The horrible 2024 NFL season continued for the New England Patriots as they dropped their Week 4 matchup to the San Francisco Forty Niners. Once again the offense was atrocious with Jacoby Brissett passing for just 168 yards and Rhamondre Stevenson running for just 43 yards on 13 carries. Brock Purdy passed for 288 yards on his own featuring three plays over 40 yards. Jordan Mason rushed for 123 yards on just 23 carries, outgaining the Patriots duo 411 yards to 211. The Patriots leading receiver was running back Antonio Gibson to show how inept the team is. Defensively the Patriots were reeling without Christian Barmore and Ju'whaun Bentley already out, but Kyle Dugger was knocked out of this game as well. The Niners jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter then Fred Warner picked off Brissett for a touchdown. Kittle caught another touchdown although Jake Slye kicked a Patriots record 63 yard field goal to trail 20-3. The Patriots recovered the second half kickoff fumble and Jacoby Brissett passed to Austin Hooper for a touchdown. The Niners responded immediately with a Jordan Mason touchdown to ice the game. The Patriots kicked a field goal but the Niners kicked two more field goals to win the game 30-13 at Levi's Stadium to drop the Patriots to 1-3.
Jake Moody kicked off into the end-zone and things were underway. Rhamondre Stevenson ran up the gut for no gain as usual then ran to the right for four yards on second down. Jacoby Brissett did manage to find Stevenson for 7 yards for the first down. Brissett then missed a pass to KJ Osborn on first down on the next play. Antonio Gibson ran 3 yards to the right to set up 3rd and 7. Brissett rolled to the right and found Pop Douglas for the first down at midfield. Gibson then ran right into a wall of defense for no gain as the whole world knew they were running up the gut on first down. Stevenson ran to the right for a 7 yard gain to set up a 3rd and 3 on the 41 yard line. Brissett then threw the ball directly in the ground in front of Osborn. Rather than go for it, Patriots head coach Jerrod Mayo took a five yard delay of game penalty before Bryce Baringer punted to the 7 yard line. Brock Purdy found Deebo Samuel for 6 yards on first down before Jordan Mason ran for just a yard. On 3rd and 3 naturally Purdy ran for 8 yards before getting ran out by Jonathan Jones. Samuel then took a toss sweep for eight yards but got popped by Julius Peppers. Brock Purdy found Brandon Aiyuk wide open at the 50 and he ran all the way to the 33. Mason shed Josh Uche for a six yard run but Peppers knocked down a pass to Aiyuk. San Francisco took a timeout and naturally Purdy ran for the five yard first down. Mason was stopped at the 21 yard line for a one yard gain then Jauan Jennings dropped an easy first down. No problem, George Kittle caught a 15 yard pass to put the Niners on the six yard line. Mason was stopped after 1 yard by Pharms and Christian Gonzalez stopped Samuel's completion at the four to set up 3rd and goal. Jennings dropped the third down pass in the end-zone so that's a moral victory for the Patriots. Moody hit the 22 yard field goal to give the Niners a 3-0 lead. Moody kicked off into the end-zone to put New England at the thirty yard line. The whole world knew a run to Stevenson was coming and naturally he coughed up the football. A fired up Mason ran for 16 yards to the NE 14 then for five yards to the NE 9. Mason got stuffed at the eighth and Purdy got flushed out of the pocket, causing him to throw it away on 3rd down. Moody kicked the 26 yard field goal to go up 6-0. Moody kicked into the end-zone on the kickoff to put the Patriots at their 30 with Stevenson benched. Brissett literally threw a no yard pass to Ja'lynn Polk at the line of scrimmage to end the quarter with SF up 6-0.
Gibson took a handoff for five yards and Brissett threw right to Fred Warner who ran it all the way back for a touchdown to effectively end the game. Moody kicked the extra point to make it 13-0.
