Patriots Week 13 Report Card In Last Minute Loss To Indy
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The Patriots lost another winnable game on Sunday. In fact, this was a game that they should have won relatively easily. But once again, unforced errors, questionable clock management at the end of each half, and terrible red zone issues plague the team.
The Patriots outgained Indy 422 to 253. They outrushed them 200 to 144, out gained them in the passing game 222 to 109, and had a 34:12 to 25:48 time of possession advantage. They won the turnover battle being a +1.
But the Patriots were only 2-6 in the red zone, while Indy was 3-4. Penalties were once again an issue. On one red zone possession they were flagged with two holding penalties on back-to-back plays taking them from a first and goal from Indy’s two-yard line to the 12, wiping out a Rhamondre Stevenson TD, to the 22 after another holding penalty.
The red zone defense continues to struggle and the defense as a whole couldn’t get off the field with the game on the line. Indy converted three fourth down attempts on the final drive.
So, here are our grades this week for the Patriots-Colts game.
Drake Maye was terrific in this game. He did a fantastic job of standing in the pocket and moving to avoid pressure while keeping his eyes downfield. The Colts play a ton of zone defense and using the tight ends he sliced them up effectively.
When the Colts did play man coverage, he was able to scramble outside the pocket and make yards to keep the chains moving. Maye ran five times for 59 yards including a 41-yard run.
He completed 24-30 passes (80%) for 238 yards with a touchdown and interception for a passer rating of 96.9. The one interception came in the end zone. He placed the ball down low where only Hunter Henry could get it, but the ball bounced off Henry’s hands straight up into a defender. It wasn’t a great throw but one that normally is a catch Henry makes.
Rhamondre Stevenson had a good day. He gained 73 yards on 18 carries, good for a 4.1-yard average. He had a direct snap touchdown run erased to a holding penalty. He also caught three passes for 21 yards.
Antonio Gibson had a very good game garnering 62 yards on seven carries (8.9-yard average), including an impressive 11-yard touchdown run. Combined, Stevenson and Gibson ran for 135 yards on 25 carries, a 5.4-yard average.
Besides Maye’s 59 yards rushing, Kendrick Bourne had one run for 6 yards and a first down.
The wide receivers were targeted 14 times and had 10 catches for 100 yards, which is nearly the same output as a week ago and not nearly enough. Kayshon Boutte led the wide receivers with three catches on six targets for 41 yards.
Kendrick Bourne had three catches on three targets for 39, and a had a 6-yard TD called back due to a penalty, while Pop Douglas had the most catches (4) on four targets but for just 20 yards. Ja’Lynn Polk was targeted once but didn’t catch it.
A large part of the reason the Patriots struggle so much in the red zone is the lack of production out of the wide receivers. The route running is many times off, and they fail to get separation. Look at how little they’re targeted in the RZ.
Where would the Patriots’ offense be without Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper in 2024? Politically correct answer: Up a… Ahem creek without a paddle. Imagine what these two could do if the offense had better pass protection and wide receivers?
Henry and Hooper were both terrific once again. We wrote on Sunday that the Colts have trouble with covering tight ends. Maye targeted them 13 times on Sunday. Combined they made 11 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Henry was targeted nine times and had seven catches for 75 yards. He had that one pass in the end zone bounce off his hands on the ground that was intercepted. While the pass wasn’t perfect, it was a catch that Henry usually makes and cost the team seven points. That knocked the grade a little bit.
Hooper was targeted four times and had four catches for 42 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass from Maye.
The Patriots offensive line was a mixed bag on Sunday. The offense rolled up 422 yards, which is a very impressive number. And perfectly balanced with 200 yards on the ground and a net 222 through the air.
But the devil is in the details. Penalties came at inopportune times. And the production at crunch time and in the red zone was so frustrating. Going 2-6 in the red zone ultimately cost them the game, any of the four missed opportunities would have won the game.
