What Was the Biggest Reason for Last Week’s Loss?

Raj:  Some will say bad play calling, some will say brutal cold weather, some will say weak defensive effort, some will say bad officiating. All reasonable claims but honestly, I think the Patriots were just outplayed by Aaron Rodgers and Co. The Packers were just extremely ready to play. This is not to say the Patriots weren’t, but Green Bay was just readier (on offense, defense, and special teams too). Despite this fact, New England only lost by 5 points. Imagine if Gostkowski drills that 47 yarder…then the Patriots would have only lost by 2. This would tell you that both teams played an even game but the Packers were just the better team. No shame in admitting that.

Kyle: The biggest reason for last week’s loss was their inability to get off of the field on third down. It seemed like they never had the ball in the first half and their offense took two-plus quarters to get into a rhythm. While it’s not impossible to score without the ball, it’s pretty tough, especially against the best QB in the league. They should have respected Rodgers less and sold out more with blitzes.

Rick: The main problem in why the Patriots lost on Sunday to Green Bay was the lack of a balanced attack on offense. While the defense held their own, especially in the red zone, the offense lacked that punch at times. Against one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, the Patriots only ran the ball 18 times. We saw in the second half how LeGarrette Blount was able to wear down Green Bay’s front seven in the second half, but New England went away from that on the final drive. It was a good effort by the Patriots at Lambeau. It was just small mistakes on defense and a lack of balance on offense that cost them another signature win.

Derek: I think the game boiled down to the offensive line struggling, which was a combination of both poor play by the unit as well as poor play calling which compounded the issue.   The Belichick/McDaniels game plan relied too heavily on down field passes which required the struggling offensive line to hold off the Green Bay pass rush for that much longer.   The coaching staff went away from the run far too early which also eliminated Brady’s ability to run play-action effectively.  The players certainly did not play well on Sunday.  However, some of the blame also goes to the coaches for failing to put the O-line in a position where they could have some success, even on an off day.