Looking back at Thursday night’s 13-13 finish against the Colts, the Patriots certainly had the potential to put up far more points than the 13 they mustered.
Thursday night was simply a case of missed opportunities, and it started on the opening drive.
They should have had a touchdown on that first series. Tommy DeVito threw a perfect deep ball downfield to Mack Hollins that the receiver couldn’t quite come up with.
On the play, Hollins beat both defensive back Mekhi Blackmon and safety Jonathan Owens up the right sideline, with the veteran finding himself wide open and the ball hitting him right at the goal line.
Had Hollins made the reception, he likely would have finished off the play and scored, but it instead fell incomplete. Part of what threw off the timing was that Blackmon grabbed Hollins as he initially accelerated past him, and the cornerback was ultimately flagged for pass interference.
Still, that’s a catch Hollins likely makes more often than not. Scott Zolak said during the broadcast that the drop likely came due to the wideout losing it in the lights at Gillette Stadium. Instead of a touchdown, the Patriots ended up settling for a 40-yard field goal.
They then had two missed opportunities on their third drive. The first came after DeVito rolled to his right and hit rookie Eli Raridon, who was coming back across the field. Raridon made the reception and then headed up the right sideline with Hollins out in front of him as a blocker for what would have been a 24-yard reception.
Instead, Caleb Lomu, who was in at right tackle, ended up getting engaged with his man too far upfield, which led to him being flagged for “ineligible downfield pass,” negating the play.
“It’s unfortunate. Penalties happen in the game. It’s just as an illegal man downfield, we were throwing the ball, can’t be 3 yards more down the field when they throw,” said Lomu on the play after the game. “And so I’ve just got to be smarter on that and realizing now what was going on in the play. But it’s just an unfortunate situation.”
Two plays later, a 16-yard catch-and-run by Larison was negated due to Efton Chism getting flagged for “illegal block above the waist,” which kept the Patriots stuck in their own territory. DeVito would come up with an 18-yard throw to Hollins to move the chains, but those plays kept New England from getting any momentum.
From there, the drive ultimately stalled and ended with a missed 56-yard field goal by Borregales, who missed three field goals in this game.
“Certainly not our cleanest game on offense, especially, a lot of penalties, a lot of little things that kind of set us back,” DeVito told reporters after the game. “When you have 3 or 4 explosives [explosive plays] in a drive that get called back, it’s tough to score that way. But there was definitely a lot of good that happened. You could tell when we were playing, everybody was doing their job, the ball was moving down the field.”
“But, like I said, just didn’t start off hot enough. And I think that a lot of the penalties and little mistakes here and there, they just need to get nipped in the bud early because it just kills drives.”
The 48-yard bomb from DeVito to Cameron Dorner that was called back is probably the most disappointing. DeVito had pressure bearing down on him and made an unbelievable throw as he released the football, with Dorner fighting off tight coverage to come up with the play.
Instead, James Hudson was also called for “ineligible downfield pass,” which negated the completion.
Fortunately, that was the one drive DeVito was able to finish off, with Kyle Williams hauling in a 12-yard touchdown.
But the mistakes were brutal, and they’re a big reason why the Patriots weren’t able to muster more than 13 points against a Colts defense that wasn’t exactly lights out Thursday night.
Douglas Appears Safe
DeMario Douglas joined both A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs as spectators on the sideline Thursday night, giving a glimpse at where things stand right now in terms of the receiver depth chart.
Currently, the thought is that the Patriots have a group of seven that’s one-man heavy heading into these final weeks of training camp.
The list looks like this, with the final three not necessarily in any order:
Patriots top receivers:
- A.J. Brown
- Romeo Doubs
- DeMario Douglas
- Mack Hollins
- Kayshon Boutte
- Kyle Williams
- Efton Chism
Given what we saw Thursday night, Hollins is likely in their plans for this season, which leaves Boutte, Williams, and Chism as the big question marks.
Williams put together a strong night, making a couple of catches, including a terrific adjustment on a 12-yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone.
He also drew one pass interference penalty and likely would have had another if he had exploited the defender, who never turned around to look for the football.
Meanwhile, Chism also finished the night with three receptions for 20 yards, but he was called for a penalty that negated what would have been a 16-yard run by Lan Larison.
However, Chism’s tenacity was something Vrabel talked about earlier this week, especially how hard he plays even when the football isn’t in his hands.
“I mean, he carved out a role last year, made it easy for us to say that we needed him on this football team,” said Vrabel on Tuesday. “I think he’s got a good skill set of being able to get in there and block, but also marry some of that with some of the run-action passes.”
“He competes. He always takes care of the guy, protects the guy with the ball the best that he can. And I always see him looking to finish when he doesn’t have the football in his hands and continues to make big plays and kind of show up when we need him.”
Quiet Night for Boutte
However, one notable player quietly did little Thursday night, with Kayshon Boutte ending up as the lone receiver not on the stat sheet. DeVito targeted a total of nine different receivers during his time on the field, and Boutte wasn’t one of them.
Overall, eight different receivers played Thursday night, and Boutte finished with the second-fewest snaps behind Hollins. The one caveat is that Hollins’ future is likely pretty safe, and he was likely out there purely due to numbers. But that left Boutte at the bottom of a list of players where it’s unknown what his future holds the further we get into training camp.
Karen Guregian of MassLive indicated in an article after the game that the Colts appeared to be a potential trade partner, with Indianapolis reportedly ‘kicking the tires’ on receiver help.
Patriots Receiver Snap Counts vs Colts
- Mack Hollins – 13 (18%)
- Kayshon Boutte – 16 (22%)
- Kyle Williams – 26 (36%)
- Efton Chism – 32 (44%)
- Nick DeGennaro – 46 (63%)
- Kobe Prentice – 27 (37%)
- Cameron Dorner – 23 (32%)
- Tehjaun Palmer – 19 (26%)
He ended up with a quiet performance Thursday night and didn’t flash during the joint practice, so his future remains uncertain.
