Monday Patriots Thoughts: Mayo’s Team Continues to Beat Itself
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Some thoughts on this Monday:
1) Sunday’s performance by New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was probably his best yet for a player who feels like he gets better each time he steps on the field. Maye put together an outstanding effort, completing 24-of-30 (80%) for 238 yards, along with a touchdown and an interception.
What’s a little crazy is that he was even better than that. His interception happened down on the goal line late in the third quarter, with the rookie firing a pass over the middle to tight end Hunter Henry down at the goal line after they had marched down the field in a drive that started from their own 26.
The ball hit Henry in the hands as he was dropping down to the ground, with the tight end trying to stay low as Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin was diving at him. With Henry essentially sitting on the turf at that point, he continued falling backward, and the ball bounced off of his body into the hands of safety Julian Blackmon, who snatched up the football for the turnover.
“Yeah, just try to get to him quick and hopefully he gets in,” said Maye when asked about the play after the game. “I think I put on the wrong shoulder. I think if maybe I put on the opposite shoulder away from the defender, I think that’s maybe a completion there. But it was just unfortunate that it got tipped up. So, just a bummer.”
That’s a ball that, unfortunately, Henry should have caught, ending up as what turned out to be one of only a handful of incompletions by Maye on Sunday. Maye had a solid second half, completing 7-of-10 for 69 yards, including completing 5-of-6 in the fourth quarter. But the biggest thing that continues to stand out is how much he’s continued to grow, and how easy it is at times to forget he’s a rookie given his poise and how he handles himself on the field.
The touchdown throw to Austin Hooper was impressive, with Maye lofting the ball over defenders and putting it in a spot where only Hooper could get it. Hooper then pivoted and took it into the end zone, which at the time put New England back on top at 16-14 heading into the locker room at halftime.
It’s just frustrating that they could never get control of the game, but credit Maye for keeping them in it.
For a player who hates losing, Sunday’s loss, once again, didn’t sit well with Maye, who was visibly frustrated after it was over.
“Yeah, it was heartbreaking. I think our guys fought hard, did a lot of good things. Coach Mayo just preached in the locker room we did a lot of good things on film. I’m proud of the way the guys fought. I’m proud of the defense. I thought they played their butts off, especially our guys up front on offense.”
“They did a great job. I think we ran football for a bunch of yards. I think we were efficient in the passing game and just came up short. It’s a bummer. I hate it for these guys. I hate it for these coaches. We’re practicing hard, we’re fighting hard, and just come up short.”
2) Sunday was another frustrating performance by the defense, which continued to play hard but looked out of place for a good portion of this one.
Players told reporters after the game they weren’t on the “same page” at times, and that remains a theme that is quietly coming back to the coaching staff. Defensive coordinator Demarcus Covington’s group allowed the Colts to go down and score on Indianapolis’ opening possession, but followed that up with Christian Elliss coming up with a huge interception after Jahlani Tavai made a leaping deflection on a pass from Anthony Richardson to Michael Pittman. Elliss alertly came down with the turnover near midfield, and four plays later, the Patriots added a 54-yard field goal by Joey Slye to take a 9-7 lead.
But a drive to start the second half ended up being a bad omen. The Colts put together a 13 play, 68 yard drive at the start of the third quarter where Indianapolis ran the ball on five straight plays, and 9 times overall as Indianapolis hit a 25 yard field goal to take a 17-16 lead.
While they didn’t punch it in, it was a sign that the defense wasn’t in control and Indianapolis both caught a break with the turnover by New England on the Henry interception yet shot themselves in the foot on their next possession after converting a 3rd-and-2 for a 13 yard pass, which ended up being called back when Pittman was flagged for an offensive holding penalty.
However, it’s going to be the final drive that people will likely be discussing – and rightfully so – for the next two weeks. The Colts put together a 19-play drive that went 80 yards and chewed up all but 0:12 seconds of clock, leaving the Patriots with no time to run another play for a chance to pick up the extra 5 yards or so that Slye’s last-gasp 68-yard field goal attempt fell short.
