A look at the good and the bad from Friday's loss.
New England Patriots running back Jeff Demps brings the ball out of the end zone during an NFL preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Friday, August 24, in Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers defeated the Patriots 30-28. Assessing what went well and what didn't during the Patriots' 30-28 loss to Tampa Bay Friday night:
The Good
Jeff Demps debuts: Is the rookie running back worth the hype? We won’t know until turning over the calendar a few more times, but he sure is exciting. Demps caused the world to sit up and take notice when he broke loose for a 29-yard run in the fourth quarter and seemingly arrived in the second level immediately after hitting the hole. The former Olympic sprinter, who won a silver medal as a member of the 4 x 100 relay team, made little impact in the return game (two returns for 44 yards), and clearly has no grasp on the playbook after signing last weekend, but showed enough to create excitement for the future.
Chandler Jones is a beast: Jones already proved that he’s a monster in the preseason debut. But he showed it again in a series of plays in the third quarter. On first down he shed a block and stuffed Tampa running back on third down, created enough pressure on second down to cause a Josh Freeman incompletion, and would have had a sack on third down if he were a step quicker. To make up for the lost opportunity, he shook his way out of a hold and brought Freeman to the ground two downs later.
Ryan Mallet’s performance: Bill Belichick said after the game that he isn’t ready to name a backup quarterback, but Mallett may force his hand. He followed up a strong performance against the Eagles (10 of 20, 105 yards) with another one against the Bucs. Entering the game in the fourth quarter, he completed 7-of-13 passes for 67 yards with two touchdowns. The highlight of his day came at the end of the fourth quarter when he evaded the rush, scrambled to the outside, and then jumped in the air to deliver a low strike to Jesse Holley in the back of the end zone.
Stevan Ridley: It was just a generally strong night for Ridley. He ran 16 times for 87 yards with a touchdown on a night where the first-team offense struggled at times to move the ball.
The Bad
Offensive line: Once again, the patchwork crew couldn’t protect Tom Brady. Only this time it resulted in Brady taking a beating for three quarters. There’s plenty of blame to around, as almost everyone failed to do their job, but you never want to see the franchise getting abused in a meaningless game. The good news is that Logan Mankins made his first appearance after starting the season on the PUP list, playing a pair of first-quarter series. Sebastian Vollmer shouldn’t be far behind after dressing but not playing Friday.
Injuries: It seemed like everyone got hurt in this game. Running back Shane Vereen suffered a left foot injury, fullback Spencer Larsen banged up his knee, and safety Steve Gregory injured his thigh. Cornerback Kyle Arrington limped to the locker room at halftime and offensive lineman Nick McDonald turned up with an arm injury after the game.
Belichick’s reaction: If there were any good feelings about this one, Belichick erased them after the game.
His general feelings on the game: “I think it was pretty obvious tonight that we got a lot of work to do. We have a long way to go. We really didn’t perform to the level that we need to, in any area. When you can’t score offensively, and give up a lot of points on defense, and don’t make any plays in the kicking game, then you don’t really have a good chance to win and that’s pretty much the way it was tonight. We’re nowhere close to where we need to be. Hopefully we can close the gap here pretty soon.”
On Brady taking a beating: “We didn’t do anything offensively except lose yardage and turn the ball over, so yeah, it was tough to watch any of what we did offensively. There wasn’t anything. We throw them the ball. Can’t make any yards in the running game. Third-and-long all day. Yeah, it was real hard to watch.”
On the run defense: “We didn’t really make any game-changing plays, no turnovers, didn’t put them in long yardage very often, they did what they wanted to do. Scored 30 points.”
And we thought the run defense was pretty stout.