Bill Belichick suffered the worst loss of his head coaching career last week in Dallas and this week he suffered the worst home loss of his career.
The Saints humiliated the Patriots 34-0 on their home court, dropping the Patriots to 1-4 on the season. Belichick’s previous record loss at home was a 38-9 loss to the Bills in 2020.
Belichick picked off quarterback Mac Jones early in the fourth quarter, New Orleans led 31-0, and Bailey Zappe played the rest of the game. It’s the second straight week Jones has been out, and he hit his third pick-six of the season in the first quarter. Belichick stuck with Jones after the Dallas debacle, but Zappe saw more reps in practice this week and the Patriots need to find out if there’s hope for better results if they stick with Jones after another disastrous game.
The Patriots haven’t scored a touchdown since the first half of Week 3, so some changes need to be made even if they keep Jones at quarterback.
It’s the first home shutout for the Patriots since 2016 and they’re 1-4 for the first time since 2000. They play the Raiders next week and Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels will remember happier offensive days in New England.
The Saints don’t have to worry too much about their offense. After last Sunday’s loss to the Buccaneers, it felt like things were headed that way, but they rolled up 308 yards on the way to the win. Derek Carr threw two touchdown passes and running back Alvin Kamara scored his first touchdown of the 2023 season.
The success on offense was more than exceeded by the defense. They struck out Jones a second time and also recovered a botched pitch to running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Carl Granderson had a sack and provided pressure on the interception, allowing Tyrann Mathieu to return it for a touchdown.
New Orleans is now 3-2 and they travel to Houston next weekend for a date with the Texans.