Why This Matters: New England’s 35-6 defeat against Jacksonville was not only its largest setback among five losses examined by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, but also a warning sign for a Patriots team that reached the AFC Championship Game in 2025.
Patriots routed by Jaguars in Jacksonville
The New England Patriots lost 35-6 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3 on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, according to the ESPN analysis. Barnwell ranked the defeat as the most crushing of five losses suffered by teams that made the 2025 playoffs.
Unlike the other four games in Barnwell’s review, the Patriots’ loss was not especially close. New England’s offense also left points on the field, with the analysis pointing to 10 points lost through red-zone mistakes and a missed field goal.
Drake Maye under pressure
Quarterback Drake Maye threw three interceptions against Jacksonville and also lost two fumbles, according to the report. One interception came on a third-and-goal play when Maye threw across his body under pressure; Travis Hunter made the interception.
Barnwell also described another interception as involving wide receiver Kyle Williams in a contested catch situation. The analysis said Maye appeared to be trying to make too much happen, while also noting that he had stretches of effective play in earlier games and against the Jaguars.
Maye attributed one fumble after the game to a “bloody football,” as reported by ESPN. The source excerpt ends before Barnwell’s full assessment of the quarterback’s performance is complete.
A worrying step backward
New England had high expectations after its 2025 season, but Barnwell wrote that the team has not built on what it accomplished last year. The analysis compared the Patriots’ current struggles with the first half of the 2024 season, when Maye was a rookie and the team regularly undermined itself with several poor plays per game.
The defeat also followed two earlier concerns highlighted in the report. After A.J. Brown went down in the second half of New England’s Week 1 loss to Seattle, the Patriots’ offense was described as looking different. Maye threw three interceptions in that game, while he was better against Pittsburgh in Week 2 but still made a costly underthrown pass that was intercepted.
Week 3 context
The Patriots were one of five teams that reached the 2025 playoffs and lost in Week 3. The Chargers, Panthers and Texans all held fourth-quarter leads but could not preserve them, while the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks lost to Washington despite the Commanders being down to their backup quarterback.
Barnwell also noted that the Los Angeles Rams blew a 16-0 lead against Denver but lost by a narrow margin on the road. That defeat was not included among the five losses at the center of his ranking.
What happens next
The immediate challenge for New England is to reduce the turnovers and missed opportunities that turned promising drives into empty possessions against Jacksonville. The source does not provide the Patriots’ next opponent or a confirmed timetable for any lineup changes.
Bottom Line
The Jaguars’ 35-6 win exposed a combination of offensive mistakes and quarterback volatility for the Patriots. ESPN’s analysis treated the result as more than an ordinary Week 3 loss, while the incomplete source excerpt leaves the team’s next response to be determined.
Source
This report is based on information published by ESPN.
