The Patriots just got absolutely flattened, suffering a brutal 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 27, 2026. It was the kind of game where you just want to dig a grave and bury the football, a complete meltdown across all three phases, and quarterback Drake Maye was right at the center of the disaster. He even called his own play “unacceptable.”
Maye’s Meltdown Forces a QB Change
Look, the headlines say it all: Drake Maye imploded. The coaching staff is getting dragged by proxy, and it’s easy to see why when your starting QB’s issues hit a new low. Mark Daniels reported that Tommy DeVito actually replaced shaky Drake Maye during the blowout, which tells you everything about how bad it got. Maye’s performance was so woeful, so unacceptable, that it’s already derailing the 2026 Patriots season, according to Matt Vautour. Chris Mason noted Maye joins an “unwanted list” with Drew Bledsoe. The team’s top priority has to be mending a “broken Drake Maye,” as Karen Guregian put it, because if they don’t get him right, and fast, this season is going to slip away from them entirely.
Team-Wide Woes and a “Very Doubtful” Bounce Back
This wasn’t just a Maye problem, though he certainly took the brunt of it. This was a full 3-phase effort loss. The defense wilted in key areas, and Steve Balestrieri didn’t sugarcoat it, saying the Patriots got buried. The locker room was quiet after the loss, as you’d expect. There were a few notes from the game: Marcus Jones snagged his first pick of the season, Efton Chism got his first career pass completion, Caleb Lomu saw his first action at right tackle, and Mitch Wishnowsky had a monster 73-yard punt, his second-longest ever. But those are tiny silver linings in a dark cloud. Remember last week’s win against the Steelers? That felt like it could start something. Now, after seeing Pittsburgh actually bounce back and beat the 2-0 Bengals yesterday, you’ve gotta wonder if the Patriots can even sniff that kind of turnaround.
Next up, the Patriots face the juggernaut Bills. Buffalo just overcame five turnovers to beat the Chargers 24-16, with Josh Allen punching in two rushing TDs and James Cook running for 154 yards. Can the Patriots bounce back like that? Right now, the Magic Eight Ball is waffling between “Very doubtful” and “Reply hazy, try again.” That “try again” is exactly what this entire team needs to do.
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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