Patriots

The rookie QB gave the Patriots a 10-0 lead. Then the rest of the team disbanded.

Rookie quarterback Drake Maye took care of business in the Patriots’ first two games Sunday against the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Patriots took a 10-0 lead, but couldn’t hold it for long. New England faltered in a sloppy second quarter, allowing 22 unanswered points.

There was a miscommunication in New England on the Jaguars’ first goal.

Jacksonville assembled three receivers at the line of scrimmage at the New England 6, with Brian Thomas Jr. on the outside. He ran quickly diagonally across the middle and no one picked him up. Trevor Lawrence hit the wide open receiver for a touchdown.

Thomas gave the Patriots trouble again on the next drive, going deep and catching a 58-yard pass that set up another touchdown. Lawrence had plenty of time to make a play-action pass and hit the ball deep toward the speedy receiver. Thomas made the catch while Christian Gonzalez covered him.

Tank Bigsby, who finished with 118 yards, hit a 3-yard touchdown run on the next play.

Neither Patriots punt team came particularly close to bringing down Parker Washington on a 96-yard return for a touchdown.

Brenden Schooler, the first Patriot on the field, faced two blocks. Two Patriots ran past Washington, leaving a scoring space for the returner to exploit. Washington sprinted through and passed punter Bryce Baringer for the score.

The Jaguars scored 22 points in less than eight minutes, leaving New England behind by double digits at halftime. This and the lack of production in the running game made the Patriots’ offense one-dimensional.

For the most part, Maye was efficient. He had a few shots that were almost blocked, but Jacksonville couldn’t finish the plays. He finished the game with 276 passing yards and two touchdowns.

This game could have gotten out of hand after the second quarter, but the passing game of Maye and the Patriots kept them in it. With four minutes left, they were down by nine points, but a Demontrey Jacobs penalty and a sack made up for it Drive to nothing. The defense held Jacksonville to 10 points in the second half.

Coach Jerod Mayo preached about getting off to a fast start this week. The Patriots did that. With two promising drives they secured a double-digit lead early on.

But they were unable to sustain the effort. They were crushed in the second quarter and never recovered.

The losing streak was extended to six games in a row.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports reporter

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Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.

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