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Monday morning dawns with the recall that the Patriots are still not playing so great, and no amount of coffee will change that! There was some bad, and there was some ugly, but was there any good? Hold tight folks, I’ll answer that one in a minute.

For those of you who perhaps did not see the game, it has been commented that it was a pretty darn bad showing at Gillette Stadium, and plenty of us were really hoping that Julian Edelman would crack open that jersey case and put it on!

To be honest, many of us were hoping that, even if the Patriots had played well, we miss you JE11!

Now, I am well known for my tight endage enthusiasm, and whilst I had a little bit yesterday (a touch more on that later), Jonnu Smith did not raise any. 

Since the big tight end free agency signings, I have been a Hunter gal, whilst recognising that Smith is more of a versatile weapon, but I like me a traditional bit of tight endage. However, I am afraid last night Smith showed less tight endage than we saw in 2020 (yeah I said it folks – you know I still love me some Ryan Izzo). But in grave seriousness, Smith was not great at blocking, he had a poor block in the third quarter that would have helped Brandon Bolden power through, but Jonnu’s target got free and took Brandon down for zero gain. His “not so great hands” that I mentioned last week were still around and he had too many drops/failed catches for someone of his calibre. Sticky gloves anyone?

Shockingly, plenty of negative reports can be handed out towards special team. We saw poor punt coverage, two special team penalties, a blocked punt, and surprisingly, for the second game in a row, a Jake Bailey kick out of bounds. 

The word of the day, the week, maybe the season, is inconsistent – and not really any of the team hasn’t fallen foul of this.

Whilst Matt Judon brought it in beast mode again with two and a half sacks, two tackles for losses, and three quarterback hits, veteran Kyle Van Noy had two solo tackles, and Dont’a Hightower… one.

The front defense weren’t actually too bad but the same cannot be said for the offensive line as Mac Jones took 11 hits. 

But before you decide to drown yourself in the last bit of coffee in your mug, hear me out.

Now, I’m not going to try and sell you sunshine and rainbows, sure I’m bubbly and a little bit crazy, but I am realistic, and Sunday’s display was not good, not good at all.

However! (Ah yes, there it is!) There were some glimmers of hope amongst the “dumpsta fiyah” some are branding the game.

The front defense wasn’t bad, it has improved a teeny amount, and that is good! They had some containment of Alvin Kamara, not all the time, but Davon Godchaux showed his prowess. Ja’Whaun Bentley and Adrian Phillips definitely showed up, whilst Deatrich Wise had a lovely clutch defense play taking Jameis Winston down towards the end of the second quarter.

So, Smith may have put his gloves on the wrong hands yesterday morning, but Hunter didn’t and he was undertaking some good blocking, playing 52 of the 72 offensive snaps. There was a beautiful throw from Mac Jones that resulted in a catch where Hunter powered through with a guy hanging off him. I have put in a formal request for more of this but am still waiting to hear back from the Coach.

Kendrick Bourne attended the party with a lovely 31 yard catch, playing 55 of the snaps. A glorious little quarterback rush by Mac was followed by a long ball to Bourne who orchestrated great body positioning for the touchdown. Nice.

The two things that I take away from this game are: 

1. The surprise at how much I’m not concerned about the one thing I thought would be at the forefront of my mind for this 2021 season, worries over Mac Jones (other than his literal safety after all the hits the kid has taken).
2. How we are on a road not very well travelled. 

This team isn’t looking like the Patriots of old. Of course it isn’t, it isn’t the Patriots team of old and not just because of the quarterback. Things are different now, and things are changing. And good or bad we are in it for the long haul. 

A phrase I am sure I will use far too much early on in this season, but is so apt and I am rather proud of it is, the journey is long and we are still at the beginning. There may be trouble ahead, but there will be moonlight and music so let’s grab the coffee and just love! 

Go Pats!