“That was 100% me,” said Mayo on who made the call to try the field goal rather than a Hail Mary attempt. “Look, [Joey] Slye was hitting it well in pregame and I felt that that was the best thing to do to help our team win the football game. Not sure what the numbers are on Hail Mary’s versus the field goal there, but that’s what I felt was right.”
The Colts also added another gut punch by going for two at the end and converting, adding another reminder that the Patriots probably should have done the same thing a month ago down in Tennessee (a 20-17 overtime loss), which was something Jerod Mayo has since taken heat for.
Still, watching Covington’s group run all over the field while looking out of place for a good portion of the game remains puzzling. While you can’t necessarily say this is one of the NFL’s top defenses talent-wise, it doesn’t change the fact they’re still far too good of a unit to get embarrassed the way they did on Sunday.
3) Penalties were a problem again on Sunday, with the Patriots getting flagged 7 times for 88 yards, with the offensive line again getting hit with multiple penalties. They had a key one called early, with an offensive holding call on Mike Onwenu wiping out a touchdown run by Rhamondre Stevenson. Layden Robinson was flagged on the next play, which essentially saw New England go from 1st-and-goal from the 2-yard line, all the way back to 1st-and-goal from Indianapolis’ 22 yard line.
That ended up seeing them kick a field goal. So instead of potentially going up 10-7, they trailed 7-6 and it kept them from being able to get control of the game.
They made another big mistake early in the second quarter. With the Colts sitting at the Patriots’ 44-yard line, for some strange reason, Tavai ended up in coverage on Pittman, and Richardson took advantage. He saw the mismatch and threw a deep ball down the field as Tavai scrambled to catch back up to him.
Unfortunately, Tavai arrived just before the ball got there and crashed through Pittman, with the two falling to the ground in a heap as the official threw the flag.
Again, add that to the list of communication miscues, as there has to be a reason why Tavai ended up on an island against one of the Colts’ top offensive players.
That pass interference penalty went for 29 yards, giving the Colts the football at the New England 15. Four plays later, the Colts scored, putting them up 14-9.
The Patriots avoided another disaster in the fourth quarter after Maye seemingly threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne. Instead, Demario Douglas was flagged for an illegal shift, with the second-year receiver failing to come to a stop after he had gone in motion ahead of the snap. That backed them up to the 11-yard line.
Thankfully, Gibson took it in from 11-yards out on the next play for the touchdown.
“I would say penalties, and look, it’s about us,” said Mayo. “Penalties continue to show up, both operational and post-snap, which we got to do a better job of.”
It’s Week 13 and there are only four games left to play. It’s probably safe to say if they haven’t figured it out by now, it’s likely going to be a painful grind through the end of the season. And that’s a bad sign for an offense that’s improving, yet continues to shoot itself in the foot at critical moments.
4) Joey Slye’s miss from 25-yards out to close out the half was unfortunate, especially since the Patriots could have extended their lead to 19-14 heading into the locker room. He’s had a couple of those as of late, which has muddied what had been a pretty good start to the season. Following the miss, Slye sort of looked down in frustration and it looked like something might have gone awry, but Mayo said that wasn’t the case. “Nothing with the operation,” said Mayo. “It was a miss hit.” He drilled what would have been the potential game-winner and NFL record 68-yarder right down the middle. He just didn’t get quite enough on it, and it fell short.
5) Sunday was a terrific performance by Christian Gonzalez, with the defensive back picking off a pass on a solid play where he stepped in front and snagged the football, along with making a couple of big tackles in key moments. “Yeah, it was a man coverage, so I was man on man,” said Gonzalez on the turnover. “They ran the same route earlier, so saw it, trusted my instincts and went and made the play.”
6) Having Jabrill Peppers back felt like it did give a boost of energy for the defense. Despite being out of position on too many occasions, the group overall played hard and with good energy and Peppers certainly seemed to help provide an aspect that had been missing as of late. He finished the afternoon with a team-high 9 tackles, including one for a loss.
