Patriots fall to 1-3 after playing hard but losing in overtime against Packers
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots aren't at the stage in which moral victories mean a whole lot.
The Patriots hung tough with the Green Bay Packers despite being big underdogs going in, and they became bigger underdogs once quarterback Brian Hoyer was ruled out with a head injury. That meant New England was battling back-to-back MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers with rookie third-string QB Bailey Zappe getting his first NFL snaps. They led in the fourth quarter, took the game to overtime and had a chance to win it in the extra period. Eventually, they gave Rodgers too many chances.
The Packers won on a 31-yard field goal as time expired in overtime. They escaped with a 27-24 victory over a Patriots team that probably deserved better than another loss.
In another situation a team could feel good about itself for hanging in a close game on the road against a tough opponent. But the Patriots are 1-3 after that loss. They're probably going to be without starting quarterback Mac Jones for a while due to an ankle injury. Their offense is showing signs of improvement but it's not the best no matter who is starting.
The Patriots didn't need a moral victory on Sunday. They needed an actual victory.
Patriots play hard with rookie QB
Last season the Patriots started 1-3. They won eight of their next nine with a rookie quarterback and made the playoffs. Maybe there's another surge like that coming. It just seems a little more unlikely this season.
It's not like the Patriots didn't play hard. They led at the half, thanks to some good defense. Rookie cornerback Jack Jones intercepted a pass that he returned for 40 yards and a touchdown to give the Patriots a 10-7 halftime lead. It was just the fourth pick-six of Rodgers' legendary career.
Even after the Packers took a 14-10 lead on Rodgers' touchdown pass to Robert Tonyan, Zappe lofted a touchdown pass to DeVante Parker. The snap came after the play clock expired, and it wasn't close, but officials didn't catch that and the touchdown stood.
The Patriots took a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter on a Damien Harris 5-yard touchdown. That's when it seemed a big upset could be happening.
The Packers answered. Rodgers hooked up on a fantastic touchdown to rookie Romeo Doubs with 6:14 left, which tied the game at 24. It was Rodgers' 500th touchdown pass including playoffs. He's the fifth player in NFL history to reach that mark.
At that point the Patriots had to find a way to win a tie game with Zappe at QB against Rodgers.
Packers-Patriots play a tight game
The Patriots had a quick three-and-out after Doubs' touchdown. The Packers took over with 3:50 left. It seemed like that's when Rodgers would take the Packers on a drive to win the game.
The Packers were in Patriots territory after a pass interference penalty on third down kept the drive alive. Rodgers threw deep to Doubs on third-and-eight later in the drive and it looked like Doubs had a great touchdown catch, but he lost the ball as he went to the ground. The Packers punted and downed it at the 2-yard line.
That's not a situation in which you want a third-string rookie quarterback. The Patriots played it conservative, ran three times and punted. The Packers strangely didn't try a Hail Mary to the end zone on the last play — Rodgers has a good history with those — and the game went to overtime.
The Packers got the ball first and that seemed like the chance for Rodgers to win the game. Nope. The Packers went three-and-out, a disappointing and surprising result after winning the toss. The Patriots went three-and-out too, with a disappointing punt after reaching Packers territory. At some point Rodgers was going to take advantage of all those chances.
Green Bay went on a methodical drive as the overtime clock ticked down. A few passes by Rodgers got the Packers into Mason Crosby's range. Crosby came on with four seconds left and hit a 31-yard attempt to win it.
The Packers were 9.5-point favorites on Sunday. They were the top survival pool pick of the week on Yahoo, at 46.46 percent. Even if you care nothing about betting or pools, you know that the Packers were expected to crush the Patriots. New England played far better than expected. That won't mean too much to the Patriots.
