“Looney Tunes.” Watching the Patriots this season has felt like watching a group of “Looney Tunes” characters run around for three hours every Sunday. After a rainy, mundane 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1, it seems like the Patriots have decided to switch it up and incorporate some new comical theme each week to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
In Week 2, it was a special teams special! When my mom sat down to watch the game at the end of the first quarter, the first thing she asked was, “How the heck do the Patriots have 12 points?” Trying to figure out the math, she wondered if there had been four straight field goals or two field goals plus a touchdown without an extra point — because there was no way an NFL kicker missed two back-to-back extra point chip-shots, right? Wrong! Although the feat is so statistically improbable in the NFL (~0.4% chance), rookie Patriots kicker Andres Borregales got the job done!
Fast forward to the fourth quarter, and the Patriots, up 23-20, decided to spice the game up with a little defensive special teams meltdown. Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington bobbled a punt from his own 26-yard line, evaded two tackles and ran 74 yards for a touchdown. Yet, when all hope seems to be lost, truly in “Looney Tunes” fashion, Patriots running back Antonio Gibson returned the ensuing kickoff for a 90-yard touchdown to take the lead back. The icing on the cake: Borregales, the man who couldn’t kick an extra point for the life of him, drilled a 53-yard field goal to put the Patriots up by a touchdown and ultimately won the game. Was it a sloppy game? Yes. Did Borregales’ playing make any sense? No! But the Patriots won, so I guess it was a successful Sunday.
“Stevenson stumbles toward the end zone, inches away from redeeming his earlier fumble.”
Then there’s Week 3 — triple the chaos. This week’s theme: “Give the ball to the other team!” After a solid Week 1, the nightmare of Rhamondre Stevenson’s seven-fumble 2024 season seemed to be a distant memory. However, just like a “Looney Tunes” character
making a surprise reappearance, Stevenson decided to give fans a nice blast from the past by fumbling on the opening drive. But what’s better than one? Two! After a third-quarter Patriots defensive interception to put the ball on the Dolphins’ 11-yard line, Stevenson took the handoff. All I could do was laugh. Watching the play back in slow motion, it seemed too dramatically perfect to be real — Stevenson stumbled toward the end zone, inches away from redeeming his earlier fumble, and right as his helmet crosses the goal line, the ball is punched away, again! Not wanting their teammate to be alone, however, Gibson and quarterback Drake Maye both contributed fumbles of their own (plus a Drake Maye interception) to help the team reach their first five-turnover game since 2008!
In the post-game words of the Patriots player-turned-Head Coach Mike Vrabel, “There’s a lot to clean up.” Well, no kidding! Although I’ve focused on the laughable moments from the Patriots’ first few games in this column, a few underlying themes are emerging from the team. On a bright note, for the first time since the Tom Brady-Rob Gronkowski era, a New England quarterback in Drake Maye is finally using his tight ends, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, to march down the field (even if the drive ends in a fumble). On the other hand, the Patriots continue to lack Belichick-football discipline on both sides of the ball, starting the season with 9, 11 and 7 penalties in their first three games, respectively.
Regardless, even if the Patriots keep up this “Looney Tunes” style of play with miraculous punt return touchdowns and goal-line fumbles, at least it’s entertaining, and hopefully the script writers have a few more successful episodes planned for the Patriots this season.
