Patriots: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 3

Patriots Pre-Season Game 3: Eagles 27 - Patriots 17

The Good:

A moment of silence was observed at Gillette Stadium for NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw who was in instrumental part of the NFL since 1967.

QB Matt Gutierrez makes a move for the No. 2 job, finishing 14 of 20 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. CJ Jones had three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Chad Jackson had a great 1-yard touchdown grab.

The Bad:

Patriots receiver Wes Welker was shaken up while fielding a punt return during the first quarter. He left with a rib injury.

For the third straight game, the opponent drives down the field on the opening drive to score points.

The offensive line, and the health issues there, remains one of the team's more pressing issues.


The Ugly:

The Patriots put forth a weak effort on special teams in the first half, allowing both a kickoff return for a touchdown, and a punt return for a touchdown. Allowing a touchdown on both kickoff and punt returns was inexcusable.

QB Matt Cassel finished 8 of 14 for 60 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT. He is sure to lose his hold on the #2 QB position if he continues to play this way.

Rookie cornerback Terrence Wheatley faltered on his technique on a 42-yard gain by Michael Gasperson early in the third quarter. He also couldn't handle a punt at the end of the game.

Final Thoughts:

"I thought we played a little more competitively there in the second half obviously giving up 14 points on returns in the first half put us pretty deep in the hole. We still have a lot of work to do. Philadelphia is a good football team and we all know that. There were certainly a lot of things were could have done better out there tonight but I think it was a good learning experience for us. We saw a lot of things we are going to need to face somewhere along the line this season so it was good to get that exposure and play against another good football team". -- Bill Belichick

Patriots coach Bill Belichick sought out Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel after the game and the two shared an embrace on the field. The fans were pretty rough on Samuels. "They were chanting, 'Asante sucks, Asante sucks,'" explained Samuel. "It's all good. They love to hate me. They love me, they miss me. But I'm not with them, so they hate me."