10 Key Takeaways from the New England Patriots’ Blowout Loss to Green Bay Packers

The New England Patriots (5-4) branded their Sunday evening contest as a “measuring stick” game against the Green Bay Packers (6-3). They fell short in every phase of the game.

Green Bay secured a wire-to-wire victory, 45-27, against a New England team that was largely non-competitive throughout. For the Patriots, their best players were the greatest perpetrators of the team’s shortcomings, and those repeated errors spread like wildfire across the rest of the roster. Sunday was a major step back for a New England squad that had taken great strides forward over the last month-plus. Now, they’ll need to hit the reset button once again — and put this game behind them quickly.

Here are 10 key takeaways from the Patriots’ blowout loss to the Packers:

The turnover battle was one of the key points of emphasis for New England to establish and maintain success against Green Bay entering Sunday.

Through eight games, the Packers ranked first in the NFL with 15 total takeaways, including 10 interceptions and five fumble recoveries. On the other side, the Patriots turned the football over at the second-highest rate in the NFL with 15 total turnovers, including eight interceptions and seven lost fumbles.

Both of those numbers would inflate in Week 9, and it didn’t take long. 

Drake Maye threw an interception to Xavier McKinney on his first passing attempt of the game, and the issues compounded with two more picks before the halftime break. In the third quarter, Rhamondre Stevenson coughed up the football on a fumble forced by linebacker Isaiah McDuffie.

New England lost the turnover battle in this one, 4-0, and Green Bay scored 21 points off of those takeaways. That went a long way in deciding the game’s outcome prematurely. The Patriots’ 19 turnovers now lead the NFL, as do the Packers’ 19 defensive takeaways. 

Possessions were at a premium in a contest of this magnitude, and one team treated it as such. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the home squad.

Drake Maye’s transgressions came early and often, but were forced — in large part — by waves of unrelenting pressure and post-snap coverage changes by an aggressive Green Bay defense that made the quarterback question everything he was seeing downfield.

Prior to Sunday evening, Maye’s greatest strengths were his ability to defeat pressure and the blitz. In his last five games, Maye completed 35-of-57 passing attempts (61.4%) with 489 yards (8.6 yards per attempt), six touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating of 124.1, and an EPA/play of +0.20 when under pressure. His 90.7 PFF grade when under pressure during that span ranked number one among all NFL quarterbacks.

Sunday was a different story entirely. The Packers used a litany of different blitz packages that heavily featured linebackers and safety Evan Williams (eight pass-rush reps, four pressures) to attack the weak side of New England’s front. They did so with resounding success.

Maye was blitzed on 20 of his 43 total dropbacks in the game (46.5%, per PFF), and completed 7-of-16 passing attempts (43.8%) with 67 passing yards (4.2 yards per attempt), one touchdown, one interception, three sacks, and a passer rating of 50.8. When under pressure (23 dropbacks, 53.5%), Maye completed 9-of-18 passing attempts (50.0%) with 136 passing yards (7.6 yards per attempt), no touchdowns, no interceptions, four sacks, and a passer rating of 75.2.

Green Bay’s multiple approach up-front was paired with a coverage shell that rotated the safeties into different alignments post-snap on 52.2% of plays — the third-highest mark in the NFL on Sunday (per SūmerSports). 

Slowing Maye’s processing was an effective strategy, and led to a lack of confidence in identifying the soft spots in coverage even when he didn’t face pressure in the pocket. When Maye was kept clean, he completed 12-of-20 passing attempts (60.0%) with 161 passing yards (8.1 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, three interceptions, and a passer rating of 85.6.

Facing an increasingly large deficit, Maye continued to push the ball downfield with an Average Depth of Target (ADoT) of 12.5 yards in the game — sometimes to the team’s benefit, and sometimes to its detriment. McKinney (two) and Williams (one) each snagged at least one interception on Maye’s downfield passing attempts, each in a different coverage shell (Cover 3, Cover 6, and Cover 4). 

Maye’s resilience was apparent, and he was once again the lone source of offense for New England in a game script that skewed heavily in the favor of the passing attack (46 pass plays, 15 run plays called) because of the deficit. He finished the game 21-of-38 passing (55.2%) with 299 passing yards (7.9 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, three interceptions, four sacks, a passer rating of 74.3, and an EPA/play of -0.13. 

Through several lows, there were also highs for Maye. His interception total was matched by three passing touchdowns, marking the sixth consecutive game in which Maye has accounted for at least three total touchdowns — the second-longest such streak in franchise history (Tom Brady, 2007, 10 games).

