If you were hoping the New England Patriots would clean up their self-inflicted errors and poor attention to detail after their Week 12 debacle in Miami, you were let down Sunday.
The Patriots fell 25-24 to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13 despite racking up 422 yards of total offense (compared to Indy's 253) and making six trips to the red zone. New England committed seven penalties for 88 yards, scored just two touchdowns on those six red zone trips, missed a 25-yard field goal and allowed the Colts to engineer a 19-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in the game-winning touchdown and 2-point conversion.
For Patriots Insider Phil Perry, the defeat had a familiar theme.
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"Just an alarming lack of detail that continues to plague this offense specifically," Perry said Sunday on Patriots Postgame Live, as seen in the video player above. "It really plagued the entire team today. I'm sure you were losing your mind when you saw (Colts running back) Jonathan Taylor leak out to the flat (and) nobody within 10 yards of him for an easy touchdown defensively."
Taylor's easy 7-yard touchdown reception was very similar to Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane's walk-in touchdown against the Patriots a week earlier. In both instances, the Patriots got their wires crossed on defense and left the opposing running back wide open for an easy TD.
As Perry pointed out, however, the majority of New England's detail-oriented issues Sunday came on offense and included both penalties and a lack of communication.
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"You have the two (holding penalties) that turn a first-and-goal from the 2(-yard line) situation into a first-and-goal from the 22 situation, which leads to the field goal," Perry continued.
"How about (right guard) Mike Onwenu: Right after the Christian Gonzalez pick, they have a loss of 3 yards on third down because he didn't hear the change of play at the line of scrimmage, which he acknowledged. Everyone else did, apparently, but he didn't get it. So, he doesn't block a guy who blows up the play for minus-3 yards and you have to kick another field goal."
Perry also highlighted an offensive spacing issue on a third-and-goal from the 5-yard line that resulted in quarterback Drake Maye taking a sack.
"Kendrick Bourne (was) right on top of Hunter Henry, which leads to a coverage sack and another field goal," Perry noted.
Key play here. Kendrick Bourne and Hunter Henry end up in the same spot on this 3rd-and-goal from the 5.
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) December 2, 2024
Mike Onwenu lost DeForest Buckner, but looked like the lack of spacing contributed to Maye holding onto the ball and taking a sack.
Bourne said later that was on him. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/6ru8T261tb
Even special teams contributed to the miscues, as Joey Slye's missed 25-yard field goal appeared to stem from an issue with Bryce Baringer's hold.
"How about the field goals themselves? Lack of detail there," Perry said. "Joey Slye told us after the fact that there was an operational issue on that chip shot missed 25-yarder, which, to me after watching it, the snap looked OK, (but) I see his palms go to the sky and he looks at the placeholder, Bryce Baringer, as soon as he misses that thing. There had to have been some issue with the hold."
Add in a Hunter Henry drop that led to a Colts interception at the goal line, and it makes this wild stat a bit more believable.
Patriots
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) December 1, 2024
Today had..
PF ≥ 24
Pass yds ≥ 200
Rush yds ≥ 200
Punts ≤ 1
Teams in the Super Bowl era before today
(104-3)
Now..
(104-4)
ouch
"They left innumerable points on the board today," Perry said. "And for a team that struggles to score more than 20 points -- they should have had more than 30 today -- they just kept shooting themselves in the foot."
The Patriots aren't talented enough to win games while making this many mistakes. But even if the front office bolsters the roster this offseason, this team won't make significant improvements until its players eliminate the mental errors that have plagued both sides of the ball this season.
That falls on the players themselves, of course, but also Jerod Mayo and his coaching staff to clean up what has been a sloppy operation for much of the 2024 season.
