FOXBOROUGH – The Patriots defense had a seven-point lead to protect. The Colts, a team with playoff aspirations, had the ball late in the fourth quarter desperately trying to tie it up.
This was a pivotal moment for both teams. Jerod Mayo’s team had a chance to make a statement and create some positive energy heading into the team’s bye week.
One defensive stand, and it’s over.
It wasn’t too long ago where that situation was automatic. The defense would hold, and the Patriots would seal the victory.
These aren’t those Patriots.
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
Instead, what played out was a microcosm of the past three months. Mayo’s defense, which had done a decent job all afternoon keeping Anthony Richardson & Co. at bay, imploded.
The Colts merely put together a 19-play execution, going 80 yards, converting three times on fourth down – including fourth-and-goal from the three – to put the ball in the end zone. And for good measure, instead of tying the game with an extra point, Colts second-year quarterback Richardson delivered the knockout blow with a two-point conversion, powering in from the two with 12 seconds to play.
This wasn’t Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck engineering the comeback. It was Richardson, the same quarterback who a few weeks back tapped out for a play and temporarily lost his starter’s job. That was the quarterback who led the Colts to a 25-24 win.
One stop along that drive, the Patriots would have won. One stop on any of the fourth down plays, and the Patriots would have avoided loss No. 10 on the season.
Instead, they couldn’t stymie Richardson, or the Colts, when it mattered.
Following the game, defensive lineman Keion White didn’t pull any punches. He laid the defeat right at the doorstep of the defense.
“I feel like no matter how we lose, it’s always going to be frustrating,” White said. “But I think this one was on us, though, defensively.
“Without watching the film, I think, personally, we had an opportunity to seal the game and stand up and hold them on fourth down specifically. But we didn’t. So it comes down to us.”
Tough to argue. While the offense has had its share of difficulty converting red zone chances into touchdowns, their issues were expected. With a whole new offensive staff, a rookie quarterback, a challenged offensive line, and a collection of No. 3 receivers, all of those factors play into settling for field goals.
The fact the defense has been like a sieve in the red zone is the element that wasn’t expected at the outset. The Patriots weren’t exactly world-beaters last season, but they were much better than this in the red zone.
The Colts went 3-for-4 in the money area Sunday. The previous week, Miami was also 3-for-4. Ditto the LA Rams Week 11. Allowing nine touchdowns in 12 red zone trips the past three games is woeful.
“I feel like it’s crazy that we’re going from such a dominant defense last year to what we are this year,” White said. “I know we have a lot of new guys, but the Patriots have always had a good defense. That should always be the standard. We’ve got to live up to that standard.”
It’s a standard teams that Mayo played on for a decade from 2008 on upheld when he was a linebacker, as well as an assistant coach later on. It’s a standard that began with Richard Seymour, Ty Law, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Ted Johnson, Vince Wilfork, Rodney Harrison in the early 2000s. It continued on with Mayo, Devin McCourty, Dont’a Hightower, Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore.
Even the last few years, there have been remnants, glimpses of those defenses – all coached by Bill Belichick – that delivered with key stops to preserve wins.
The group now coached by Mayo, and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington bend and break at the worst possible times. If there’s one way former coach Belichick has been missed, it’s been with his imprint on the defense, devising confusing looks and being able to navigate that unit during critical moments.
“When we have opportunities to put teams like that away, we gotta put ‘em away,” defensive tackle Davon Godchaux lamented after the loss. “We knew they were going to go for two. We had a chance to get a stop. I thought I had a pretty good read on Anthony Richardson. I knew it was going to be a quarterback power (run). We just gotta make the play. Didn’t do it, and they scored.”
Twenty-four points was a decent output for the offense, but it wasn’t good enough to get a win.
“Drake (Maye), Rhamondre (Stevenson) and the whole offense was killing them the whole game. I knew when they had a chance to go for two, they didn’t want to give the ball back to the offense,” Godchaux said of the Colts. “We didn’t put them away. We have to find a way to get better. We have to find a way to finish games.”
Heading into the game, the Pats ranked 19th out of 32 teams in points allowed. But they were 29th by EPA per play and 30th overall in DVOA.
They did produce two turnovers, with a brilliant Christian Gonzalez interception, and another by Christian Elliss after a Jahlani Tavai tip. But again, that 19-play drive was the only thing that mattered.
It was also a little more than curious that Mayo didn’t use any of his timeouts – save one – during that clock-killing final drive to assure Maye had some time left to counter if Indy scored. Perhaps he wrongfully figured his team would make one of the fourth-down stops along that painful drive.
It didn’t happen.
Defensive players talked about not being on the same page during the final drive, and others, which was also eye-opening considering it’s 13 weeks in.
White pointed to the same mistakes being made that have crippled them all season.
“Me, personally, I’ve been saying all season, we have to play more fundamentally and be on the same page defensively,” he said.
The Patriots knew Richardson was a dual threat. He rushed nine times for 48 yards with a touchdown run, and the two-point conversion. None of his stats really popped from the game, except he delivered in the clutch. He only completed 12 passes, but they came at key moments including the touchdown pass on 4th-and-3 from the goal line to Alex Pierce.
“It just wasn’t good enough. Like you said, we made plays. They made more plays,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve got to – like I said earlier, we’ve got to be able to hold it down for the offense when we get out there with the game on our back. We’ve got to be better.”
Heading into the bye week, with four games left, that refrain is well past the getting old stage.
