The “Pat Patriot” reds were back on the field at Gillette Stadium for a second time this season on Sunday, as the Patriots played host to the Indianapolis Colts.
The last time the Patriots donned their throwbacks this season came in Drake Maye’s first career start - a 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans that saw the rookie throw 3 touchdowns and 2 picks on the day.
It looks like the reds might need to go away for a while, as the Patriots fell to 0-2 wearing the throwbacks, losing to the Colts on Sunday 25-24. Indianapolis pulled within one on a late 80-yard touchdown drive, and then converted a two-point conversion for the win with 12 seconds remaining.
New England is now 3-10 on the season with four games remaining on their schedule.
Here are your “Ups & Downs” for Week 13. Let’s start positive:
Ups:
- Drake Maye: After a bad week against the Dolphins in Week 12, Maye looked back to his play-making self on Sunday.
As we’ll discuss later, Maye’s 41 yard scramble on the second drive of the game is the type of play that will continue to invite Josh Allen comparisons from Patriots fans eagerly waiting for the next phase of this rebuild to take shape.
To go along with the legs, Maye was making all the throws you’d want your future-franchise quarterback to make.
His most impressive play as a passer came on his team’s fourth possession in the first half. On 2nd and 7 from the Colts 16, Maye dropped back to pass, taking on moderate pressure as the pocket began to collapse. The rookie held strong, and made a beautiful throw to tight end Austin Hooper towards the pylon, putting the ball where only his man could grab it. Hooper turned his body, and he was in the end zone for 6. The extra point from kicker Joey Slye was good, and New England took a 16-14 lead.
On the next possession, Maye was put in a two minute offense situation. Despite two holding penalties from his offensive line, Maye was able to lead his offense all the way to the Colts 4 yard line with 27 seconds left in the half. But the offensive line wasn’t done just yet, forcing Maye into a sack on 3rd down that ended up setting up a missed field goal to end the second quarter. Maye drove the ball 51 yards on 9 plays over 2 and a half minutes, and was let down by his blockers and kicker.
Later in the game, on a 2nd and 3 from the Colts 7 yard line, Maye put the ball right on tight end Hunter Henry, who was falling into the end zone on what should have been a touchdown catch. Unfortunately for Maye, Henry bobbled the ball, and the definite touchdown turned into a tip-ball interception for Colts linebacker Julian Blackmon. All of the air came out of the stadium, and it was Colts ball from their own 17 yard line. Maye’s arm and legs put the Patriots in position for points, and it was yet another situation where his teammates let him down.
On the Patriots touchdown drive at the top of the fourth quarter, Maye made three awesome throws that led to an eventual Antonio Gibson rushing touchdown, as well as a successful two-point conversion:
- Maye to Kendrick Bourne for 18 yards on 2nd and 10 from the Colts 43
- Maye to Hooper for 7 yards on a crucial 3rd and 3 from the Colts 18
- Maye to Kayshon Boutte for 2 points to make it a 24-17 game with 8:43 remaining in the game
It was a great bounce-back week for the kid out of North Carolina, and Patriots fans can continue to focus on Maye’s development when looking for positivity as it relates to the 2024 season.
- Run Blocking: On the second play of the game, Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson ran through a hole big enough for a midsized sedan, and took the ball 32 yards to the Colts 39 yard line. The drive didn’t result in an end zone trip despite getting the ball all the way down to the Colts 5, but Stevenson and fellow running back Antonio Gibson averaged 10.8 yards per carry on four combined rushing attempts. Slye was good from 35, and New England took an early 3-0 lead.
On the second drive of the game, Maye took matters into his own hands, scrambling left for 41 yards. It wasn’t a designed run, but left tackle Vederian Lowe kicked his pass rusher outside enough to open up the massive rush lane. Another promising drive only ended in 3 points, as Slye was good from 31 yards out to make it a 7-6 game in favor of Indy.
In the first half alone, Maye, Stevenson and Gibson combined for 124 yards on 14 carries. While Maye made the throws, the legs of the offense helped keep things moving.
To open the second half, there was more production on the ground for the Patriots offense.
Receiver Kendrick Bourne took a jet sweep handoff from Jacoby Brissett (who was in the game for one play under center for some reason) on 3rd and 1 from the Patriots 35, and picked up the first down on a 6-yard carry.
Multiple big runs from Maye and Gibson helped set up another red zone opportunity for the Patriots offense, but unfortunately saw the drive end on a fluky tip-ball interception at the goal line as Henry bobbled the ball right into Blackmon’s hands.
Gibson finally got rewarded for all his hard work on the day in the fourth quarter, as he ran one in from 11 yards out on 2nd and 10 to help the Patriots take a 24-17 lead with 8:43 remaining in the game.
It was an even 200 yards rushing for the Patriots on Sunday, which has to be noted despite the losing effort (it's kind of the point of this column).
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has preached the importance of a balanced offense all season long, and has even forced the issue at times when the running game clearly wasn’t there. That wasn’t the case on Sunday.
Some Good, Some Bad:
- Joey Slye: A special section for the kicker!
In the first half, Slye was one of New England’s best weapons, accounting for 10 of New England’s 16 points.
The exclamation point was a 54-yard field goal that made it a 9-7 game with 12:49 to go in the second quarter.
But there’s a reason we had to include “some bad” for Slye.
The 28-year-old missed a field goal from 25 yards out at the end of the first half, depriving the Patriots of points heading into halftime.
