3 Patriots to Blame for Embarrassing Loss to Giants in Week 12

Another week, another ugly loss for the now 2-9 New England Patriots. The Patriots are making a push for the #1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft at this point, and their defeat at the hands of the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon is a prime exhibit of why this team is truly one of the worst in the league.

The lasting image from this game for New England will be Tommy DeVito, an undrafted rookie quarterback, doing the "chef's kiss" with his hand after a touchdown pass to Isaiah Hodgins, who muscled his way into the end zone on a really nice play in the red zone.

The Patriots were just a mess in this contest, unable to take care of the ball offensively and unable to take advantage of six sacks, seven QB hits, and holding the Giants to just 4-of-13 on third downs. So who is to blame for this ugly loss? Let's take a look.

3 New England Patriots to blame for loss to Giants in Week 12

1. Chad Ryland, Kicker

If the ESPN segment C'mon, Man still existed, Chad Ryland would undoubtedly be featured. You have one primary job as a kicker, and it's to make kicks. Chad Ryland had an opportunity late in this game to come through and at least send this matchup to overtime, but he missed a chip shot.

Maybe it's for the best. Maybe he spared us all. Maybe Chad Ryland is in on the tank.

Who knows?

All kidding aside, you can't be missing chip shots late in the game. The Patriots had an opportunity to at least get in position to win this game, but Ryland squandered that chance -- literally. It was an ugly miss wide to the left of the goal post, and although you can't pin any defeat on a single kick, you certainly can't perform like that in clutch situations.