All in all, Maye detracted from the team’s success as much as he added to it on Sunday evening, and was one of the major contributing factors in the loss as a result. But he wasn’t the only Patriots’ star that was guilty of costly mistakes.

Sunday evening was one to forget for Christian Gonzalez.

Typically the strength of New England’s defense, Gonzalez was targeted — and beaten — more frequently than ever before by a pair of Packers’ wide receivers who each enjoyed career-best performances under the lights at Gillette Stadium.

Christian Watson (eight targets, seven receptions, 171 yards, one touchdown) and Matthew Golden (10 targets, 164 yards, one touchdown, including 126 yards in the first quarter) combined for 17 receptions on 18 targets, 335 yards, and two touchdowns against the Patriots.

Much of Green Bay’s damage was done with Gonzalez in coverage.

Per Next Gen Stats, Gonzalez allowed seven receptions for 105 yards to Golden and three receptions, 82 yards, and one touchdown to Watson, and became the only defender since at least 2018 to allow more than 80 receiving yards to two different players in the same game. 

In total, Gonzalez was targeted 11 times in coverage and allowed 10 receptions, 187 yards, and one touchdown, and accounted for a passer rating against of 149.1. His 24.9 overall grade and 26.0 coverage grade were both team-lows, per PFF. 

In addition to his individual struggles, Gonzalez was also involved in two costly miscommunications in coverage on the Packers’ second offensive possession: a 49-yard completion to Golden that was credited to Kevin Byard III, and the eventual touchdown to Golden that was credited to Marcus Jones. On that same possession, he was also flagged for a defensive holding penalty that negated what would have been his first regular season interception in the last two seasons.

Targeting Gonzalez at will, Jordan Love and his receivers made every play that was available — bucking several trends on offense and defense. Gonzalez’s coverage woes have been noted, but Golden’s consistent success was an aberration. Through eight weeks, he had hauled in 42 of 83 targets (a 52.4% catch rate) with a league-leading nine drops, but caught all 10 targets against New England. 

Prior to Sunday, Gonzalez had allowed 16 receptions on 29 targets with four pass breakups, no touchdowns allowed, and a passer rating when targeted of 73.2 on the season. Those totals took a massive hit in Week 9, but aren’t representative of the player that Gonzalez has been for New England this season. 

A bounce back is almost assured, but will need to happen in short-order with another duo of dangerous downfield threats on the horizon.

Jordan Love was excellent — and more efficient than at any point in 2026 — while picking apart the Patriots’ secondary. He and head coach Matt LaFleur kept their foot on the gas pedal throughout, and there was no point in the contest where Love faltered.

He completed 23-of-29 passing attempts (79.3%) with 372 passing yards (12.8 yards per attempt), three touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating of 153.2, and an EPA/play of +0.79 in the game. Pushing the ball downfield with great frequency, Love’s 13.9-yard ADoT was impressive, but paled in comparison to his success when doing so.

On passes of 10-plus air yards, Love completed 11-of-14 attempts (78.6%) with 304 yards (21.7 yards per attempt), two touchdowns, and a perfect passer rating of 158.3. His 6-of-8 showing on 20-plus-yard passes wasn’t surprising in terms of attempts, but it was an outlier in regards to efficiency.

Entering Sunday, Love led the NFL with 52 passing attempts of 20-plus yards, and had 17 more than the second-place C.J. Stroud (35). He had completed just 17 of those throws with a completion percentage of 32.4%, four touchdowns, and three interceptions. 

Kept clean, under pressure, blitzed or not, Love was able to place the ball wherever he wanted to on Sunday evening, and his receivers came down with nearly all of those throws. A very impressive game from Love was matched by an equally uninspiring performance from the New England defense.

The Patriots tried several different strategies to rattle Love in the pocket, but nothing seemed to do the trick.

Elijah Ponder (1.5 sacks), Christian Barmore (1.0 sacks), and Dre’Mont Jones (0.5 sacks) combined for three sacks, marking the fifth consecutive game that the New England defense has hit the mark, but each had little effect in slowing down Green Bay’s offensive machine.

Per PFF, the Patriots blitzed Love on 34.3% of his total dropbacks in the game — and Love was deadly against the additional rushers. He completed 10-of-11 passing attempts (90.9%) with 146 yards (13.3 yards per attempt), one touchdown, and a passer rating of 149.1 against the New England blitz.

Even with the extra numbers in on the pass-rush, the Patriots were only able to generate pressure on 31.4% of Love’s dropbacks. While he was sacked three times, he also completed 5-of-7 passing attempts with 125 passing yards (17.9 yards per attempt), one passing touchdown, and a passer rating of 153.3. 

