The New England Patriots benched veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer late in the third quarter of Monday night's 26-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, turning to Jarrett Stidham in hopes of providing a spark to complement a defense that nobly held down an explosive Patrick Mahomes-led attack.
It worked initially, but it was ultimately too late, sparking a question as to whether coach Bill Belichick might have helped the team by making the switch earlier.
The Patriots were playing without Cam Newton, who had tested positive for the coronavirus on Friday, which led to the game being postponed a day.
Asked how much consideration there was to making the switch at halftime, when the Patriots trailed 6-3, Belichick said, "Not a lot. Just trying to play better, down by three points, missing opportunities in the first half. We were trying to find ways to keep playing well. It was a three-point game."
Upon entering the game, Stidham threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to receiver N'Keal Harry 1 minute, 15 seconds into the fourth quarter, pulling the Patriots within 13-10.
The play capped off a 75-yard drive that was mostly dominated by the running game before Stidham lofted a nice touch pass to the back left corner of the end zone to a diving Harry.
That the Chiefs had only 13 points at that point in the game was a credit to an inspired performance by a Patriots defense that had every reason to be jet-lagged after the team traveled to Kansas City on Monday morning for the rescheduled game.
But the Hoyer-led offense couldn't complement that effort through the first three quarters, as two mistakes proved costly.
The first came as the Patriots had a chance to tie the game at 6 with eight seconds remaining in the second quarter and the ball at the Chiefs' 13-yard line. They had no timeouts, and Hoyer took a sack as the clock wound down to zero.
"[Offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] said to me in the helmet, 'Let's take a shot and no bad plays.' I looked, knew I was in the pocket, so I didn't want to intentionally ground. I just have to do a better job of throwing over someone's head," Hoyer explained.
Hoyer had signaled for a timeout after the sack, appearing to think the team still had one to use.
Then with the score still 6-3 late in the third quarter, Hoyer and the Patriots chewed up seven minutes as they advanced 69 yards to the Chiefs 10. On third-and-8, Hoyer held on to the ball too long and was strip-sacked.
"I cost us at least six points," he said.
Mahomes and the Chiefs were galvanized by the turnover, driving 85 yards for their first touchdown of the game and never looking back.
Hoyer finished 15-of-24 for 130 yards, with one interception. Stidham was 5-of-13 for 60 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. One of Stidham's picks sailed through receiver Julian Edelman's hands and was returned for a touchdown by Tyrann Mathieu.
The performance of both quarterbacks served up a reminder of how things might have looked had Newton not signed with the Patriots on July 8. Stidham and Hoyer were expected to compete for the top job to replace Tom Brady, before Newton's arrival altered the picture.
Hoyer had been the top backup for the first three games of the season, with Stidham inactive. Now with Newton's status for Sunday's home game against the Denver Broncos uncertain, there will be a question as to whom Belichick might choose if it comes down to Hoyer and Stidham.
"I always want to be out there on the field, and it was good to get live reps," Stidham said.