FOXBORO, Mass. -- There were many empty seats at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, but thousands of dedicated Patriots fans still braved freezing-cold temperatures to watch their favorite team on Christmas Eve.
Their gift? A depressing lump of coal.
New England fought hard but ultimately was outclassed by the Cincinnati Bengals, suffering a deflating 22-18 loss that all but ruined its chances of making the NFL playoffs. After trailing 22-0 at halftime, the Patriots shut out the Bengals while rattling off 18 unanswered points and even had a chance to win the game, but their comeback attempt fell short.
The first half was especially ugly. There were boos and "Zappe!" chants throughout as New England's offense failed to cross midfield once. During the first quarter, the Patriots managed zero first downs and possessed the ball for just three minutes and 16 seconds.
But the second half was a different story, as a Marcus Jones pick-six preceeded a Bengals punt that led to New England's first touchdown drive of the afternoon. Then, during the fourth quarter, Mac Jones connected with Jakobi Meyers on a miraculous touchdown pass that first was tipped by receiver/tight end Scotty Washington. It was an outrageous play.
On Cincy's next drive, Matthew Judon forced a fumble that was recovered by Jones. The Patriots then drove to the 5-yard line before a Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled away what could've been a game-winning drive. It was a heartbreaking ending for the Patriots, who appeared on the verge of picking up their biggest win of the season.
When the dust settled, Mac Jones completed 21 of 33 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns to go along with zero interceptions. He played well despite poor protection, bad route running by receivers and occasionally baffling play-calling. New England's offense compiled 1 first downs, 285 total yards and went 6-of-13 on third downs.
On the other side, Joe Burrow completed 40 of 52 passes for 375 yards and two touchdowns to go along with two picks. Tee Higgins racked up eight receptions for 128 yards and a score while Ja'Marr Chase added eight catches for 79 yards. Trenton Irwin finished with two touchdown receptions.
The Patriots dropped to 7-8 with the loss while the Bengals improved to 11-4 with the win. New England now faces a must-win scenario next Sunday when it hosts the Miami Dolphins.
Here are three studs and three duds from a crushing loss.
STUDS
LB Matthew Judon
New England's pass rush was effective from start to finish, and Judon was a big part of it. The star edge rusher finished with one sack and had another wiped off the board by an ill-timed Josh Uche penalty. His forced fumble also was a huge play.
Judon now has 15.5 sacks on the season, putting him within striking distance of Andre Tippett's Patriots single-season record of 18.5.
QB Mac Jones
Jones deserves a ton of credit for battling through the boos and difficult circumstances to nearly deliver the signature win of his career. Honestly, New England should've won this game, and Jones should've been credited with an impressive comeback victory. Nevertheless, he made some big throws in the second half, even though he got lucky on some of the longer receptions -- especially the Meyers TD.
WR Kendrick Bourne
The Patriots got Bourne involved -- perhaps because they had no other choice -- and, what do you know, he delivered some of their best offensive plays of the game. Bourne caught six balls for 100 yards, including an impressive sequence during the fourth quarter that saw him catch a third-down pass for 32 yards before hauling in a 5-yard touchdown three plays later. He also added one rush for 29 yards.
Bourne is one of the few players on the Patriots offense with true play-making ability. His reduced role this season remains baffling.
Honorable mentions: Ja'Whaun Bentley, Jakobi Meyers
DUDS
Coaching
Weekly appearance.
The third-down calls on offense in the third quarter were just plain bad, as was the inexplicable sequence before halftime. The defense needed to call a timeout after the second play of the game due to a substitution error. The special teams unit once again didn't play well. The Patriots committed 10 penalties for 82 yards. Once again, New England looked like a poorly coached and unprepared team, though they obviously got their act together in the second half.
WR Tyquan Thornton
Catch the ball.
Special teams
Sloppy, undisciplined and ineffective.
Michael Palardy dropped a punt snap before getting it off at the last second for a 22-yard shank. Daniel Ekuale committed an unnecessary-roughness penalty on a failed extra-point try by Evan McPherson, though the Patriots did stop the Bengals on the subsequent two-point try. Pierre Strong took a kickoff out of the end zone when he shouldn't have and returned it to the 18-yard line. And that was all in the first half. In the second half, Nick Folk missed an extra-point attempt and the Patriots gave up a 33-yard kickoff return moments later. Folk missed another extra point after Meyers' miraculous TD coach late in the fourth quarter.
New England's special teams have fluctuated between bad and average all season. Saturday's game represented another dud.
Honorable mentions: Offensive line, Rhamondre Stevenson, Marcus Jones (even with the interception and fumble recovery)
