Instant analysis from Patriots’ underwhelming loss against Saints in Week 3

Mac Jones still has a long way to go, along with this entire team.

The New Orleans Saints came to Gillette Stadium fully prepared.

Sean Payton’s gameplan was to throw as many looks at Mac Jones as possible and fluster him early and often. It worked — resulting in a day where the rookie had 270 yards for a touchdown and three interceptions. Jones was sacked twice in the game, but he was hit 11 times and it was obvious in his body language as the game progressed.

One of the key components to spark the Patriots’ offense is the rush attack, which wasn’t present against New Orleans. The Patriots totaled 49 yards on 17 attempts, with 2.9 yards per carry. James White was carted off the field early with a hip injury and his absence had a lot to do with the team’s inability to spark any offense out of the backfield.

Jonnu Smith may have struggled the most for the Patriots. He was targeted six times and only had one catch for four yards. His dropped catch that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown was the turning point in the game.

The 21-3 deficit was too much to overcome.

On the bright side, two Patriots receivers showed up in a promising way. Kendrick Bourne finished the game with six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown, while Jakobi Meyers racked up nine receptions for 94 yards. Nelson Agholor had a quiet day and has struggled to distinguish himself as a top pass-catcher in this group.

Here’s a look at Bourne’s touchdown that gave the Patriots life.

Two new defenders to the team, Matthew Judon and Davon Godchaux, also proved why they’ll be huge going forward. Judon finished the game with three tackles, 2.5 sacks and was a menace the entire game. Godchaux plugged the middle the entire game and recorded five tackles.

Looking ahead, the Patriots are going to have an extremely difficult time containing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense that has a highly-motivated Tom Brady. Stephon Gilmore’s absence is clearly hurting the team and the offense has struggled to find its identity. Without White on the field, the search for that identity will be much more difficult.

Bill Belichick has his work cut out for him to muster up a winning season with this group.

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