5 immediate thoughts from Patriots’ 20-10 preseason loss vs. Commanders

The Patriots closed out their 2024 summer on Sunday night in Landover, MD with a hard-fought, rollercoaster of a 20-10 loss to the Washington Commanders.

Not only was the matchup the final game across the entire NFL preseason, but it was broadcast nationally on NBC and gave New England a primetime, Sunday Night Football treatment that they’ve longed for since the days of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

Anyway, enough of the nostalgia. Here are five immediate thoughts from the contest:

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5 – Offensive line will be the Patriots’ Achilles heel in 2024.

The offensive line was a top concern for the Patriots in all of 2023, this offseason when they were forming their new-look team, and throughout training camp as they attempted to protect their quarterbacks and create lanes for their running backs.

Those concerns only worsened on Sunday night in Washington.

The Pats played their “starting” offensive line for the entire first half of their final preseason game and they were abysmal, to be polite about it. Over six offensive drives, a unit comprised of (from left to right) Chuks Okorafor, Sidy Sow, Nick Leverett, Layden Robinson, and Mike Onwenu tallied one sack allowed, two bad snaps, a false start, two holding penalties, and three (!!) illegal formation penalties.

Oh yeah, and Sidy Sow stepped on Drake Maye’s shoe, removing it in the process:

Unfortunately, Sow (who hasn’t been half bad this summer compared to the rest of his linemates) left the game with an ankle injury towards the end of the second quarter and did not return. He joins left tackle Vederian Lowe among the injured Patriots starters.

Even with the poor play, rookie QB Drake Maye had himself a heck of a night — which we’ll get to later. At this point, it’s incredibly fair to wonder if it’s not the No. 3 overall pick play that will dictate when he takes over as New England’s QB 1, but his teammates in front of him.

4 – LB Joe Giles-Harris makes highlight in final roster push.

Having to get their roster from 90 players to 53 by Tuesday at 4:00 p.m., the Patriots came into preseason game No. 3 with plenty of guys on the roster bubble.

One guy vying for a final spot in New England’s linebacker room is Joe Giles-Harris.

The 27-year-old off-ball backer in his second season in Foxborough added five more tackles and one more pass deflection to his preseason tallies on Sunday night– and also intercepted Commanders QB Jeff Driskel across the middle in the second quarter:

The 2019 Jaguars UDFA has been a ball hawk throughout training camp, constantly breaking up passes and causing turnovers from the linebacker position. With free agent addition Sione Takitaki currently on PUP, Giles-Harris will have a real shot at a roster spot.

3 – Meanwhile, Kayshon Boutte put up a dud.

On the other side of the football, however, another roster bubble guy in WR Kayshon Boutte didn’t do much as all to warrant a spot on the final 53.

Heading into Sunday night, Boutte led the Patriots in both yards (76) and catches (6) through their first two exhibition games. Coming out of it? He added 0 for 0 on just one target.

The second-year pass-catcher out of LSU has had an up-and-down start to his NFL career, and had a chance to force the Patriots’ hand and keep seven wide receivers on their 53-man roster. Unfortunately, he may not have done enough.

2 – Why is DeMario Douglas returning punts?

Just a quick note here with not a ton to add — but why the *bleep* did the Patriots have their best offensive player returning punts on Sunday night?

Yes, you read that right. In a meaningless, final preseason game to wrap up their 2024 summer, New England decided to trot out DeMario Douglas to return a punt in the second quarter.

Douglas has not only been the Patriots’ secret weapon on offense over the past year, but he’s also been injury-prone. The 5-foot-8 slot receiver missed three games last season with two separate concussions and also missed some time this training camp with a hand injury.

Look, I get you want to get your guys reps. Especially Douglas, who will likely be in the punt return rotation during the regular season. But man would they be kicking themselves if he ever got hurt just two weeks away from a game that counts.

1 – Maybe Drake Maye should start Week 1 after all.

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo made it clear this week that Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye are in the midst of a quarterback competition in Foxborough.

On Sunday night, it didn’t look like a competition at all.

Brissett went 2/4 for 19 yards on his lone drive, and was sacked near the end of it and came up grimacing after being landed on by DE KJ Henry. He left the game, was deemed questionable by the staff with a right shoulder injury, and did not return.

Drake Maye then entered the game for New England’s next five offensive drives to close the second half. He went 13 of 20 passing for 126 yards and a touchdown, added 17 yards on the ground with a first-down scramble, and made several more plays with his young wide receivers that didn’t even count due to penalties from the offensive line.

It’s clear that Maye has been the better quarterback throughout New England’s first three preseason games. But as offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said on Thursday, “there’s still a process of how you bring a rookie quarterback along.” That includes, and is not limited to, the players around him and how ready they are to support him.

We’ll see, likely by early this week, what their decision is.

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