7) New England’s rushing performance was impressive, and it was relatively evenly distributed. They finished with 200 total rushing yards, led by Stevenson (18 carries, 73yds [4.1 avg]), Gibson (7 carries, 62yds [8.9 avg] , 1TD), Maye (5 carries, 59yds [11.8 avg]) and Bourne (1 carry, 6yds).
8) Looking at the stat sheet, this is a game that on paper New England should have dominated. They rushed for 200 yards while Maye passed for 238 along with a touchdown and his interception. Meanwhile, the Colts ran for 144 yards, and Anthony Richardson threw for just 109 yards along with two touchdowns but was picked off twice. Still, the difference in this game was in the red zone where the Colts finished 3-of-4 (75%), while New England finished 2-of-6 (33%). The Colts were also 3-of-3 in goal-to-go, while the Patriots were 0-for-2. “It was tough down there,” said Maye after the game. “It was tight. Tight windows, tight throws. I’ve got to give our guys some chances. I think that was probably the biggest thing, in penalties, I think one of those penalties, we got back into a first and goal from the 20 and just can’t settle for four field goals in the red zone and expect to win ball games.”
9) It was interesting to see the Patriots add a wrinkle by bringing Jacoby Brissett into the game late in the third quarter. The veteran came in on a 3rd-and-1, with the play call seeing Bourne run around the left end for six yards and a first down to move the chains. That drive ended with the interception from Maye to Henry, but seeing the Patriots continue to try and mix things up was encouraging. “Yeah, just mixing it up,” said Maye when asked about it. “So I think, going about our philosophy, hopefully. I’m not trying to share that information. Just glad we picked up the first down.”
10) Given everything that went wrong on Sunday, and what’s gone wrong in recent weeks leading up to this, what might be a welcomed period with this bye week for the coaching staff might not necessarily be a good thing. There’s been enough evidence over the last couple of months that there are absolutely issues with this current set up, and it’s going to be interesting to see if there are any changes made ahead of when we next see this team out on the field. A trip out to Arizona is up next, and that’s a game the Patriots absolutely need. Because after that, they face the Bills twice in three weeks with the Chargers mixed in. That’s not an easy stretch, and closing out the year with seven straight losses is absolutely on the table. That can’t happen.
As a result, instead of a breather, Mayo and his staff should definitely be feeling the heat over this next week. Honestly, it would be surprising if we don’t see any moves. In the end, this is a staff that hasn’t given anyone a reason to feel good about the future through 13 games, and it’s hard to believe ownership doesn’t already have some strong opinions about the guys working under their coach at this point. If Mayo wants to keep his job, he may have to potentially make one or more difficult decisions. Because the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing expecting different results, and it feels like doing nothing would definitely be insane.
Bill Belichick famously said, “players win games, and coaches lose them.” Mayo and people on his staff have fallen into that latter category as of late, and like it or not, changes have to be made. Because as we saw on Sunday, even as much as they’ve struggled at times this season, they’re still too good to be a team that looks this bad.
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The replay I saw of the interception looked like the ball was knocked out of Henry’s hands. Just a great play by the defender.
The Pats likely are going to “lose out” the rest of the games. We all know that. Ian what “moves” are going to change that direction of the team? There isn’t much they can do that they haven’t likely considered already given their issues are now season long. The team has some fundamental flaws at the line of scrimmage on both sides. Personnel issue. With that will come penalties and issues. We all know that. If you swapped in Detroits offensive line onto the pats week 1, boy you’d see the penalty #s go down. Belichick (I’m a big fan)… Read more »
I think you know I’m pretty balanced, but the reality is that coaching is a serious problem. While I know everyone is pointing to Mayo, my feeling is that Covington’s inability to see things in real time is the root of that issue. The guys are out of position frequently throughout games, often times scrambling to make up ground and looking confused. The first touchdown was completely wide open, which was another play we’ve seen in recent weeks of how they’ve typically been one step behind. What’s crazy is even with the miscues and penalties on offense, it’s been their… Read more »