Love also scrambled once when under pressure — converting on a 13-yard touchdown run to kick-off the scoring for the Packers in the first quarter. Entering Sunday, Love had only scrambled once all season for a gain of six yards, and his 0.3% scramble rate ranked last in the NFL among qualifying quarterbacks (per SūmerSports). 

The Patriots’ four-man rush was largely ineffective, the blitz failed to get home, and the coverage behind it was even more questionable. Green Bay turned New England’s defensive identity into their greatest liability on Sunday, and that bled over into a renewed Packers’ rushing attack late. 

One area of nearly assured-success for the Patriots against Green Bay was on the ground — but even that battle didn’t tilt in New England’s favor.

Entering Week 9, the Packers running game was largely non-existent. They ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards per game (60.6), attempts per game (21.3), yards per attempt (2.9), and EPA/rush (-0.26), 31st in rushing success rate (34.7%), yards before contact per attempt (0.65), yards after contact per attempt (2.21), and 29th in stuff-rate (24.9%).

Since Week 5, the Patriots boasted the third-best rushing defense in the NFL in EPA/rush allowed (-0.26), and sixth-best in rushing success rate against (37.6%), while lowering their yards allowed per game to 81.3 and yards allowed per rush to 3.3 (third-best in the NFL). They registered the fourth-lowest yards before contact per attempt (0.5), and stuffed runs at the ninth-highest rate (24.5%).

This should have been an area that New England would be able to sustain recent success — especially considering the state of the Green Bay backfield. The Packers ruled out their leading rusher, MarShawn Lloyd, pre-game, Josh Jacobs exited in the first quarter due to injury, and the Green Bay offensive line faced similar adversity with several absences and further-compounding injuries during the game.

Instead, a Packers’ rushing attack led by Kaleb Johnson (14 carries, 68 yards) and former Patriot Pierre Strong Jr. (eight carries, 22 yards) racked up 129 yards on 32 carries and one rushing touchdown against the New England front — eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time this season and far surpassing their previous season-best team rushing total of 86 yards (October 4 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

The Patriots’ run-stuffing struggles harkened back to the early-portion of the regular season, when they began Weeks 1-4 ranked 29th in the NFL with a defensive EPA/rush of +0.03 and 17th in the league with a 43.2% defensive rushing success rate. At that point, they were allowing 4.4 yards per carry (21st), 1.31 yards before contact per rush (20th), and ranked dead-last in stuffed run rate (11.2%).

With those issues beginning to creep back up, it’s a wonder if this showing will entice the organization to make a move for a more stable run-stopping presence in the middle of the defensive line at the trade deadline. They’ll have until Tuesday at 4 p.m. EST to make a move.

New England’s lack of success in defending the run was mirrored by another underwhelming showing from their own ground game.

For the third time this season, Corey Kiner’s eight carries, 55 yards, and one touchdown (the first of his career) led all Patriots’ rushers — but much of that production came after the starters were pulled on both sides with the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.

Rhamondre Stevenson (six carries, 32 yards, three receptions, 46 yards, one touchdown) had several highs in this game — a 30-yard touchdown reception and a 19-yard rush that preceded Efton Chism III’s red zone score in the second quarter — but his one blunder was a costly one. Stevenson lost a fumble forced by linebacker Isaiah McDuffie in the third quarter, leading to a Green Bay score that put the visitors up 42-14.

As expected, the Packers’ high-rate of zone coverages (78.3%, per SūmerSports) also limited Maye’s effectiveness as a rusher — totaling just one carry for three yards in the game. Entering Week 9, the Packers ranked 12th in the NFL with only 94 total rushing yards allowed on quarterback scrambles.

Without Maye’s legs boosting the team’s rushing totals, New England was held to 94 total team rushing yards on 26 attempts. They've failed to surpass 100-team rushing yards three times this season (at the Jacksonville Jaguars, 83, and at the Chicago Bears, 70), and lost all three games. Including their next-lowest total (at the Seattle Seahawks, 109), the Patriots have dropped each of their four lowest-rushing total contests.

Game script may have dictated New England’s early abandonment of the run this weekend, but consistent woes in that area raise greater cause for concern moving forward. Whether it be additional help along the offensive line or a move at running back, something greater needs to be done to rectify that area and help the team achieve greater balance offensively.

The Patriots’ passing attack operated without the services of A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs for the second straight week, but there were diminishing returns in more extensive action from the reserves against a top-five passing defense.

Kyle Williams was once again on the wrong end of a light target-share, yet still doubled his total targets from one in Week 8 to two in Week 9. His first came on New England’s third offensive possession of the game and had the chance to swing momentum back in the Patriots’ favor early, but he misplayed a ball tossed deep down the left sideline — stopping, starting his route again, and had the ball go straight through his hands on a 3rd-and-16 end-zone shot from Maye. 

