The Patriots are probably the worst team in the NFL, and Sunday’s blowout loss to the 49ers proves it - The Boston Globe (2025)

The fact is that the Patriots stink, especially on offense. They are probably the worst team in the NFL, even if they don’t have the worst record.

Carolina at least found a spark when Andy Dalton came into the lineup. The Jaguars and Giants are at least competitive and showing a little progress. The Titans have a few playmakers on offense.

Not the Patriots. There is no spark to be found. They have the worst offensive line in the NFL, the least amount of talent at receiver, and a limited quarterback who can’t make plays more than 10 yards down the field. The left tackle spot has somehow been even worse than anticipated before the season, with four starters in four games.

Sunday’s game was winnable. The 49ers were missing several key players, and they struggled in the red zone and were sloppy on special teams. A team with even a semi-competent offense would have kept it close and made the 49ers pay for their mistakes.

Not the Patriots. Their only weapon on offense is their kicker. They were outscored, 54-16, the last two games, losses to the Jets and 49ers. They can barely crack 200 yards of offense. Their only scoring drive in the first half went for minus-6 yards.

The only hope the Patriots have is with rookie quarterback Drake Maye, but the talent around him is so bad that it’s not worth putting him on the field and risking his health or loss of confidence.

Bill Belichick handed Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo a deficient roster this offseason. But Wolf and Mayo did little to improve it, and there aren’t many answers available until next offseason.

▪ Really disappointing to see Mayo get ultra conservative on the first drive of the game, opting for a punt on fourth and 3 from the 49ers’ 41. This marked the second time this season that Mayo opted for the punt over going for it, as he also kicked away on fourth and 1 in the loss to Seattle. The Patriots pinned the 49ers inside their 10-yard line, but the 49ers promptly marched 90 yards for a field goal.

Fox announcers Joe Davis and Greg Olsen were all over Mayo for his conservative call, especially since the Patriots had third and 3 at the 41. They could have easily run the ball there and played for two downs, but instead they threw incomplete and punted away, essentially waving the white flag.

Mayo didn’t explain his thinking after the game, saying only, “This is how we decided to play the game.” Mayo seems to either not understand the percentages, or puts too much faith in his defense. This should have been an easy decision — it’s early in the game, you’re a big underdog on the road, and you know you have to score a lot of points against the 49ers. Even if you get stuffed, what’s the harm in showing a little faith in your offense? How often are you going to get into scoring range?

And it doesn’t matter that the Patriots later went for it on fourth and 1 and got stuffed. If Mayo is trying to build a new “culture,” he’d do well to show some faith in his players and go for it more on fourth down, as the Lions have done under Dan Campbell. Instead, Mayo coaches scared, and his team plays accordingly.

▪ It sounds from Mayo like Jacoby Brissett is getting closer to playing his way out of a job. It’s certainly not all his fault — the offensive line is a mess, and the receivers don’t get open much — but Brissett isn’t creating any big plays and the passing game has no punch.

Brissett took six more sacks and 10 hits Sunday, and Mayo said the ball hasn’t been coming out as quickly as it needs to.

“On some of those sacks, you go back and watch the film, the ball should be out,” Mayo said.

The Patriots would certainly rather keep Maye on the sideline while their team is such a mess on offense. But when Brissett is throwing pick-6s because he doesn’t see the middle linebacker, and the Patriots are barely cracking 200 yards of offense, the Patriots may not have much of a choice soon but to turn to the rookie.

▪ That said, it was surprising to see Maye not come into the game in the final five minutes with the score out of reach. Mayo found it important to get Maye some experience during garbage time in last week’s loss to the Jets, but said there were “no thoughts today” to putting Maye in the game. Why? Seems inconsistent.

▪ As bad as Rhamondre Stevenson has been with his ball security, the sad fact is the Patriots can’t afford to bench him. Antonio Gibson and JaMycal Hasty did get a few more touches after Stevenson’s fumble, but Stevenson is by far the Patriots’ best playmaker. If they take him out, then they really have nothing on offense. I found it noteworthy that they went back to Stevenson a few times in the third quarter, and he responded with a nice 13-yard run.

▪ The defense did a nice job in the red zone, holding the 49ers to two short field goals early in the game, then intercepting Brock Purdy in the end zone in the fourth quarter. But a defense that had done a nice job of preventing big plays this season got a little leaky.

The Patriots entered Sunday having allowed just one completion longer than 30 yards all season (the 56-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf in Week 2 on a coverage breakdown) but Purdy and the 49ers had four such completions — 53 yards to Deebo Samuel, 45 and 32 yards to Jauan Jennings, and 38 yards to Brandon Aiyuk.

Perhaps it was because safety Kyle Dugger left the game early with an ankle injury, but Purdy and coach Kyle Shanahan clearly had no problem attacking deep.

▪ The Patriots also let Purdy escape the pocket several times to buy time to find receivers, just like Aaron Rodgers did last week. Mayo seemed to put the blame on the players for these breakdowns.

“Sometimes you tell guys over and over and over, ‘Look, the stove’s hot, the stove’s hot,’ and they still touch the stove,” Mayo said. “The players will tell you, it’s on them to go out there and set the edge. Do your job and we’ll be OK.”

▪ The Patriots have some competitive, scrappy defensive backs. But other than Christian Gonzalez, they’re all under 6 feet tall, and that was an issue Sunday. George Kittle had three defenders surrounding him, but Dell Pettus is 5-11, Jonathan Jones is 5-9, and Marcus Jones is 5-8. Kittle is 6-4; guess who caught the jump ball in the end zone?

▪ Kicker Joey Slye might be the team MVP through four games. He’s now 8 for 9 on field goals this season, and drilled two long ones on Sunday, a 54-yarder and a team-record 63-yarder at the halftime buzzer. If the Patriots could stay in games once in a while, Slye could be a huge weapon in crunch time.

More Patriots stories from Sunday:

⋅ Already stretched thin, Patriots’ depth tested further in loss to 49ers

⋅ Christopher L. Gasper: It’s best to keep Drake Maye out of harm’s way until more help arrives

⋅ The Patriots suffered a third straight loss, this time a blowout against the star-studded 49ers. Here’s how it unfolded.

⋅ After another loss, linebacker Jahlani Tavai says injuries no excuse for Patriots’ struggles on defense

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.