Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars started off promising for the New England Patriots, but it ended in all too familiar fashion.
The Patriots took an early 10-0 lead only to allow a whopping 22 points in the second quarter. It was all downhill from there as they went on to lose their sixth consecutive game, 32-16.
While New England and Jacksonville both entered Sunday's matchup with 1-5 records, the Jaguars looked like the superior team in all three phases of the game. They totaled 171 rushing yards to the Patriots' 38. The Patriots also allowed a punt return touchdown -- the longest punt return in Jaguars history -- to cap off their nightmare second quarter.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Our Phil Perry, Tom E. Curran, and Ted Johnson shared their reactions to the defeat on Patriots Postgame Live.
🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast: 'Bottom falls out' for Pats as they unravel on and off the field in loss to Jaguars | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"Demoralizing. You just got bullied by one of the worst teams in the NFL," Perry said. "That's how this one essentially shook out. The Jaguars at one point in time ran it 17 straight times. They averaged about 4.5 yards per carry on the day, but it felt like any time they handed it off, they were liable to break a big gain.
"It had to have been demoralizing, deflating, pick whatever adjective you want to use for that defense and the entire team. You can't do anything about it at that point in time. There's a toughness issue, it looks like, for this Patriots team right now leaving that game."
New England's defense had no answers for Jacksonville's running game. The Jags drained 11:24 off the clock between the third and fourth quarters by simply running the ball down the Patriots' throat.
"That was a Pop Warner type of display ... in terms of the mentality that the Jacksonville Jaguars used," Curran said.
"They said, 'Those guys can't stop us, we're just gonna run this play over and over and over again.' You don't see that in professional football very often. And as Phil said, that is humiliating and demoralizing for a team to have to digest that they're running a simple dive and we can't stop it."
MORE PATRIOTS
Johnson, a former Patriots linebacker who prided himself on stuffing the run during his NFL career, agreed with his fellow analysts on the demoralizing nature of New England's latest loss.
"This was just like the fellas are saying, a gut punch," Johnson said. "Just a very disappointing game when you consider it was kind of a wake-up call. You had an opponent who was -- really, Jacksonville just looked like they were gonna be maybe laying it down for their coach after the way they've been playing this year. And to see the Patriots kind of come out and just get out-physicaled, not being able to run the football, not being able to stop the run. ...
"When you consider what was at stake in this game, trying to get the program back on schedule after just an embarrassing few losses here recently, and then to see the game unfold like you did, big-time gut punch."
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo didn't downplay the disappointing performance. After the loss, he called out his team for being "soft across the board."
New England's sixth straight loss marks its longest losing skid since 1993. The Patriots will look to snap out of their funk next Sunday when they welcome the New York Jets to Gillette Stadium.
Watch the full breakdown of the Patriots' loss to the Jaguars below or on YouTube: