Foxborough, MA – The Patriots lost a heartbreaker in a 15-10 loss to the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
With 1:08 remaining in the game, it appeared that Patriots wideout Ja'Lynn Polk had the go-ahead touchdown in the back of the south end zone. Polk split the deep coverage as he climbed over a linebacker and rose above the rim to grab the ball. At first glance, it looked like the rookie made a game-winning touchdown catch.
However, article seven in the NFL rulebook states the following: "If any part of the foot hits out of bounds during the normal continuous motion of taking a step (heel-toe or toe-heel), then the foot is out of bounds. A player is inbounds if he drags his foot, or if there is a delay between the heel-toe or toe-heel touching the ground."
According to the officials, Polk's continuous toe-heel motion is why he was ruled out of bounds. It's a judgment call that the NFL's review center overturned. Brissett threw consecutive incompletions on the next two plays, and New England's fourth-quarter comeback bid fell short.
Although the Patriots nearly had a late fourth-quarter lead, head coach Jerod Mayo pointed to poor execution, declining fundamentals, and fatigue in the fourth quarter for a defense that was on the field for over 34 minutes as reasons why the Patriots fell short on Sunday. The lopsided time of possession was primarily due to a stagnant offense, but a defensive pass interference penalty also extended the Dolphins game-winning touchdown drive.
"We've got to be able to execute on a play-to-play basis, and we didn't do that. I would also say as the game wore on, our fundamentals began to slip, and that can be a combination of things," Mayo said. "I know for a fact that fatigue played a part in this game."
After allowing only 15 points, Coach Mayo pointed at the offense's struggles, specifically losing the time of possession battle as a ball control offense that leans on a stout defense. The Patriots almost hit their goals to get a win on Sunday, but need to improve their attention to detail in key moments.
Here are eight takeaways as the Patriots drop to 1-4 with a home loss to the Dolphins on Sunday:
1. SERVPRO Spotlight: CB Christian Gonzalez Continues to be a Bright Spot for Pats Defense
The Patriots are looking for blue-chippers to build around moving forward, and it appears they have one potential pillar player in Gonzalez.
On Sunday, Gonzalez made a terrific diving interception in the first half and shadowed Dolphins star receiver Tyreek Hill most of the game. The interception came when Gonzo jumped a slant by Dolphins WR Odell Beckham Jr., a play that Gonzo credited to the coverage call allowing him to play off the line so he could read and jump the route.
Gonzalez's interception was tangible evidence of his explosive athleticism, as was his ability to track Hill in coverage downfield. Hill is the NFL's fastest receiver, and Gonzo kept Hill's receptions in front of him, tackled well, and prevented completions on deep throws. The 2023 first-rounder lined up over Hill on 21 routes and allowed three catches for 45 yards with a pass breakup (nearly a second INT). The completions only came when Hill broke in front of Gonzalez off vertical stems, where the Pats CB had to respect Hill's deep speed and play over the top.
New England needs building blocks it can build around on both sides of the ball. Based on his first nine NFL games, the Patriots have a lockdown corner in Gonzalez.
2. QB Jacoby Brissett Laments 'Shooting Ourselves in the Foot' on Offense
Speaking at the podium following a frustrating loss, Brissett acknowledged the up-and-down nature of the Patriots offense that has yet to score more than 20 points this season.
"It's getting to the point where you've just got to play better. Penalties in the wrong situations, in bad situations. We're not good enough to do that and to go backward to try to score points. We need to go forward. We've got to change that, fix that," said Brissett. "We're just shooting ourselves in the foot. We're going one step forward to go 20 steps back."
The Patriots were called for 12 penalties that cost them 105 yards as a team. In the closing minutes, the offense was called for three penalties in their game-winning drive attempt, including a false start that turned a 4th-and-10 play into a 4th-and-15 with one minute remaining. Like the entire team, Brissett's play has been inconsistent. Based on my live charting, Brissett had eight 'plus' plays to four minus throws/decisions.
The veteran quarterback made some nice throws, both on time and out of structure. Brissett's in-rhythm throws mostly came targeting WR DeMario Douglas, who had a team-high six catches for 59 yards. Above, Brissett connected with Douglas on a skinny post where Hunter Henry's inside hitch/read route held the short zone defender to create a passing window between the two high safeties over the middle.
Brissett also had some out structure positive plays where he avoided sacks and extended the down so that he could find receivers downfield. Brissett had three completions for 51 yards on extended plays, where he took over four seconds to throw the ball downfield.
As always, we'll have to review the film to see how well Brissett saw the field on Sunday. Watching live, there were some moments where he seemed to make some rushed decisions, which isn't surprising given that pressure continues to be an issue (51.4% pressure rate).
Mainly, Brissett quickly dumped off a third-down throw in the flat to RB Rhamondre Stevenson. The Pats sent TE Hunter Henry on a pre-snap shift to get a coverage indicator, and Henry was followed by a defender, usually signaling it's man coverage. However, at the snap, the Dolphins dropped into zone, so Brissett went from having a matchup he liked with Stevenson singled up on a linebacker to multiple defenders rallying to the ball. In the left flat, nobody covered Henry.
There's a chicken or the egg debate when evaluating the offense: is the protection poor or is Brissett causing pressure by holding the ball? Although it's not an exciting answer, the fact is that good execution on offense is about all 11 players, so it's likely a little bit of everything.
3. Patriots Shake Up Offensive Line With New Starting Five on Sunday
Another major storyline for the Patriots this week was the offensive line, which was put into a blender by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and line coach Scott Peters on Sunday.
On Friday, Peters acknowledged that in an "ideal world," standout T/G Mike Onwenu would play guard. Plus, the line was already down starting center David Andrews (IR) while G Michael Jordan and OT Vederian Lowe returned from injuries this week. As a result, the Pats did a major shakeup of their starting group, which was their fifth different offensive line combination in as many weeks. The group was LT Vederian Lowe, LG Michael Jordan, C Nick Leverett, RG Mike Onwenu, and RT Trey Jacobs.
We'll need to review the film before rushing to any conclusions about the offensive line's play, but here are the advanced metrics via NextGen Stats: Overall, Brissett was under pressure on 19 of his 37 drop-backs for a still too high rate of 51.4%. The main pressure points seemed to come on the interior and the right side. Leverett and Onwenu combined to allow six quick pressures, while RT Trey Jacobs also allowed two quick pressures.
Leverett, who was replacing captain David Andrews, also had a snap infraction penalty and a hold. Obviously, it's not easy to fill Andrews's shoes. Leverett had some struggles, while line games and blitzes were also a challenge for a group that must build continuity up front.
Although the stats are still worrisome, the good news is the Patriots seemed to come out of this game healthy along the offensive line. Hopefully, they can settle into a five-man unit to build some chemistry, which should improve how they pick up schemed pressures.
4. Did the Patriots Defense Improve on the Edges vs. the Dolphins?
Defensively, the talking point this week was about the Patriots struggles with setting the edge against the run and keeping quarterbacks in the pocket, so did they improve on Sunday?
Although it could be somewhat deceiving against a backup quarterback, Huntley didn't kill the Patriots outside the pocket or with his legs. The Dolphins quarterback was 1-of-5 for four yards throwing outside the tackle box and only had one completion for 20 yards on four extended drop-backs. The mobile Huntley also only had three attempts for seven rushing yards.
New England's defense did better at keeping the quarterback contained in the pocket. The Pats mostly played zone coverage in this one, with a 77.8% zone coverage rate. The goal was likely to force Huntley to pick apart zone from the pocket, banking on the fact that he couldn't consistently make plays with his arm. Still, Huntley was 3-of-7 for 32 yards vs. man coverage (4.6 YPA), compared to 15-of-24 for 162 yards against zone structures (6.8 YPA). New England's game plan defensively mostly worked, holding Huntley to +0.02 expected points added per play.
However, there were issues against Miami's stretch running game, especially in the fourth quarter when fatigue was a factor. Dolphins running backs Raheim Mostert and Jaylen Wright combined for 116 rushing yards on 20 attempts outside the tackles (5.8 YPC). Wright had gains of 16, eight, and seven yards on Miami's game-winning drive rushing off-tackle, while Mostert hit an 18-yarder when he cut back through the middle of the field off outside zone action.
The Dolphins are great at stressing the edges with their team speed and McDaniel's exotic motion-heavy rushing attack. Still, it was the second straight week where the Patriots had some issues defensively with stopping an opponent on outside zone.
5. Patriots Run Game Finds Some Success in Loss to Miami
Speaking of the run game, one silver lining for the offense was that Patriots running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson got going again on Sunday.
The Pats RB duo combined for 141 yards on 18 carries, averaging a stellar 7.8 yards per rush with eight successful runs, five runs of 10-plus yards, and +58 rushing yards over expectation. After two quiet weeks on the ground, it was much better for the Pats rushing attack this week.
Stevenson also deserves credit for how he handled a slight demotion after fumbling in four straight games to begin the season. Gibson got the start over the Pats lead back, out-snapping Stevenson as well (26 snaps to 25). As far as scheme goes, New England had it rolling with gap and zone schemes, showing some real improvements on outside zone runs.
First, Stevenson's 33-yard touchdown run came on a gap scheme called G lead. The play is blocked similarly to a standard power play, where the play-side executes a double-team on the line of scrimmage to create a one-on-one for the puller. However, instead of pulling the backside guard, the guard pull comes from the same side. Right guard Mike Onwenu pulls in front of the ball carrier to block the edge, WR Kayshon Boutte gets a good block downfield, and Stevenson does the rest to run it in for six.
Gibson's long run of 24 yards came on an outside zone scheme. The Pats block outside zone weak (away from the tight end), with Pop Douglas's pre-snap motion pulling a defender away from the point of attack. Although it's designed well to get even numbers to the play side, this is mostly all Gibson, as he gains over 26 yards after contact by breaking a tackle in the hole.
The Patriots have two productive backs that can create yards on their own, with Stevenson's excellent contact balance and power making a nice pairing with Gibson's explosiveness. The next step that continues to evade this offense is marrying successful play-action passes to the run game, as Brissett only had 24 yards on four play-action attempts.
On a positive note, it appeared that the Patriots blocked play-action concepts better this week, as Brissett had some time to scan downfield on those plays. Still, the overall production must improve to get this offense into gear with play-action working off the run-game success.
6. Receiver Report: Polk Discusses Reversed Touchdown, Kendrick Bourne Returns
Patriots rookie wideout Ja'Lynn Polk felt like he had two feet in bounds on his overturned touchdown catch, but Coach Mayo acknowledged that it was the correct call.
"Yeah, I mean, it's clear to see I got two feet in," Polk said. "As a receiver, you know, catch the ball and get your feet in. I feel like that's what I did. I can't speak [for the officials]."
Vice President of Officiating George Stewart told ESPN's Mike Reiss that the "toe-heel" rule came into effect here. Whether he had his second foot in bounds or not, the good news is that Polk is getting open downfield. The rookie wideout also won on a corner route and an out on third down earlier in the game. Unfortunately, all three targets were incomplete, but that mostly wasn't his fault (the first two were off-target throws by Brissett under pressure).
As for Bourne, the Pats wideout played 15 snaps in his season debut. Bourne got his feet wet with one catch for six yards. Second-year WR Kayshon Boutte took the majority of the 'X' receiver snaps, finishing the game with two catches for 34 yards and some nice run blocks.
7. S Marte Mapu Might've Been Calling the Patriots Defense in Season Debut
Second-year S/LB Marte Mapu was calling the defensive signals on Sunday. Mapu is a student of the game lauded for his high IQ and has also been taking mental reps while rehabbing a calf injury to prep for potentially calling the defense. Mapu had some great moments in this one, but there were also times when all the window dressing for Miami got him out of position. Overall, Mapu playing 98.7% (74) of the defensive snaps was impressive, seeing that it was his first game back from injury. Mapu's return also allowed LB Jahlani Tavai to play more on the edge, which is where he's most comfortable.
8. Patriots Special Teams Has Highs and Lows
Lastly, the Patriots special teams units also rode the roller coaster a bit in Sunday's loss. The game started with a too many men on the field penalty that gave Miami a free first down.
However, the Pats bounced back with a blocked punt by special teams ace Brenden Schooler, a field-flipping 70-yarder by punter Bryce Baringer, and a 15-yard punt return by Marcus Jones that gave the Patriots some hope for a last-second comeback.
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
