AP Photo
FOXBOROUGH- The Patriots lost a game they should have won on Sunday, 15-10 to the Miami Dolphins. It was a game of missed opportunities for New England, especially in the red zone.
Here are seven takeaways from the loss.
1. Ugly performance by the offense: The offense continued to struggle. The only bright spot was the running game which averaged 7.4 yards per carry. Collectively, the Patriots rushed for 151. This includes a 33 yard touchdown run by Rhamondre Stevenson.
Outside of a couple of long receptions by Pop Douglas, the passing game was once again a non-factor. Jacoby Brissett completed 18-of-34 passes for 160 yards. That’s it!
2. Defense plays well but wilts late: The defense played well for 55 minutes. Unfortunately, when they needed to make that one last stop down the stretch, they could not. Miami had a ten minute time advantage in terms of time of possession and they ran 20 more plays. The defense was gassed. After the game, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo admitted as much.
“I know for a fact fatigue played a part in this game. You think about Marte, this being his first game and playing pretty much every snap. I appreciate him doing that, but at the same time we’ve got to be able to get off the field, we’ve got to be able to move the ball offensively. We have to win the time of possession game or at least be close, which once again, they controlled that.”
3. Penalties aplenty: The Patriots had 12 penalties for 105 accepted yards on Sunday. It cost them the game. They are undisciplined and it is not just the players. The staff is too! They had two delay of game penalties and one 12 men on the field. It simply cannot happen. When a team is this undisciplined, it ultimately falls on the coach.
Unfortunately, Mayo’s explanation after the game offered very little insight as to how he plans to fix it.
“That we can’t do it. We preach all the time about pre-snap and post-snap penalties. It just wasn’t a good day.”
4. Secondary holds up without Peppers and Dugger: I thought the secondary played well without Jabrill Peppers and Kyle Dugger. They held up against one of the best skill groups in the league. It helps that the Dolphins were without Tua but overall, Jaylynn Hawkins, Marte Mapu and Dell Pettus held their own at safety.
5. Missed opportunities in the red zone: The Patriots had two opportunities to score in the deep red zone and came away with nothing both times. Once after Brendan Schooler’s blocked punt and the other was at the end of the game where they had the ball at the 12 with three timeouts and came away with nothing. Good teams finish in those situations. Instead, the Patriots missed a field goal, had a touchdown call reversed and committed a false penalty which essentially ended the game.
6. Offensive play calling inconsistent: The offensive play calling was once again inconsistent. The Patriots ran the ball well but offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt once again fell in love with the pass and threw the Patriots out of opportunities to extend drives and position themselves to score. It has not been a good three week stretch for Van Pelt as a play caller.
7. Game they should have won: The Patriots should have won this game but the inexperience of the coaching and the lack of consistent offensive playmaking were the difference. Good teams that have been there before know how to win those games. The Patriots aren’t there yet.