slides: 5 Takeaways From the Patriots 17-9 Preseason Loss to the Giants

Friday, September 02, 2016

Joe Calabro, GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

Barkevious Mingo

The New England Patriots fell 17-9 tot he New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in their final preseason game on Thursday night. New England finishes the preseason with a 3-1 record.

"We can now turn the page on some tough decisions that we have to make over this weekend. But we'll kind of grind through it, try to do what we think is best and start getting ready for Arizona," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick after the game.

Falling Short in NY

The Patriots took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter after Tom Brady hit wide receiver Keshawn Martin in the end zone for a touchdown.

"We did a decent job of moving the ball and then turned the ball over too many times. With one half football, you're never going to score many points. A bit frustrating, but hopefully all our guys can learn from it," said Tom Brady after the game.

Brady went 16 of 26 for 166 yards with a touchdown and an interception, playing the entire first half.

However, the Giants came back and scored 10 straight points to go up 10-7.

In the fourth quarter the Patriots cut their deficit to one, 10-9 after a Stephen Gostkowski field goal was good from 32 yards.

However, the Patriots would get no closer. Giants third string quarterback Logan Thomas threw a 17-yard fourth quarter touchdown pass to Roger Lewis to give New York their 17-9 lead and seal the win.

Roster Cuts and Brady's Suspension up Next

The Patriots, and the rest of the NFL now move on to Saturday's mandatory roster cut down to 53 players by 4 p.m.

"Personally, it's tough, sure. It's tough to tell a guy that you can't be on the team when he did everything that you asked him to do. But,that's the way it is," said Belichick.

Saturday will also mark the beginning of Tom Brady's 4 game deflategate suspension. During this time, he is not allowed to have any contact with the team and will not be put back on the active roster until October 3.

"I haven't thought about it much, so I always take it as it comes, just do the best I can do," said Brady after the game.

Season Opener

The Patriots open the season on Sunday, September 11 on the road against the Arizona Cardinals.

"We'll do the same thing we do every week. We'll do the best we can and put the best team out on the field against the next opponent, I don't know what else we can do," Belichick said.

The game is on Sunday Night Football and kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m.

Related Slideshow: 5 Takeaways From the Patriots 17-9 Preseason Loss to the Giants

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Defense

Eli Manning and most of the Giants regulars did not play in this game and so the Patriots first team defense was going up against the back up unit for New York. The Patriots D was dominant, which they were supposed to be.

New York's Victor Cruz did play a series and was matchup up against Malcolm Butler. Giants QB Ryan Nassib test Butler in the first series of the game and Butler was in perfect position to break up the pass.

Other than that, the Pats defense forced 3 fumbles and had an interception in the game.

New England will need to rely on their defense in the first four games of the season.

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Tom Brady

To the surprise of many, Tom Brady played and played the entire first half of the game.

"I'm happy I was able to play as much as I did. Coach and I talked about it and it was a good opportunity to get out there and play," said Brady after the game.

Brady finished the half 16 of 29 for 166 yards with a touchdown and interception.

His touchdown pass came near the end of the first quarter when Brady scrambled to his right and found a wide open Keshawn Martin for the score.

Brady's interception also came in the first quarter on a pass to Aaron Dobson over the middle.

Dobson was not the most aggressive going for the ball and allowed New York's Trevin Wade to get position and take the ball from him.

Brady will make his next start in October as his 4 game suspension begins on Saturday.

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Jacoby Brissett

Jacoby Brissett played the entire second half and went 13 of 21 for 152 yards in the half.

Brissett started out hot, hitting his first three passes that he made before throwing his first incomplete pass in 17 attempts, dating back to the last preseason game.

Throughout camp and the preseason games Brissett has shown the ability to move the ball down the field and make plays with his feet. He did it again in this game, running for a first down in the 4th quarter and and hitting on passes up the field to tight end A.J. Derby.

Where Brissett, and Garoppolo at times, get hurt is they hold onto the ball too long and in this game, Brissett took a sack and a big hit because of that.

As of now, Brissett is the man if anything happens to Garoppolo in the first four games so him being able to play the entire first half could serve as important reps.

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Harbor vs Derby

The final cut down day is on Saturday when rosters must be down to 53 and it has been an interesting battle between tight ends AJ Derby and Clay Harbor for that 3rd tight end spot.

Derby is more of a pass catching tight end like Gronkowski while Harbor has mostly been used as a blocker throughout his career. Both of those things have played themselves out.

In this particular game, Derby had 5 catches for 51 yards while Harbor made several blocks to help spring running backs and receivers.

If Derby does not make the team, he will likely be on the practice squad.

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Barkevious Mingo

Recently acquired from the Cleveland Browns, Mingo made his Patriots debut against the Giants and he was very noticeable.

"He lived in the facility for the last week. He didn't go back to Cleveland, he came from Tampa where they were practicing, went to Carolina and came back with us. The players had an off day and (he) spent the whole day in the facility with the coaches going through the material to get caught up," said Belichick after the game.

Playing most of the game, the former 6th overall pick was moved around from that traditional linebacker position to playing on the edge.

Mingo had 5 tackles and 2 quarterback hurries in the game and on one of those tackles he forced a fumble which the Patriots recovered. The forced fumble came on a chase down play where Giants QB Ryan Nassib (Manning did not play) scrambled and Mingo was able to catch him and force the fumble.

Mingo will have a roster spot, its just a matter of how and when the Patriots use him.