The Patriots came into Week Three after a 19-point win over the Jets in Week Two, but their momentum did not continue against the Saints.
New Orleans went up 14 points in the first half and extended their lead to 21-3 on a pick-six by safety Malcolm Jenkins early in the third quarter. The Saints ground things out from there and leave New England with a 28-13 win over the 1-2 Patriots.
Rookie quarterback Mac Jones was picked off three times and threw 51 passes in the game. Head coach Bill Belichick said “it’s never a good position to be in” when you have to throw every down and shared what the Patriots have to do in order to avoid being in that position in the future.
“We’ve just got to play more consistently,” Belichick said. “We’ve got to play with more good plays out there and not as many that aren’t good. That’s what we have to do. We had some chances, but in the end, we just couldn’t get it done. It’s disappointing. There’s no magic sauce here. Just have to go back to work and do better.”
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers are next on the schedule, so there isn’t much time for the Patriots to correct their errors before facing one of the league’s best teams with an extra jolt of emotion in the air.