Morning Sports Update

‘I don’t think that team handled us’: Matthew Judon believed the Patriots weren’t too ‘far off’ in loss to Vikings

"I think that a couple calls, a couple plays and it's going the other way."

By Conor Roche

November 25, 2022

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On Thursday, the Patriots lost to the Vikings, 33-26, to drop to 6-5 on the season. The Patriots play again on Thursday, Dec. 1 when they host the Buffalo Bills.

On Friday, the United States men’s soccer team faces England in its second match of the group stage in the World Cup at 2 p.m.

TD Garden will also host a Bruins-Celtics doubleheader on Friday. The Bruins host the Hurricanes at 1 p.m. and the Celtics host the Kings at 8 p.m.

Matthew Judon more frustrated than disappointed in Thanksgiving loss: The Patriots’ loss to the Vikings on Thursday night was there for the taking, at least according to Matthew Judon.

Following the loss, Judon said that he didn’t think the Patriots were too far away from beating the now 9-2 Vikings.

“I think that a couple calls, a couple plays and it’s going the other way,” Judon said. “But it wasn’t our night tonight. I don’t think we’re far off. I don’t think that team handled us.

“I just think it was just a couple calls, a couple plays, a couple this, and a couple that and it could’ve been a different game. But we didn’t make those plays. So, we’ve got to go on film and watch them and correct ourselves.”

There were many opportunities the Patriots failed to capitalize on and many uncharacteristic mistakes that might have cost them that made the difference. New England went 0-for-3 in the red zone, settling for field goals each time against a Minnesota defense that ranked last in red zone efficiency entering Week 12.

On the flip side, the Patriots allowed a 97-yard kickoff return touchdown after they scored one of their own, which allowed the Vikings to tie the game again. They also had a couple of mental errors in the first half that cost them their final two timeouts on their final drive of the half. A running into the punter penalty also gave the Vikings new life on the drive that ultimately led to the game-winning score.

With all of those things piling together, it’s understandable to see why Judon is “frustrated” but “not disappointed” with the loss.

“We’ve got to play better on defense, come up with some of those stops,” Judon said. “Going down the stretch, we can’t let them score on back-to-back drives, especially in a game like that. We’re not disappointed. We’re going to bind together. We’re going to keep coming. But we’re just a little frustrated.”

Judon had an uncharacteristic performance on Thursday as well. The NFL’s sack leader didn’t record a sack against the Vikings, making it just the third time in 11 games this season that he hasn’t recorded a sack.

Judon and the rest of the Patriots don’t have the usual extended break teams get after playing a Thursday game. They’ll have a week to rectify the mistakes they made against the Vikings before hosting the 8-3 Bills on Thursday, Dec. 1. That game is just one of the many that the Patriots have against teams in playoff contention in the second half of the season, but Judon knows there’s still a great importance behind it.

“You’ve got to watch this game, correct it, and put it behind you,” Judon said. “You’ve got to put it behind you and focus on the next game. We’ve got a big division game coming ahead of us, but we don’t want to make the same mistakes that we made tonight in that game.

“So, we’ve got to correct them and then we’ve got a full steam ahead against Buffalo.”

Trivia: Thursday’s loss marked the third time the Patriots have lost a Thanksgiving game in their franchise’s history. When was their last loss on Thanksgiving?

Answer below

(Hint: A certain seven-time-winning Super Bowl quarterback made his debut in that game.)

More from Boston.com:

5 takeaways from the Patriots’ Thanksgiving loss to the Vikings

Special teams blunders cost Patriots in loss to Vikings

Last-minute victories and historic wins: See what happened on a festive day of Thanksgiving football

The ‘bananas’ story of Matt Turner, the late-blooming USMNT goalkeeper at the World Cup

Vikings slip past Patriots, 33-26, as Mac Jones is out-dueled by Kirk Cousins

Replay reversal on TD catch proves costly in Patriots loss

Cowboys play whack-a-mole: Following Peyton Hendershot’s fourth-quarter touchdown against the Giants on Thanksgiving, a few of his Cowboys teammates hopped in the Salvation Army box behind the end zone. Each took turns popping up as Hendershot also played whack-a-mole in the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving win.

Announcer jinx: Lions kicker Michael Badgley hadn’t missed a field goal all season entering their Thanksgiving showdown against the Bills – at least until CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz brought it up. Nantz mentioned the stat as Badgley lined up for a 29-yard field goal, saying “do not talk to me about an announcer’s jinx” before Badgley missed the field goal.

Nantz and his broadcast partner, Tony Romo, had a good laugh over the moment. The miss proved to be costly, too. The Bills ended up beating the Lions, 28-25, by making a final-seconds field goal of their own.

On this day: In 1993, former Cowboys defensive lineman Leon Lett had a blunder for the ages when he decided to chase after the football following a blocked kick against the Dolphins that would’ve sealed the win for Dallas. Lett chased after the ball and muffed it, allowing the Dolphins to get the ball back and kick a closer field goal before winning the Thanksgiving game, 16-14.

Daily highlight: Brazil’s Richarlison scored the goal of the World Cup so far on Thursday, connecting on a bicycle kick that put his nation up 2-0 in Serbia before winning.

Trivia answers: 2000 vs. Lions