The New England Patriots are staring down another daunting challenge in Week 16, and this one comes under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football. After a gut-punch of a loss to the Buffalo Bills - a 35-31 collapse after leading 21-0 - the Pats now head to Baltimore to face Lamar Jackson and a Ravens team that’s heating up at just the right time.
Baltimore enters the matchup at 7-7, but don’t let that record fool you. Since Lamar Jackson returned from injury, the Ravens are 5-2 and coming off a dominant 24-0 shutout win on the road against the Bengals. They’re playing with confidence, they’re healthy, and they’re built to make a late-season push.
For the Patriots, the mission is clear: regroup, refocus, and clean up the self-inflicted wounds that cost them in Buffalo. On the latest episode of Quick Snap, former Pats center David Andrews and quarterback Brian Hoyer broke down what New England needs to do to get back in the win column - and it starts with discipline.
“You didn’t give anything to Buffalo in terms of turnovers,” Andrews said. “But penalties had a big effect on the game.”
And he’s not wrong. The Patriots were flagged seven times in the loss, including back-to-back penalties in a critical second-half sequence - a false start by Vederian Lowe followed by a holding call on Mike Onwenu. Those kinds of mistakes are drive-killers, especially against a team like the Ravens that thrives on controlling tempo and capitalizing on short fields.
Andrews sees the upcoming primetime matchup as an opportunity - not a burden.
“As a player, I would be excited this week to go play the Ravens. Sunday Night Football, primetime,” he said.
“This is a team with a good running attack, a quarterback that’s mobile that you have to contain. It’s all those things you want to go out and prove versus a really good football team and a playoff-caliber football team.”
That mindset - embracing the challenge rather than shrinking from it - is exactly what the Patriots will need if they’re going to keep their season from spiraling.
But let’s be clear: containing Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry is no small task. Jackson’s dual-threat ability remains one of the most dangerous weapons in the NFL, and Henry, even in the latter stages of his career, is still a punishing runner who can wear down defenses over four quarters.
“You’re going to have to stop the quarterback from running, you’re going to have to stop the running back from running,” Hoyer emphasized. “Because if Lamar Jackson and King Henry get going, it’s going to be a long day for not only the Patriots defense, but the entire team.”
That means setting the edge, maintaining gap discipline, and tackling with purpose - all things New England struggled with at times against Buffalo. And on the offensive side of the ball, Hoyer stressed the importance of execution and detail.
“Be more disciplined when it comes to routes. Be more disciplined at finishing blocks,” he said. “It’s going to take a complete team win to go down to Baltimore on Sunday night and beat them.”
No shortcuts. No margin for error. Just a full 60-minute effort against a team that’s built for December football.
The Quick Snap episode also dove into the Patriots’ collapse against the Bills, debated the ideal playoff path (if there is one at this point), and featured a conversation with Marcus Jones, who touched on everything from punt returning to Mike Vrabel’s influence and his work with kids at Suffolk University.
Around the league, the podcast also checked in on teams like the Bengals, Chiefs, and Rams - all of whom are either fighting for playoff seeding or trying to stay alive in the postseason race.
But for New England, the focus is singular: survive Baltimore. And if they’re going to do it, it’ll take more than just talent. It’ll take poise, precision, and the kind of discipline that’s been missing far too often this season.