Game Rewind: Pathetic, disgusting, disappointing, discouraging. Use whichever adjective you want to use to describe the Patriots performance today but, it was not good. The Patriots looked lost and out of sync. For the first in a long time, they looked like a team that had no answers. They have now lost four out of six games and have no momentum entering the playoffs. Here are my five thoughts on today’s game.

1. Brady’s Ankle: Tom Brady was seen noticeably limping after his post game press conference. Brady got rolled up in the second quarter by Ndamukomg Suh. It’s too early to tell the severity of Brady’s ankle injury. I’m sure we’ll get nothing out of the Patriots regarding the injury. It is a concern despite the fact that the Patriots have a bye next week. 

2. Line Struggles Continue: The Patriots offensive line woes continued in this game. The offensive line has been awful for the past eight weeks and the same problems that have plagued this unit in recent weeks continued today. Obviously not having Sebastian Vollmer hurts but even when he has played, this unit has struggled. Offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo needs to continue to move pieces around in an effort to find the right starting five. 

3. The Offensive Game Plan Once Again Was Awful: The offensive gameplan was once again awful. I have no idea what Josh McDaniels was trying to do today? It made no sense? I know Miami was bottom third in the league against the run coming into this game but that doesn’t mean you have to run on every down! The Patriots only threw five times in the first half. That’s unacceptable when Tom Brady is your quarterback. I know it’s tough to trust this offensive line right now but the Patriots should have thrown the ball more today, especially in the first half. 

4. Defense Disappoints: I know Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones were out, but that doesn’t mean we should be making excuses for the performance of the defense today. They played terrible, especially in the second half. This defense needs to start playing like a championship caliber unit. They are far from that right now. 

5. Coaching: I’ve got to be honest with you. I thought Belichick and his staff looked lost today. They didn’t really make any adjustments and they seemed to have no answers for whatever Miami was doing on either side of the ball. For the first time in a long time, the Patriots coaching staff looked stumped and that’s not good. Especially when it’s against a bad team like Miami.