So much for the moral victory hangover from the New England Patriots nearly upsetting the Buffalo Bills on the road last week.
Whatever juice that team had was left at Orchard Park. They clearly didn’t bring it with them for Saturday’s home game against the Los Angeles Chargers, who scored a season-high 40 points on the Patriots.
The defense was completely outclassed by the Chargers in every way possible. However, the salt in the wounds was seeing Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey torch them for eight receptions, 94 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The Patriots passed on McConkey in the 2024 NFL draft and instead decided to trade down for wideout Ja’Lynn Polk instead. Polk has only 84 yards and two touchdowns on the season.
McConkey had more yards on Saturday than Polk has all season.
It didn’t help matters that Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez left the game early with a concussion. But this game was already headed in the wrong direction, even when Gonzalez was on the field.
On the offensive side of the ball, rookie quarterback Drake Maye couldn’t get anything going. This wasn’t anything like his performance at Buffalo last week. The offensive line struggled in pass protection and left their young quarterback at the mercy of the Chargers’ pass rushers.
Maye took a hard hit early in the game after refusing to go out of bounds and was sent to the locker room for medical tests. Yet, he managed to return for a game that ended up being the biggest blowout loss of the season for New England.
Losing to better teams in close games is fine, but it’s hard to find any hope in losses like the one the Patriots experienced in this one. Some major questions are lingering about the future in New England, particularly with the coaching staff and the currently constructed roster.
The Patriots won’t have long to wash away the stench from this defeat with a rematch with the Bills on tap for the season final in Week 18.
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