Vrabel Optimistic on Brown’s Injury
The Patriots don’t have much depth behind Jared Wilson, who is expected to handle things at center after having spent 2025 at left guard.
Thursday night saw Ben Brown get the nod to begin the game at that spot, and the veteran ended up suffering what appeared to be a scary injury.
Brown was injured on the Patriots’ third drive of the game on a 2nd-and-7 play, which saw DeVito appear to land on the front of Brown’s legs as he stepped up while trying to escape the rush. Brown then went down to one knee and eventually left the field and went to the medical tent.
After that, he was taken to the locker room and didn’t return.
The one bright spot was the fact that Vrabel said after the game that it looked like Brown avoided anything serious.
“He wasn’t able to return, unfortunately,” said Vrabel. “We’ll evaluate…hopefully know more in the morning. I don’t think it’s, again, anything too serious, but I also don’t want to speculate until we’re able to do some more tests.”
That’s potentially good news, as Brown has been a valuable depth piece for an offensive line that still has a lot of questions, especially both at center and interior line. Jacob Rizy replaced Brown on the next play, and Andrew Rupcich, who was in at left guard, got completely blown back after appearing to miss an assignment.
Rizy was seen after the play trying to explain something to him, but things were definitely a little rough after Brown left the game.
Rupcich would later get hurt early in the fourth quarter, with the offensive lineman seen holding his left knee after getting rolled up on as running back Hassan Haskins was tackled behind him.
Of the two injuries, Rupcich’s appeared to be more serious. He eventually walked off the field under his own power and into the blue medical tent, before exiting and staying on the sidelines, which was good news.
New England definitely can’t avoid losing two interior linemen, which is why the Patriots would dodge a significant bullet if both players end up having escaped a significant injury.
Pressure Is on Borregales
Coming into Thursday night’s game, things seemed to be going fairly smoothly for kicker Andy Borregales.
He had strung together some good kicks in camp and seemed to be settling in, but a rough outing Thursday night unfortunately changed things.
He was just 2-of-5 on Thursday night, hitting two of his first three before missing his final two, the last of which was a 49-yarder that sailed wide left and would have won the football game. All of his misses sailed wide left, one of which he appeared to mis*** and had no chance.
Borregales Kicking Attempts:
- 40 yards (Made)
- 56 yards (Missed – Wide Left)
- 52 yards (Made)
- 55 yards (Missed – Wide Left)
- 49 yards (Missed – Wide Left)
Vrabel didn’t seem too happy that his kicker had missed three attempts, including the one at the end that could have kept the game from ending in a tie.
“Three,” said Vrabel when a reporter mentioned Borregales’ misses and whether or not he had a message for his kicker. “I don’t have a message. I mean, we’re expected to make them.”
“That’s pro football. They’re banging them in from 60 yards. They got 2 kickers on the roster. So, Andy knows we have to make those field goals.”
Vrabel was referring to the Colts’ kicker situation, with Indianapolis currently having two kickers in camp. Blake Grupe missed his only attempt of the night from 61 yards out, while Spencer Shrader hit field goals from 46 and 61 yards.
With long kicks becoming more the norm, Vrabel said after the game that the expectation in the NFL is for a kicker to be able to make field goals.
When asked about his evaluation of his specialists and whether or not they might bring in any competition, Vrabel wouldn’t go that far, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy.
“Well, I’m sure we’ll talk about it and see where we’re at,” said Vrabel. “I’m not going to make some decision tonight. But again, we’re going to have misses. We’re going to have mistakes in everything we do. We just need to be able to come back. We need to be able to bounce back, and we need to be able to answer.”
“Guys are going to drop a pass, guys are going to miss a block, we’re going to miss a kick, but you just have to not let those things pile up. And Andy’s been really good with that. And I would anticipate him getting back to work and really starting to focus. And maybe it was a footwork thing or trying to overswing.”
“But I have confidence in Andy. I just … you want to be able to make those. And I think we got in a position to win the football game, and you want to be able to make them.”
Support Us: We're Currently Invisible in Google News
We need your help. A recent algorithm change has destoyed our traffic, and we need a quick moment of your time.
If you enjoy our content, please help us gain visiblity in Google's algorithm by adding us as a preferred source on Google News.
Click the button below and check the box next to "PatsFans.com"
Add as a preferred source on Google News
Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
More Patriots News Headlines:
Friday Patriots Notebook 8/14: Receiver Battle is Getting Interesting
By: Ian LogueAnalyzing the Patriots' 13-13 tie, the receiver battle heats up as Kyle Williams shines, no targets for Kayshon Boutte and Andy Borregales misses 3 FGs.
Patriots vs. Colts Quick Reactions: An Undisciplined Performance
By: Ian LogueReviewing the Patriots' 13-13 tie vs. Colts, penalties marred sharp play from DeVito and surprising Jam Miller, with kicker Borregales struggling.
Vrabel on Gonzalez’s Absence: CB is “Physically Unavailable”
By: Ian LogueAddressing Christian Gonzalez's absence, Vrabel confirms the cornerback is 'physically unavailable' for practice, adding to contract frustrations.
TRANSCRIPT: Tommy DeVito Postgame Transcript 8/13
By: Ian LogueHere's the full transcript of what Tommy DeVito said following the New England Patriots' 13-13 finish against the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night.
TRANSCRIPT: Caleb Lomu Postgame Press Conference 8/13
By: Ian LogueHere's the full transcript of what Caleb Lomu had to say following the Patriots' 13-13 finish against the Indianapolis Colts Thursday Night:
