Miami Gardens, FL – The Patriots dug themselves too big of a hole in a 34-15 loss to the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
Although this was a two-score game in the fourth quarter with some good fight by the team, New England wasn't overly competitive. The Patriots trailed 24-0 following a poor first-half performance, with a flurry of issues on both sides of the ball. There are two main points of emphasis that the Patriots didn't hit, which is why this game got out of hand.
First, New England isn't built offensively to play from behind the chains. Due to seven first-half penalties, including six of the pre-snap variety, QB Drake Maye and the offense was constantly behind schedule. On their second possession, Maye moved the offense into scoring territory, but 20 penalty yards caused the drive to stall. Then, K Joey Slye had an opportunity to give the Patriots a lead, but Slye's 45-yard attempt went off the right upright and was no good, an early turning point in this game.
Defensively, the Patriots had few answers for Dolphins QB Tua Tagoviola, with Miami scoring 24 points in the second quarter. Tua tossed four touchdown passes in what was a dominant performance for him, WR Jaylen Waddle (8-144-TD), and former Patriot turned Patriots killer Jonnu Smith (9-87-TD). From this perspective, New England's defense is lacking the communication and discipline necessary to be an assignment-sound unit. That's not to say it's all self-inflicted, but coverage busts that lead to easy points for the opponent aren't all about talent, either. Some of that is about NEP.
Unfortunately, halves like the first two quarters in Sunday's game are a harsh reminder that the Patriots are still rebuilding. They've played competitive football over the last month and stayed with it in the second on Sunday. But this was a step backward for head coach Jerod Mayo's squad, which has a long way to go, coaching-wise and player execution.
Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots drop to 3-9 on the season with a loss to the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday.
1. SERVPRO Spotlight: Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez Shadows Dolphins Star WR Tyreek Hill, Registers First Career Touchdown on Scoop-and-Score
After there was a lot made of how the Patriots used Gonzalez in last week's loss to the Rams, New England's top corner shadowed Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill on Sunday.
According to NextGen Stats, Gonzalez lined up over Hill on half his routes (18 of 36). On 18 routes, Gonzalez only allowed one catch for 10 yards as the nearest defender. Although the Dolphins beat the Patriots in other ways, Gonzalez is clearly a building block for the future.
For example, Gonzalez shadowed Hill on this third down, leading to DT Christian Barmore's first sack of the season. Hill motions across the formation to roll into his route in the play. Gonzo does a great job of maintaining his leverage through the motion, which is designed to get Gonzalez to give up the inside for Hill to run across the formation in the other direction. Since the Pats CB1 stays glued to Hill, Tua holds the ball, and eventually, Barmore gets the Dolphins quarterback down for a sack.
Along with being competitive in coverage against Hill, Gonzalez registered his first career touchdown to pull the Patriots within two scores in the fourth quarter. The play was more of a gift from the Dolphins than anything, but Gonzo was in the right place at the right time. With their backup quarterback in the game, Skylar Thompson botched a handoff exchange with RB Jaylen Wright, and Gonzalez was there to pick up the ball and return it to the house.
There wasn't enough good from the Patriots defense to keep this game competitive, so highlighting Gonzalez here doesn't mean it was all sunshines and rainbows. Still, the Pats usage of Gonzo was a major storyline coming out of last Sunday's loss because New England's promising young corner didn't shadow Cooper Kupp or Puka Nacua.
On Sunday, Gonzalez matched up against Hill in their third showdown since the Patriots selected the talented cornerback in the first round of the 2023 draft and held his own once again.
2. Patriots QB Drake Maye Flashes, Mostly Let Down By Supporting Cast
The most frustrating aspect as a Patriots fan/reporter is that we don't see QB Drake Maye in a competitive game when he's put into a 24-point halftime deficit.
The rookie isn't completely absolved for his role in the loss. Maye had a few errant throws in the first half where positive plays could've stemmed the tide, while his two turnover-worthy plays also contributed to the huge deficit, setting Miami up for a touchdown at the NE 25-yard line and ending any comeback prayers with an ill-advised interception in the fourth quarter.