After a touchback on the kickoff, Stevenson got a 5 yard run up the gut. Brissett did manage to complete a first down pass to Austin Hooper but naturally got sacked for 4 yards by three different guys. Jordan Elliott of SF had to leave the field but Brissett completed a 11 yard pass to Kayshon Boutte to set up third and three at the 49. Brissett found Hunter Henry for a six yard first down pass. JaMycal Hasty ran for 9 yards up the middle then with the whole box stacked, got stuffed for no gain. Brissett then got stuffed on the third down run BUT WAIT! SF had too many men on the field and took a 5 yard penalty. Douglas dropped a 3 yard pass attempt then Brissett held on to the ball too long, getting sacked at the thirty. Brissett then found Polk just a yard short of the first down at the 20. On 4th and 1 Brissett faked a snap and called timeout only to run Stevenson up the gut on fourth down into seven guys for a turnover on downs. On first down, Purdy found Kittle for an 11 yard pass, but Deatrich Wise Jr dropped Purdy for a 5 yard sack. Naturally Purdy then threw a 32 yard bomb to a wide open Jennings after Peppers missed the tackle. Mason ran for four yards on first down and then Purdy threw a slant pass to Mason who ran for 38 yards for the touchdown...BUT WAIT! Kittle was called for holding to negate the touchdown, bringing the ball back to the 25. Isaac Guerendo was stuffed for no gain but Kyle Juszczyk caught a pass to the NE 11 as Caedan Wallace was carted off the field. Purdy threw incomplete with a flag for an ineligible man downfield but that was declined. Didn't matter anyway as Purdy found a wide open Kittle with Kyle Dugger out for the game in the end-zone for the touchdown. Moody kicked the extra point to make it 20-0.
Moody kicked into the end-zone on the kickoff to put the incompetent Patriots at the thirty yard line. Naturally Stevenson ran up the gut for 5 yards on first down then Brissett threw a lousy 3 yard pass to Boutte to set up 3rd and 2 at the two minute warning. Naturally Brissett was strip sacked by Kevin Givens although Leverett recovered. To add insult to injury, the Patriots would have been called for an illegal shift. The Patriots took a timeout for absolutely no reason and Baringer punted to the SF 13. Purdy overthrew Samuel on first down and fumbled the handoff to Mason, although Mason recovered at the 8 yard line. SF took timeout with 52 seconds left and Purdy was hit as he threw to cause an incompletion. SF punter Wishnowsky punted to midfield and Marcus Jones ran it back to the forty yard line with 38 seconds left. Brissett was nearly sacked and threw over the head of Hasty on first down. Brissett was almost sacked by Maliek Collins, throwing the ball away just in time on second down....but wait! They're saying he WAS sacked to set up a 3rd and 20 at the 39 with 22 seconds left. Stevenson ran up the middle for 6 yards as Mayo inexplicably called timeout with just 3 seconds left. Joey Slye then lined up for a 63 yard field goal and SF took timeout to "ice" the kicker. The move backfired as Slye hit it to make it 20-3 at the half. That would have tied the NFL record 20 years ago.
Suddenly the Patriots got the momentum to start the 3rd quarter as Slye kicked off to Guerenendo and he fumbled. Christian Elliss recovered to give the Patriots the ball. Stevenson took the first handoff and ran to the SF 14 yard line. Stevenson ran up the gut for four yards on first down and took a screen pass to the nine to set up third and five. Brissett avoided a sack and threw to Henry....one yard short at the four yard line. The Patriots went for it on 4th and 1 and faked the handoff, Brissett finding Hooper at the three then running into the endzone for the touchdown. Slye hit the extra point and the Patriots at least got closer, down 20-10.
Slye kicked off into the endzone to set the Niners up at the 30. Naturally it took just one play to get the Niners back as Samuel caught a wide open bomb at the Patriots 17 for a 53 yard completion. Mason ran right into Davon Godchaux for no gain on first down but caught a 13 yard pass to the Patriots four yard line. Uche was called for defensive holding on the play but the penalty was declined. Mason ran it in untouched for the touchdown as the Patriots defense looked like it completely gave up. Moody kicked the extra point to make it 27-10 just like that. Moody kicked off into the end-zone to put the Patriots at the 30 to start their drive. Brissett took a big hit but managed to compete a 19 yard pass to Polk. Gibson then ran into a wall for no gain and Brissett threw behind the line of scrimmage causing a Stevenson 2 yard loss. Brissett was hit as he threw by Bosa for an incompletion to force the Patriots to punt. Baringer punted to the SF 12 with Elliss making the tackle. Mason ran for no gain on first down then for one yard again on second to set up third and nine. Naturally Purdy effortlessly found Aiyuk wide open for a 10 yard gain....but wait! Jerrod Mayo challenged that the ball touched the ground on the catch. The call was upheld and the play stood. Aaron Banks took a false start penalty but Mason ran for 10 yards on 1st and 20. Godchaux stuffed Mason at the line on second down and Purdy overthrew Aiyuk to force a fourth down punt. Marcus Jones caught the punt at the Patriots 30 and ran it to the 42. Stevenson ran up the gut for four yards on first down and then got surrounded on a toss sweep for a 5 yard loss. Patriots then showed some razzle dazzle with Brissett throwing to Pop Douglas who lateraled to Stevenson for the first down.....but naturally Tyquan Thornton was called for a block in the back to negate the play. Brissett then threw it at the ankles of Stevenson with five Niners surrounding the both of them to force a punt. Baringer punted to the Ninters nine and Juszczyk ran it 8 yards to the 17. Mason effortlessly took a routine handoff and ran it 24 yards to the SF 41 yard line. Mason fumbled for a six yard loss but got the ball back to set up 2nd and 18. Purdy damn near threw an interception to Wilson and Samuel got cut down by Marcus Jones after 3 yards to force a punt. The Niners punted to the 17 but Jones ran it 15 yards to the NE 32. Brissett tossed six yards to Gibson on first down then almost got intercepted by Lenoir but they called a pass interference penalty to put the ball at midfield. Brissett missed a wide open Osborn to end the third quarter down 27-10.
