FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux thought New England’s offense did more than enough Sunday by scoring a season-high 21 points.
But Godchaux saw the Patriots defense come up well short against a vaunted Houston Texans offense and voiced his displeasure about the team’s performance on that side of the ball following a 41-21 loss at Gillette Stadium.
“It’s just like defense, man, we got to just figure out a way to get back to the standard of playing great defense,” Godchaux said. “Forty-one points is embarrassing.”
The Texans gashed the Patriots for 192 yards on the ground — it’s the fourth straight game New England allowed at least 130 yards rushing — while C.J. Stroud completed 20-of-31 passes for 192 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
The Patriots defense got Kyle Dugger back for the game, but he did little to stop their woes. The defensive unit is still far from full strength with linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley out with a season-ending injury and safety Jabrill Peppers on the NFL’s Commissioner Exempt List. Christian Barmore is still out with blood clots, too, and the Patriots traded arguably their best defensive player prior to the start of the season by shipping Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons.
That’s a lot of lost talent, but Godchuax doesn’t want to hear it. He feels the Patriots still have enough to be a formidable defense, but aren’t doing the necessary things to make that happen. He even called out teammates for their “selfish” play trying to pad stats after a Week 4 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
So, this isn’t the first time Godchaux ripped the Patriots defense. But given that first-year head coach Jerod Mayo echoed the same message and the unit is still having the same issue, it’s safe to question whether Godchaux’s critiques are being tuned out.
“Last year we lost big pieces, too, and we still were a great defense. That’s really just an excuse if anybody say that,” Godchaux said. “It’s always next-man up mentality. You get paid to do a job that you play at a high level that only a few people in America could do. That’s why you got to approach it like when you’re not a starter, you are a starter because in reality you’re one play away from being a starter. I feel like people not taking that approach. We got to do a better job as a team to figure out how to win games.”
Godchaux added: “It’s too much excuses and too many lack of details. It’s not good enough. And you guys see the result on the field. It’s not good enough, whether it’s offense, defense.”
Compounding the problem for the Patriots is their undiscipline play and lack of fundamentals. They were flagged nine times — twice as many as the Texans — in the lopsided loss. And that only added more frustration to the mix for Godchaux.
“These teams not really beating us. We’re beating ourselves,” Godchaux said. “It’s one thing I come up here and say, ‘Oh man, this team’s really good. We can’t do nothing about it. They’re good left tackle, good offensive line. They’re blowing us off the ball.’ But it’s not that. It’s just missed tackles, blown assignments, being where you’re supposed to be. And it’s too much of not doing that. I could go on and on, but it is what it is.”
