FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — When Mac Jones connected with Kendrick Bourne for a 75-yard touchdown to retake the lead from the Cowboys, it felt as if the Patriots were on the doorstep of pulling out a win in Week 6. However, Dallas would eventually knot the game up with a field goal, push the game to overtime and CeeDee Lamb would ultimately haul in a game-winning touchdown. That loss not only prevents New England from leveling out to .500 on the season but keeps the club winless at Gillette Stadium this year.
With this latest loss to the Cowboys, the Patriots are now 0-4 at home for the first time since the 1993 season. Back then, Bill Belichick was in the midst of his third season as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Robert Kraft had yet to buy the franchise, and Tom Brady was still two years away from being drafted as a catching prospect by the Montreal Expos.
Needless to say, it’s been a long time since Foxborough has endured a winning drought of this magnitude.
“Everything in the past has nothing to do with this year,” said safety Devin McCourty, who is in the midst of his 12th season with the Patriots. “I don’t think anybody thinks about the ’04 team and says ‘Man, it was tough in ’04. We gotta go there in ’21’ … it just is what it is. We are the 2021 Patriots who haven’t won at home. The past doesn’t matter. What those guys did in the past won’t help us.”
This latest home loss is also the second consecutive game where the Patriots have fallen, despite holding a lead at halftime. Prior to those two contests, New England was 102-1 at Gillette Stadium when leading at the break.
“We just gotta make a few plays at the end,” McCourty continued. “It’s not like we’re coming in here at home and having no shot to win. I mean, all of these games — even the Saints game it came down to a couple of plays that we’re not finishing. We’re falling short.”
The Patriots will get their next chance to finally get into the win column at Gillette Stadium next week when they face the New York Jets, who’ll be fresh off their Week 6 bye. New England has already faced this AFC East rival once this season at MetLife Stadium where they put together a 25-6 win by picking off Zach Wilson four times. If they can recreate that type of outing, they should begin getting themselves back on track in front of their home fans.