Brissett missed Gibson on second down to set up 3rd and 10 where Jacoby ran for his life, but hit Gibson in the flat for a first down at the 40 yard line. Gibson ran up the gut for two yards and Brissett missed Polk by a mile to set up 3rd and 8. Polk then dropped a wide open pass to force the Patriots to kick a field goal. Slye hit a 58 yard field goal to put the Patriots down 27-13. Slye kicked off into the end-zone for the touchback on the ensuing kick. Once again, as soon as the Patriots got a good play, Jennings caught a wide open 45 yard bomb. Samuel looked like he got a first down on an end-around run but was bagged for an illegal shift. Didn't matter as Purdy hit a wide open Kittle for a 7 yard pass at the 28 yard line. Somehow Peppers picked off Purdy in the endzone to put the Patriots at the 20 yard line. Once again Stevenson ran up the gut on first down although he did get five yards. He then ran up the gut again for four yards to set up a 3rd and 1. Brissett sneaked it for the first down and threw a short slant to Stevenson for an 8 yard gain on the next play. Naturally Brissett took his fifth sack of the day when they went 5 wide and recovered his own fumble. Bosa then almost sacked Brissett, Jacoby throwing it away to force a fourth down. Brissett looked like he found Polk for a 30 yard gain but it was ruled out of bounds for a turnover on downs. Jerrod Mayo didn't challenge and Mason ran for 3 yards on first down to effectively end the game. Mason ran for six yards on second down to set up 3rd and 1. The Patriots then got bagged for 12 men on the field on a QB sneak but Mason got dropped at the line of scrimmage at the 22. Mason then got stuffed at the line on second down and Purdy missed Aiyuk with Gonzalez defending to force a field goal attempt. Moody's 41 yard field goal attempt was good to make it 30-13 with 4:58 left.
Moody kicked it into the endzone on the ensuing kickoff to put the Patriots at the 30 yard line. Brissett then hit Gibson for a 49 yard pass to put the Patriots at the SF 18 on an uncovered slant pass. Gibson then ran up the gut for a three yard run but Flannigan-Fowles was hurt on the play. Brissett got nailed on a pass to cause a fumble recovered by Bosa for their sixth sack of the game. Mason ran up the middle for six yards, the Patriots calling a timeout for no reason. Jennings caught the first down pass and Mason ran up the middle for 1 yard to get to the two minute warning. Mason ran for two yards then for 25. Purdy kneeled twice and that was the game, the Niners had won it 30-13.
Final Thoughts:
Injuries are mounting and they look as bad as they did last year. Eliot Wolf had the entire off-season to fix the team and he didn't sign any free agents. They drafted Drake Maye which looks worse every day since the line can't block and the receivers can't get open. The defense is now suffering giving up big play after big play. Geno Smith, Aaron Rodgers and now Brock Purdy all had big games against the Patriots. The only bright spots was Bryce Baringer, Joey Slye, the fourth down touchdown and Antonio Gibson's catch & run. When you can count the good things on one hand, you know the team is terrible. Now the Patriots have to play the Miami Dolphins at home without Tua Tagovaiola....which won't matter. The less said of this team, the better. The Patriots now come home to face the Dolphins this coming Sunday at 1 PM at Gillette Stadium. God help us.
