1st & 10: Patriots vs. Commanders

First Down

1. On Sunday, the Washington Commanders defeated the New England Patriots 20-17 at Gillette Stadium. Washington improves to 4-5, while New England drops to 2-7.

Next up, New England will head across the pond to Germany to take on the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 9:30 am Eastern Time. The Colts sit at 4-5 after a 27-13 win yesterday over the Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis scored two defensive touchdowns, as Kenny Moore II returned two interceptions for a touchdown off of Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young.

The Patriots and Colts last matched up in Week 9 of last season, a 26-3 New England win in Foxborough.

Take Your Ball and Go Home

2. Jartavius Martin’s interception with 30 seconds left sealed a Washington win. The Patriots were driving down 20-17 when Mac Jones’ pass deflected off of the hands of JuJu Smith-Schuster and intercepted by a lunging Martin. The Patriots had gained the Washington 41, with a field goal needed to tie and potentially force overtime.

Pick-ing Up Where He Left Off

3. Mac Jones is in a four-way tie to lead the league in interceptions, with 9. The last Patriot to lead the league in interceptions was Drew Bledsoe in 1994, when he had 27 passes picked off. Since he made his NFL debut, Mac Jones has thrown 33 interceptions, tied for the second-most in the NFL during that span.

Defensive Backs

4. The Patriots benched cornerbacks Jack Jones and J.C. Jackson to start the game, opting to go with Shaun Wade (first NFL start) and Jonathan Jones. J.C. Jackson was absent on the first two Washington drives, while Jack Jones was benched for the entire first quarter. Per Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Jackson and Jack Jones were benched due to “recent performance issues”. Jack Jones left the building post-game, and J.C. Jackson declined to speak with the media.

Ain't the Half of It

5. Yesterday’s loss to Washington was only the Patriots’ 4th ever loss at Gillette when leading at halftime (New England led 14-10). Previously, they had been 109-3 when taking a lead into the locker room.

Oh Line

6. Conor McDermott was elevated from the practice squad to start in place of an injured Trent Brown (ankle/knee). With McDermott’s start, New England has utilized six different starting offensive line combinations in nine games. Three different players have started at each left tackle and right tackle. David Andrews at center is the only offensive lineman to start all nine games.

Happiness in Possessions

7. Washington won the time of possession battle in yesterday’s contest by over 14 minutes, 37:10 to 22:50. The Patriots have lost the possession battle in eight of nine games. The only time this season that they have held the ball more than their opponent was in their Week 3, 15-10 win over the New York Jets. There have been four games where the Patriots have been on offense for over ten minutes less than their opponent.

Off and Running

8. Rhamondre Stevenson’s 64-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the Patriots longest play from scrimmage this season. Prior to that touchdown run, Stevenson had not eclipsed 64 yards rushing in an entire game all season. Stevenson ended the game with 87 rushing yards, exceeding his previous 2023 single-game best by 28 yards.

Coming into this season, Stevenson averaged 4.8 yards per attempt. He has been held to 3.72 yards per attempt during the 2023 season.

As a team, New England exceeded the 100-yard rushing mark for only the second time this season (157 yards on the ground against the New York Jets in Week 3). However, Washington was able to rush for 124 yards. New England has now been outrushed in seven of their nine games this season. Both times that New England has outgained their opponents on the ground, they have collected their only two wins.

First Come, First Served

9. Washington got on the board first with a Joey Slye 37-yard field goal with 3:14 in the first quarter. In their nine games this season, New England has only scored first on three occasions. When they score first, the Patriots are 2-1. When their opponent scores first, they are 0-6.

Get Your Pats-port Ready

10. The Patriots are 3-0 all-time in international games, outscoring their opponents 113-22 in the process. New England defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 in 2009 and the St. Louis Rams 45-7 in 2012, both in London. In 2017, the Patriots defeated the Oakland Raiders 33-8 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Indianapolis has only played one international game, a 30-27 defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016 in London.