What we learned in Pats-Dolphins: Discipline, play-calling in focus originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — Jacoby Brissett moved slowly through the Patriots locker room on Sunday, among the most beat up and frustrated on a beat up and frustrated team following its 15-10 loss to Miami.
“Nothing was good,” Brissett said at his postgame presser.
He wasn’t far off, particularly from an offensive standpoint for the Patriots. Let’s get to what we learned in Week 5 — the bad, the ugly and even a positive note or two.
The story of the weekend, one could argue, is not only that the Patriots lost. It’s how they lost. In a winnable game against a team starting a third-string quarterback, Jerod Mayo’s team picked up 12 penalties for 105 yards. New England was actually flagged for 14 on the day (including one intentional delay of game penalty) in what was arguably the team’s sloppiest performance of the year.
The reason that particular distinction is at all in doubt is because there have been several sloppy performances already turned in through five weeks. While penalties hadn’t been an issue for New England going into the Dolphins game — the team averaged only four per game prior to Sunday — a general lack of attention to deal has persisted.
🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast: The Aftermath: Patriots pick the worst time for sloppy performance | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled four times in the first four games of the year. Patriots pass-rushers, for three consecutive weeks, had difficulty keeping quarterbacks in the pocket. Unblocked pressures have been a problem all season.
Discipline. Lack of focus. Coaching. They can all be pointed to as issues through the early portion of this season, and on Sunday there just happened to be a dozen penalties to serve as evidence. The personal foul penalty from Keion White (led to a field goal) and the pass interference penalty from Christian Elliss (led to a touchdown) were particularly brutal third-down mistakes that led to points.
This team isn’t talented enough to be off on its details. And the details continue to slip through the cracks too often for them.
The Patriots offense has been derailed at points this season by poor offensive line play. And the same was true of certain moments in Sunday’s loss. On the game’s opening drive, Jacoby Brissett was sacked twice for a loss of 13 total yards.
Brissett was pressured on 49 percent of his dropbacks (18 of 37), and he absorbed nine hits. The Patriots line was also flagged for a false start and three holding penalties. Not what they’re looking for, to be sure. Far from an immaculate performance.
But when it came to the pressures allowed, not all were created equal. Yes, many arrived quickly. Nine of the 18 impacted the play in less than 2.5 seconds after the snap. Six of those nine impacted the play in less than 2.0 seconds. Not much for quarterbacks to do in those situations, in all likelihood.
But there were five pressures that were generated 3.5 seconds (or more) after the snap. And there were other unsuccessful pass plays — including a quick swing pass to Stevenson on third down and a sideline shot to Ja’Lynn Polk on third down — that were unsuccessful despite the absence of pressure.
The question now becomes whether or not the line showed enough to make Jerod Mayo comfortable playing Drake Maye this coming week. They had their issues, but they also — as Mayo admitted in his Monday morning presser — showed progress while trotting out their fifth starting line combination in as many weeks.
In a game where the Patriots nearly averaged enough for a first down on their run plays, they sure did pass a lot.
The team ran for a whopping 7.9 yards per carry and yet still passed the football — for an average of 4.7 per attempt — almost twice as often, racking up 34 attempts. And that wasn’t the approach because of the score; the Patriots led for about 44 minutes of game action.
Can’t blame “game flow.”
When the Patriots chose to throw, perhaps more than the sheer volume of throws, was also head-scratching.
At the end of the first half, with 1:43 left, the Patriots had the ball on their own 5-yard line. They ran for eight yards, and it would’ve made sense for them to try to run out the clock or force Miami to burn timeouts.
Instead, they passed twice incomplete, stopping the clock with 55 seconds remaining. After a short Bryce Baringer punt and a 12-yard return, the Dolphins were sniffing field goal range. They botched the opportunity with a penalty and a fumbled snap, but the clock management by New England was still worth noting.
Later in the game, with 1:08 remaining in the fourth quarter and with three timeouts, the Patriots had a first-and-10 situation from the Dolphins 12. Despite having run the ball well all afternoon, they opted to pass four consecutive times, including against lighter boxes on first (six defenders) and second down (five defenders).
Jerod Mayo made it clear he doesn’t intend to change play-callers any time soon, but the reliance on the pass — when the Patriots possess one of the worst passing attacks in football — sparked legitimate questions.
The Patriots saw a slight uptick in their use of motion at the snap, calling six plays with that kind of movement, accounting for 11.3 percent of their overall snaps. They used motion at the snap on eight percent of their plays over the first four weeks of the season. (For reference, the Cowboys were 30th in the NFL through four weeks by using motion at the snap on 11.1 percent of their plays.)
The Patriots accumulated 38 yards on those six at-the-snap-motion plays, giving them an average of 6.3 yards per play on those calls. They picked up 24 yards on a run by Antonio Gibson on one of those calls.
Though the Patriots offense is struggling, their offensive linemen appreciate the toughness and leadership Brissett has shown through five weeks. The veteran quarterback has absorbed 49 hits over the course of the early portion of this season.
Asked about the continuous conversations outside One Patriot Place about when to play Maye, starting left tackle Vederian Lowe said he trusts the path the coaching staff has taken.
“I would just say, we all just need to trust the process,” Lowe said. “Mayo knows exactly what he’s doing. We’re going to continue doing business as business is done. We’re going to continue to stand behind Jacoby and continue lifting Drake up at the same time because he has a bright future in this league. He’s going to be a great player.
“Jacoby, he’s our guy. He’s our captain. He’s leading our offense and he’s been doing a great job making sure we’re all on the same page. We’re just gonna keep going, head down, eyes forward, and just keep chugging away. We’ve got a lot of great ball left in us. We just need a chance to put it out there.”
In coverage on Tyreek Hill for much of the day, the second-year cover man allowed just three catches for 55 yards. He also came up with a pick, broke up a pass, and made six tackles.
After a day during which it was hard to find the positive for New England, Gonzalez clearly fell into that category.
