The New England Patriots were losers once again in Week 9 on Sunday, falling to the Washington Commanders 20-17 and dropping to 2-7 on the season.

After another disappointing showing, we take a look at the seven players most to blame for the loss.

Jalen Reagor

It's tough to be put on this list when you make a key block as part of a long touchdown run and you help break up a would-be interception.

But that's how bad Reagor's drop in the third quarter was. With just under a minute remaining in the quarter, Jones threw one of his best balls of the season: a 50-yard deep ball that led his intended receiver and would've put the Patriots in scoring position or even scored a touchdown.

Reagor beat his man and the safety up top, too. All he had to do was catch the ball, but he didn't. And that wasn't the closest the Patriots came to scoring for the rest of the game, as they remained stuck on 17 points for the whole fourth quarter.

Reagor being involved as much as he was on Sunday afternoon certainly wasn't his fault considering the Patriots' injuries. When you get the opportunity though, you have to have more than just one reception on six targets and you have to make those gimme plays.

Jonathan Jones

The Patriots were able to keep Terry McLaurin in check for a good portion of the game, but the Commanders' star receiver punished them on back-to-back plays in the third quarter that allowed them to take a 20-17 lead.

First, McLaurin beat Jones at the line of scrimmage on a corner route, getting just enough separation to allow Sam Howell to drop a pass along the sideline for a reception and a 26-yard gain on third-and-8.

On the very next play, McLaurin made his way right by Jones and the Patriots' secondary. He turned a five-yard slant into a 36-yard gain as he blazed right by New England's secondary for a 36-yard pickup to get the Commanders into field goal range. Jones wasn't as much to blame for the second reception as it appeared the Patriots were in zone, but he took too many steps back to allow McLaurin to get right down the field.

Myles Bryant

The Patriots' secondary had a pretty rough day on Sunday, and one play that really showcased the difference in talent between Washington's receiving corps to New England's secondary came in the third quarter.

Right after the Patriots took a 17-10 lead, Howell and the Commanders responded, moving the ball down the field before hitting a home run when the quarterback hit Jahan Dotson in stride for a touchdown. Bryant was just straight-up beat in coverage on the play, letting Dotson speed right by him on a go route to the end zone.

Just bad.

Adrian Phillips, Jalen Mills and Mack Wilson

All three Patriots defenders are on here because they all were on the wrong end of just dumb plays.

First, Adrian Phillips and Jalen Mills just failed to tackle Howell on a third-and-23 late in the first half. The two Patriots safeties had the Commanders within their grasp, but somehow let Howell slip out of their hands and watch him pick up a first down on one of the worst defensive plays you might see in the NFL this season.

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Yikes.

Mack Wilson made sure that Phillips and Mills weren't alone, though, in making a dumb play on Sunday. The Patriots linebacker lined up in the neutral zone on a fourth-and-short during a Commanders' punt in the final minutes of the game, negating their defensive stop.

Both plays came at pivotal moments, too. Howell picked up his first down on the third-and-23 run with just under two minutes left in the first half, preventing the Patriots any real opportunity to get a score before halftime. Wilson's play forced the Patriots to burn timeouts and gave them the ball at their own 9-yard line with just over two minutes left instead of having the ball at their own 24-yard line with 2:29 remaining and three timeouts.

JuJu Smith-Schuster

The Patriots' highest-paid receiver got to see more playing time on Sunday following injuries to Kendrick Bourne and DeVante Parker last week. That sentence alone describes why the Patriots' offense is so horrific right now, but that's beside the point.

When your number is called in key moments and the team has clearly valued you, you have to step up and execute. Smith-Schuster was relatively average on Sunday, recording six receptions for 51 yards. But his biggest play of the day came on a catch he didn't make: a drop on Jones' pass to him with 38 seconds left that led to a game-sealing interception for the Commanders.

Smith-Schuster took accountability for the play following the game, which is certainly a good thing. But the ball was right in his hands. He couldn't have asked for a better pass from Jones. If you can't make plays like that, what's the point of having you on the field?