Williams’ second target resulted in Maye’s second interception, but was more clearly a poor read from the quarterback than the fault of the receiver. Maye attempted to attack the short-side of the field against Cover 6, but Williams was blanketed in coverage by Brandon Cisse, who tipped the ball toward a toe-tapping Evan Williams on the sideline to secure the takeaway. Williams was not targeted by Maye again. 

Efton Chism continued to be a valuable outlet underneath and a versatile asset in under-center sets. On his touchdown reception, he was aligned as an “F” flexed over Will Campbell at left tackle, and chipped-and-released into his route to the flat for the score. He also took snaps in the backfield as a lead-blocker in a fullback-eque role, and totaled five receptions, 49 yards, and one touchdown on five targets.

Mack Hollins’ return from injury was quiet in large part, but he did find the end zone late with the game already in-hand. He registered three receptions, 36 receiving yards, and one touchdown on six targets. Hunter Henry also took the field after a foot injury jeopardized his game day status, but his limited usage resulted in a three target, three catch, 35 yard day. An up-and-down day from Eli Raridon (three receptions on six targets, 52 yards) led the way at tight end.

DeMario Douglas was a silver lining in an otherwise forgettable outing from the Patriots’ pass-catchers. He led the team with nine targets, five receptions, and 102 receiving yards — eclipsing the 100-yard mark for the first time this season, the second time in his career, and set a new career-best yardage total in the process.

Douglas leads all New England receivers with 45 targets, 31 receptions, 434 receiving yards, and four touchdowns (career-best) on the season, and his improving chemistry with Maye has revealed itself on a weekly basis of late. Over his last five games, Douglas has totaled 22 receptions on 29 targets, 352 yards, and four touchdowns. 

The step-up in competition this weekend did a lot to negate the effectiveness of a shorthanded Patriots’ receiving corps which may not return to full health until after the team’s Week 11 bye. 

Sunday’s contest was filled with historic benchmarks, yet the most impactful of them favored the visitors.

Green Bay’s 45 points scored were the most by an opponent at Gillette Stadium in the stadium’s history, and the most points allowed by the Patriots since a 48-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on November 4, 1990. It was the Packers' first road game with 45-plus points and 450-plus offensive yards since a 49-0 victory on November 11, 1962 at Philadelphia. 

Golden and Watson’s totals marked just the second time in Green Bay franchise history when two players eclipsed 150-plus receiving yards and scored a receiving touchdown in the same game, joining Don Hutson (five receptions, 207, three touchdowns) and Andy Uram (four receptions, 174 yards, three touchdowns), who combined for 381 yards and six touchdowns in a 55-24 victory over the Chicago Cardinals on November 1, 1942. 

On New England's side, Drake Maye extended his NFL-leading mark of 30-plus yard touchdown passes since the start of the 2025 season to 15 with his 30-yard touchdown pass to Rhamondre Stevenson in the second quarter.

Maye’s 8,952 career passing yards passed Mac Jones (8,918) for seventh place in Patriots' franchise history, and his 64 touchdown passes passed Jim Plunkett for fifth all-time. Stevenson’s 212 career receptions passed Sam Cunningham (210) for fifth in franchise history for running back receptions.

New England lost several more players to injury on Sunday.

Ben Brown (knee), Will Campbell (knee), Carlton Davis (knee), Brenden Schooler (hamstring), and Rhamondre Stevenson (knee) all exited the game with injuries and did not return. Charles Woods (hamstring) was added to the injury report pre-game and was one of the Patriots’ inactives, joining A.J. Brown (knee), TreVeyon Henderson (illness), Dametrious Crownover, and Behren Morton (emergency third quarterback).

The misfortune continues to pile on for New England, who entered Week 9 with the most games missed due to injury (49) in the NFL.

Offensively, defensively, or otherwise, nothing was good enough for the Patriots to stay competitive with a Packers team firing on all cylinders at Gillette Stadium. Maye and Gonzalez were the greatest offenders in an uncharacteristically porous performance, but they received little help from the supporting casts around them. This game was a black mark on an otherwise impressive stretch over the past month, but harkened back to the same woes that plagued the team earlier this fall.

New England will need to put this game in the rearview mirror quickly. They travel to Munich, Germany for another matchup against the NFC North next Sunday, with an international affair against the Detroit Lions (6-2) on tap.

What were your takeaways from the Patriots’ lopsided loss to the Packers? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and join the conversation on Patriots Roundtable.

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