After Christian Gonzalez intercepted Anthony Richardson at the Patriots’ 48-yard line with 8:06 to go, any points would have effectively iced the game. But the OL was stopped for the first time. Stevenson ran for two, was thrown a three-yard loss, and on third and eleven Maye was sacked. It was the only time the Patriots were forced to punt all game.
On their first RZ possession, the plays were sack, two-yard run, sack.
On their second possession in the RZ, Maye hit Henry with an 11-yard pass, then a holding penalty wiped out a Stevenson TD, followed by another hold putting them at the 22.
The Patriots’ defensive line was gashed by the Colts running game allowing 144 yards on 34 carries. Jonathan Taylor gained 96 yards on 25 carries. But the damage was done by Richardson who ran nine times for 48 yards and a touchdown.
The key to the game was to keep Richardson in the pocket and force him to throw. He had a completion percentage of under 50 percent this season. And pressure him in the pocket into making mistakes. They failed to do so.
The Patriots got zero sacks. Christian Barmore and Devon Godchaux didn’t have great games watching the game, a further look at the game tape may change that evaluation.
The linebackers got two QB Hits from Christian Ellis and Yannick Ngokoue, an interception that was tipped by Jahlani Tavai and picked off by Ellis. But the unit had no sacks and had issues in the running game.
Anfernee Jennings and Tavai each had five tackles, while Tavai added a pass defensed.
Without all the motion that the Rams and Dolphins ran, there were a lot less communications issues with the secondary. However, they had another busted coverage in the first half that resulted in a too-easy touchdown.
At the snap, the Colts ran all the receivers from right to left and the Patriots took the bait. Christian Ellis blitzed and no one accounted for Jonathan Taylor, who was all alone for the touchdown. But Christian Gonzalez and Jabrill Peppers each had strong games.
Gonzalez was split between covering Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce and allowed just two catches for 14 yards while in coverage. He also had an interception and a pass defensed.
Peppers was inactive for eight games, and returned to play every defensive snap and led the team in tackles (9) and added a tackle for loss. But despite holding Richardson to just 12-24 for 109 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs, they couldn’t get the stop with the game on the line.
The ST units were up and down on Sunday. Marcus Jones had two punt returns for 31 yards. Antonio Gibson had three kickoff returns for 80 yards, The coverage units were good.
Joey Slye made 3-5 on field goal attempts and there seemed to be communication issues on the first miss, which he missed badly. Something was definitely off, perhaps with the timing as he looked back to Bryce Barringer immediately after kicking it. He missed a 68-yarder at the end of regulation. That would have been the longest field goal in NFL history. He hit it well but it was short.
Barringer only punted once at the end of the game and he shanked a 38-yarder
The coaching staff had some questionable play calls but offensively, I thought AVP called a strong game. They rolled up over 400 yards of offense. They should have scored more than 24 points but much of that has to do with personnel. It is becoming clearer what the concepts are for the offense. And they are good, but penalties and talent level are killing them right now.
Defensively it is a different story. This is basically the same unit that was a good defense in 2023. But they are not following the basic principles that they learned under Belichick. Taking away the opponent’s best weapon, and making adjustments in-game.
Allowing a team to go 19 plays for a game-winning drive is not a good look. Both offense and defense have to improve in the red zone.
Jerod Mayo had some questionable calls. He didn’t use any timeouts on the Colts final touchdown drive, which would have given the offense more time to score. And that is a fair criticism. I thought he should have challenged the 3rd and 10 reception for seven yards by Indy’s Will Mallory. It appeared that the ball clearly hit the ground.
But Mayo said that he never got a good look at it, which is understandable. That one falls on the replay officials in New York who should have stopped play on it.
The last issue with Mayo was the decision to forego a Hail Mary pass on the game’s final play and attempt what would have been a new NFL record 68-yard field goal. I personally would have put the ball in Maye’s hands but perhaps Mayo doesn’t feel the confidence in his wide receivers to make the play. Slye hit a great ball, it was straight down the field but came up short.
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We’re on to the bye week, time for the team to heal up from injuries, do some intensive self-scouting and try to finish the final stretch on an upnote.
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