The New England Patriots’ offense absolutely cratered after star receiver A.J. Brown left their season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, directly leading to our Hawks pulling off a sweet 13-10 comeback victory on September 9th. While the Patriots were up 10-0 at halftime, Brown’s high-ankle sprain in the third quarter flipped the script entirely, letting Seattle score 13 unanswered points to snatch the win. You love to see it, don’t you?
Patriots’ Offense Implodes Post-Injury
Talk about a complete meltdown. Before Brown went down, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye looked decent, throwing for 79 yards and a touchdown on 11 of 15 attempts. But the second Brown was out, it was like Maye hit a brick wall. He completed 12 of his next 18 attempts for a paltry 99 yards and, get this, coughed up three absolutely costly fourth-quarter interceptions. Three! The guy completely fell apart. Now, to add insult to injury, Brown is on short-term injured reserve, meaning he’s out for at least four games, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport expects him to miss about six weeks total. That puts his return around November 1st against the Dolphins. What are they even going to do until then?
Who’s Going To Step Up? (Spoiler: No One Yet)
Without Brown, Maye is basically operating without his number one guy, and outside of Mack Hollins, they don’t really have another trusted receiver like a Stefon Diggs or even a Kayshon Boutte. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels acknowledged the massive void, saying on Saturday that with “any injury that you get at this point in the offseason, you kind of approach it with an all-hands-on-deck approach.” He admitted there isn’t “one person on our roster who can replace anybody like A.J. Brown in the middle of a game or for a stretch of the season.” That’s not exactly a vote of confidence in his remaining guys, is it? Free-agent addition Romeo Doubs had a particularly rough Week 1, failing to record a single catch on three targets. He had a brutal dropped pass early in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 10 apiece, which directly led to Maye’s second turnover and the Seahawks’ go-ahead field goal. Head coach Mike Vrabel tried to defend Doubs, saying, “He dropped a pass. You know what I mean? Everybody drops a pass.” Yeah, but this one cost them the game against your beloved Hawks!
The Patriots are in serious trouble without Brown, and watching them scramble to fill that void is going to be something to behold over the next few weeks. They’ve got to band together and figure out what they can do well, because if Week 1 against the Emerald City was any indication, life without A.J. Brown is going to be a rough ride for them.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pats Pulpit.
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