news is that Slye’s field goal was the culmination of a four-play “drive” that moved the ball minus-6 yards.
Nobody knows if the Patriots have hit rock bottom yet, but there was a whiff of it in this game. Their inability to move the ball was bookended by some breakdowns on offense, with a dash of Mayo showing an unwillingness to be aggressive early thrown in.
Oh, and did we mention that three Patriots — center David Andrews (shoulder), safety Kyle Dugger (ankle), tackle Caedan Wallace (ankle) — went out with injuries? Maybe we should not mention it, since, as safety Jabrill Peppers put it, “Injuries are part of the league, man. Next guy’s gotta come up.”
Peppers is correct. Injuries are part of the league. So is out-of-the-gate aggressiveness. The 2024 Patriots should try it sometime.
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(Photo of Jacoby Brissett attempting a pass while being tackled by Maliek Collins: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