Maye did have five 'plus' plays in my live charting, which were excellent moments, but the late interception was a rookie mistake. It was probably over, but it was still a two-score game, so you never know. From a statistical perspective, it was bad but not awful for Maye, who subtracted -0.18 expected points per drop-back with a passing success rate of 40%, his fourth-lowest EPA output in a start this season. In the box score, Maye finished 22-37 for 221 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and a lost fumble.
Maye's highlight of the day was an incredible off-script heave on fourth down to TE Austin Hooper for a 38-yard touchdown. Miami dropped into a cover-two zone with a four-man rush. Miami edge rusher Chop Robinson got home off the right side, and a three-man stunt was also winning over the left side of a collapsing pocket. When the Pats rookie QB began rolling to his right, Maye pulled the Dolphins zone with him, including the vertical seam defender responsible for carrying Hooper through the middle of the coverage. Maye gets enough clean air to launch a throw, and Hooper gets lost for a wide-open touchdown with all eyes on the quarterback.
Although it came when the game was already over, the connection with Hooper was the best playground football play from Maye to date. We knew he had that in his bag, and now we have more evidence that he can create plays out of structure. Along with that superhuman effort, Maye also flashed in-structure playmaking with a nifty progression earlier in the game.
The first-half highlight for Maye and the Patriots offense was a great full-field progression by the rookie quarterback. The Pats try to clear out space to Maye's left for an option route for DeMario Douglas, which gets bracketed by the Dolphins zone defense. Maye then has a backside "bow" concept where they're attempting to open up Hunter Henry's in-cut with two underneath routes. Maye scanning across the field gets the curl/flat defender to jump Austin Hooper's spot route, which creates the space for Antonio Gibson in the flat – a nice bit of quarterbacking.
For now, you live with the good and bad with a rookie quarterback in his seventh NFL start. Eventually, Maye needs to cut down on the turnover-worthy plays. He might always have some of those moments as more of a playmaker than a game-manager. Plus, it's fair to say he's trying to take over games sometimes because of what's around him. Still, you'd like to see Maye become a safer decision-maker to round out his game.
Overall, it's hard to put this one on the third-overall pick. Way too many other things went wrong for the Patriots to say it's on Maye that they lost on Sunday.
3. Patriots Defense Must Return to Playing Assignment-Sound Pass Defense
Over the last two weeks, the Dolphins and Rams have gotten the better of this defense by using eye candy to get the Patriots chasing the game.
Although it can vary, defenders who spoke to Patriots.com after the loss felt similar concepts stressing their communication. Often, these motion-heavy schemes use eye candy to draw defenders' eyes to the wrong places and then hit the defense in the open space.
On Sunday, it was a combination of throwing to the motion man and using motion to move the Patriots defense in the wrong direction. Specifically, the Dolphins got the Patriots defense several times in the red zone with motion out of the backfield.
On his first red zone touchdown, the Patriots don't properly pass off the "tear" motion by Dolphins RB De'Von Achane. Based on his reaction, it appears that S Jaylinn Hawkins initially has Achane in man coverage. However, when the Dolphins RB motions out of the backfield, Hawkins wants to pass him off to someone in the left flat. Instead, nobody is on the same page as Hawkins, and Achane goes into the end zone unaccounted for on an easy touchdown.
My read on the second touchdown by the Dolphins RB is that safeties Marte Mapu (left flat) and Kyle Dugger (right safety) are supposed to account for the two backfield threats. Essentially, take whoever between Achane and Hill comes out your side of the formation. When the Dolphins use a pseudo-switch release from the funky alignment, Dugger gets caught with his eyes in the backfield and doesn't see Achane release into the flat. As always, placing blame without knowing the exact call is difficult. But that's usually how defenses cover those types of backfield alignments, and the unique release seemed to fool the Pats defense.
To get back to playing Patriots defense, this group needs to start playing better as a collective. Good team defense is all about 11 players being on the same page, and if you can do that, even defenses with lesser talent can play above their talent level.
New England has its depth issues that were exacerbated by key players being unavailable this season, but the Patriots are also beating themselves defensively with poor communication.
4. Patriots O-Line Struggles in Pass Protection, Too Many Costly Penalties vs. Dolphins
In a season where continuity has been difficult, the offensive line had settled down from a personnel standpoint, starting the same line for the third consecutive week on Sunday.