Despite kicking the fourth longest field goal in NFL history earlier this year, it’s been a bit of an up-and-down year for the Virginia Tech product. He’ll boot a 50+ yarder with ease, then miss a gimme sucking the life out of the stadium.
And let’s give him a tip of the cap for booting the crap out of what would have been the longest field goal in NFL history at the end of regulation. It was a miss, but an honest effort for Slye.
I can’t quite figure this guy out.
Downs:
- Undisciplined: 7 accepted penalties for a loss of 88 yards.
Holding. Illegal Formation. Pass Interference.
The Pats were playing the hits on Sunday.
The true back-breaker came on the Colts final drive in regulation, when Alex Austin was called for defensive pass interference on 3rd and 9 that kept the Colts alive in the ballgame, and moved the ball up to the Patriots 20 yard line.
Whether or not head coach Jerod Mayo can help his players once they cross the white lines is up for debate. One thing is true - in the eight games the Patriots have had seven-or-more accepted penalties, their record is 1-7.
- Offensive Line: You can’t be surprised at this point, guys. It’s inevitable at this point.
On the opening drive of the game, the Patriots had the ball all the way down to the Colts 5 yard line. On 3rd and goal, Maye took an 11 yard sack that forced New England into a field goal to open the game.
On the second drive of the game for New England, a huge scramble from Maye followed by consecutive 11-yard completions by Maye to his tight ends had the ball all the way down to the Indianapolis 2 yard line.
These consecutive completions were followed by consecutive holding penalties from Mike Onwenu and Layden Robinson, putting New England in a rare 1st and goal from the 22 yard line.
The distance was too much to overcome, and the Patriots were once again saddled with a field goal deep in Indianapolis territory instead of a touchdown.
On the team’s fifth possession, Robinson was called for his second hold of the day, pushing the Patriots back into a 2nd and 15 from their own 37 yard line with 2 minutes to go in the second quarter. Five plays later, it was another holding call - this time on right tackle Demontrey Jacobs.
Despite the two holding penalties, Maye still managed to set up a 3rd and 3 from the Indianapolis 4 yard line with 27 seconds to go. Unfortunately for Maye, his offensive line got boat raced, forcing the rookie out of the pocket into a 3-yard sack. Lowe was called for holding on the play, but the penalty was declined. 4th and 6 brought Slye on for a chip-shot field goal that he missed, and the Patriots went into the half with yet another red zone failure (more on those coming up).
In the fourth quarter, Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson threw an awful interception directly to Christian Gonzalez. With New England on top 24-17 with 8 minutes left to play, it was time for New England to use this turnover as their shot to put the nail in the coffin for Indianapolis. Instead, it was three-and-out as Maye was sacked on 3rd and 11 for a loss of 2 yards.
This put the ball back in Indy’s hands with a chance to tie the game with just over 5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and the Colts methodically drove down the field and won the ballgame.
19 plays, 80 yards, and a touchdown followed by a two-point conversion for the win.
Brutal.
- Red Zone Offense: Speaking of those red zone failures…yikes.
These are the results of the Patriots six trips to the red area on Sunday:
- A 35-yard field goal from Slye after losing 11 yards on a sack on 3rd and goal from the Colts 5 yard line
- A 31-yard field goal from Slye after an incompletion to Bourne on 3rd and goal from the Colts 13 yard line
- A 16-yard touchdown pass from Maye to Hooper
- A missed 25-yard field goal from Slye after Maye took a 3-yard sack and the end of the second quarter
- A tip-ball interception on the goal line after Maye put the ball perfectly on Henry
- An 11-yard touchdown run from Gibson with 8:43 to go in the fourth quarter
For those keeping score at home, that’s two touchdowns on six red zone trips on the day.
For an offense that has struggled to find an identity all season long, you need that percentage to be way higher if you want to compete down the stretch this season.
- Run Defense: From the opening drive of the game for the Colts, Indianapolis moved the ball with ease on their way to a touchdown - 8 plays, 71 yards, with just over 4 minutes coming off the clock. 5 runs, just 2 throws. Decisive.
Two drives later, it was more of the same for the Colts offense - on top of being gifted 29 yards on a pass interference call on linebacker Jahlani Tavai, it was 8 plays, 70 yards, with just over 4 minutes coming off the clock. More rushing yards for Indianapolis.
The Colts opened the second half with a 13 play, 68 yard drive that lasted 7 and a half minutes, eventually ending with kicker Matt Gay’s first field goal of the day to give the Colts a 17-16 lead. Sure, it wasn’t 6 for the Colts, but Indy’s offensive line bullied New England all the way down the field with star running back Jonathan Taylor. Not how you wanted to open a half after the way your offense handled the end of the first half, as previously discussed.
Skipping ahead to 1:57 left in the ballgame, the Patriots had the Colts in a 4th and 2 from the Patriots 41 yard line. With Indy down 7, they opted to go for it, riding the legs of Richardson with a designed outside run to keep the drive alive.
It was death by a thousand cuts on that eventual game-winning drive, as the Colts used their legs to set up the eventual game-winning touchdown pass from Richardson to receiver Alec Pierce. And on the two point conversion try, Richardson went beast mode, punching the ball into the end zone up the middle to give Indy a 25-24 lead with 12 seconds remaining in the game.
The Patriots are on their bye week in Week 14. After their week off, they’ll head out to Arizona to take on the Cardinals, who fell to 6-6 on the season on Sunday with a loss to the Vikings in Minnesota.
Arizona will face NFC West rival Seattle in Week 14 before hosting New England in Week 15.