However, the Patriots O-Line had a rough performance vs. the Dolphins, leading to starting RT Trey Jacobs getting benched in the second half, with four sacks allowed and a 37% pressure rate on rookie QB Drake Maye. Along with the pass protection woes, the offensive line was also called for nine penalties, including four for starting LT Vederian Lowe. Lowe was whistled for three false starts and a hold, with the hold wiping out a 19-yard gain.
As for Jacobs, the Patriots right tackle struggled with Dolphins first-rounder Chop Robinson. Jacobs allowed a team-high seven quarterback pressures with a sack, with Robinson logging nine total pressures in a terrific performance. The rookie first-rounder's speed to corner the edge was a problem for Jacobs, who sometimes has issues with getting depth out of his stance.
New England's two starting tackles allowed two combined sacks and 11 quarterback pressures and were called for six penalties. They weren't alone in their struggles, either, as starting LG Michael Jordan continues to be on a downward trend with a sack and three hurries allowed.
Ultimately, this group isn't built to play from behind on the scoreboard or behind the chains. With their penalties moving the offense backward, the offense was constantly in long downs and distances while trailing in the game. That's a recipe for the defense to tee off on an offensive line with talent deficiencies, and that's exactly what happened on Sunday.
Without many options at tackle, it'll be interesting to see if the Patriots attempt to upgrade one spot moving forward, with 2022 first-rounder Cole Strange going into the starting lineup at one of the interior spots. Most likely, Strange will either play left guard or center.
5. Patriots No. 2 Cornerback Spot Moving Up the List of Offseason Needs
Another thought from this game was that the Patriots will need to explore their options in the offseason to upgrade their cornerback room. Veteran DB Jonathan Jones is a great Patriot, but his days of being a sticky man coverage defender for long stretches are nearing an end. As for the younger Jones, Marcus Jones would be best as a nickel corner playing out of the slot. Jones struggles when he's asked to play the field corner spot on the outside.
On Sunday, Marcus Jones allowed a team-high six catches for 83 yards, mainly covering Waddle. To his credit, Jones settled down in the second half, where he had two nice pass breakups. Still, Jones is inconsistent when he's asked to play opposite Gonzalez on the perimeter. One would expect the Patriots to explore the cornerback market this offseason.
6. Patriots Wide Receiver Room Starting to Have a Clear Hierarchy
As for how the snaps were distributed at wide receiver, this room is starting to have some consistency based on personnel packages throughout the game (base versus sub-packages).
On Sunday, WR Kayshon Boutte again led the way with 54 snaps as the team's primary X receiver. Followed by DeMario Douglas (44 snaps), Kendrick Bourne (37), Ja'Lynn Polk (22), and rookie Javon Baker (10).
Douglas had some good moments, with grabs of 27 and 20 yards in the third quarter. Maye hit Douglas on an RPO slant and a spot route over the middle, where Pop broke tackles to add 18 yards after the catch. In his post-game press conference, Maye also took responsibility for missing Douglas on a blitz beater, which should've been another big play.
The Patriots have a receiver who can beat man coverage and win quickly off the line in Douglas, so it's up to Maye and the coaching staff to get him the ball in those situations.
7. Patriots S Kyle Dugger Vows to be Better After Down Performance
Speaking to reporters after Sunday's loss, a very accountable Kyle Dugger owned his struggles, saying, "I just need to play better. It's really as simple as that."
Since his return from injury, Dugger has been shaky. In Week 11, he missed three tackles and could've been better in his zone drop on a 19-yard touchdown. This week, it appeared that Dugger was responsible in some way for three of Miami's four touchdown passes. Dugger also had back-to-back opportunities for interceptions, dropping an easy one in the end zone.
After signing a four-year extension, Dugger was named a team captain this season. His ankle injury might be contributing to derailing his season. Still, he's also a better football player than he has shown the last two weeks, and the Patriots need him to return to form.
8. Patriots Specialists Contribute to Loss With Missed Field Goal, Punting Miscues
Lastly, the Patriots specialists had their hand in this loss as well. As mentioned, Slye missed a 45-yard field goal in the first quarter that could've given the team some early momentum. As for P Bryce Baringer, he registered another touchback on a plus-50 punt and had a 39-yard mishit. New England could use more from their specialists to help them on the margins.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
