10 things we learned about the Patriots in Week 5 of the NFL season.
The New England Patriots lost another winnable game on Sunday. Hosting the lowly Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium — a team down to its third-string starting quarterback — they were dropped their fourth game in a row with a final score of 15-10.
Let’s get into our takeaways from what was a snoozefest for most of the afternoon.
1. The coaching staff is in over its head: Five games into his career as Patriots head coach, Jerod Mayo remains on a steep learning curve; the coach he is today may not be the coach he is at the end of the season and beyond. That said, he and his staff keep contributing to the team’s struggles so far this season.
Mayo’s predecessor, Bill Belichick, used to call guys like him “error repeaters.” Once again, at the end of the first half, the Patriots made very questionable decisions that led to the Dolphins having a chance to get some free points at the end of the half.
They also had 12 men on the field on a punt, which gave the Dolphins a free first down; Christian Gonzalez made sure that the penalty didn’t hurt them, but that still cannot happen. If you cannot get the personnel right on a critical play, the head coach has to be alert to call a timeout before the ball is snapped.
There also are offensive coaching questions. The play calling is inconsistent at best, and, though the overall talent may not be particularly exciting, they also don’t seem to be putting their players in the best position to succeed. Take Antonio Gibson, who averaged over 8 yards per carry against Miami but only carried the ball six times. Between him and Rhamondre Stevenson, Alex Van Pelt called just 18 runs compared to 37 passes. Lest we forget, the Patriots led the game for almost three full quarters.
“I expected to take my lumps just like a lot of other first-year head coaches,” Mayo said after the game. “I’m fine with that. It’s about the guys in that locker room, and we have to be better. We, including me.”
It’s early, but the initial review of the Patriots’ new-look coaching staff is not good. The hope is that more experience for Mayo and his crew will lead to better results.
2. Penalties continue to be an issue: The insufficient coaching also is reflected in New England’s high penalty number. The Patriots finished with two more accepted penalties (12) than points (10) on Sunday, and are — frankly — simply not good enough to overcome those issues.
There were several head-scratching instances of penalties called against the team on Sunday. Following Brenden Schooler’s blocked punt, for example, the Patriots had the ball at the 23-yard line and despite gaining 29 yards, were stopped at the 14 resulting in a missed field goal: the drive was pushed back twice by holding calls.
Defensively, Keion White committed two 15-yard penalties on the same drive, which is downright impressive, and Christian Elliss was responsible for a bad pass interference on a 5-yard slant on 3rd-and-14, resulting in an automatic first down.
Not being good is one thing, but being both bad and undisciplined is never going to cut it in this league. The Patriots need to clean up their act quickly, because Sunday’s performance bordered on embarrassing in that aspect.
3. The ice is getting thinner for Jacoby Brissett: The Patriots offense isn’t good, and its starting quarterback is not making things better. In fact, it feels like Jacoby Brissett is actively holding the unit back at this point in time.
There is no denying his toughness, and he continues to get up after getting crushed over and over again, but he isn’t a starting-caliber quarterback. His decision to throw the final pass of the game short of the end zone and in the middle of the field might have been the nail in the coffin; the game was over as soon as that pass was completed in bounds because Hunter Henry had no chance of scoring or leaving the field to stop the clock.
“Jacoby is out there trying to do what we’ve asked him to do from the start,” said Jerod Mayo. “He’s taking some big hits, and his toughness continues to show up. Execution from the entire offense has to be better going forward.”
How long the coaching staff is going to allow Brissett to be the starter will be seen, but the fan base is starting to get restless and calling for Drake Maye to show what he can do.
Brissett is in there because he is supposed to be the smart veteran. Plays like his final pass, however, only makes you question what he really gives the Patriots that Drake Maye doesn’t, beyond the fact that he is taking hits that the rookie doesn’t have to take.
4. Christian Gonzalez is a star: The Patriots don’t have many blue-chip players on their roster, but they certainly have one in Christian Gonzalez. Another week matched up against a superstar wide receiver, and another week locking him down was on the menu for the sophomore on Sunday. Tyreek Hill finished with six catches for 69 yards, but most of that production did not come against Gonzalez.
He also ran a route for Odell Beckham Jr. in the first quarter, undercut it, and made a diving interception. He is turning into one of the best corners in the league, and, while the Patriots have struggled in zone defense, when Gonzalez is lined up 1-on-1 against pretty much anyone, he is an eraser.
5. Patriots ride the special teams rollercoaster: There were plenty of positives for the Patriots special teams unit on Sunday: Brenden Schooler continuing his ascent to an elite special teamer with a blocked punt; Bryce Baringer once again averaging over 50 yards per punt; a nice punt return by Marcus Jones at the end of the game.
However, there also was some bad. Joey Slye, who had been solid all year, missing a 33-yard field goal; Baringer shanking a punt at the end of the first half; the aforementioned 12 men on the field penalty to convert a third down.
Jeremy Springer is in his first year as an NFL special teams coordinator, and there are definitely bright spots. The play overall is still a little too inconsistent, though.
6. Daniel Ekuale makes an impact: Someone needed to step in for Christian Barmore following his blood clots diagnosis, and the vacancy has been felt pretty strongly so far. On Sunday, Daniel Ekuale did the best job of any interior defensive lineman replicating some of Barmore’s performance this season.
Ekuale was all over the field versus Miami. He made plays in the backfield, helped as a run defender, and put some pressure on the quarterback as well. He finished his game with nine total tackles, a tackle for loss, and 0.5 sacks. The Patriots are in desperate need for guys to step up and play above their expectations, and Ekuale did just that on Sunday.
7. The offensive line shows signs of life: During the week, offensive line coach Scott Peters mentioned that he thought Michael Onwenu would be better suited at guard and that they wanted him there, if possible. Well, they did just that on Sunday, moving Demontrey Jacobs to right tackle with Vederian Lowe back healthy at left tackle.
The protection still wasn’t great, but it was better, and the run blocking continued to look good. The Patriots need the offensive line to gel and play better if they’re going to start Drake Maye this season, and Sunday was a step in the right direction.
Nick Leverett was at center, and I think there’s a chance that Bryan Hudson, who took a good number of snaps in practice with Leverett banged up, might get a chance to show what he has. Regardless of whether it’s Leverett or Hudson, it was good to see the line play better on Sunday, even if it was a small improvement. If they can continue to improve, the Patriots could start moving their offense in the right direction.
8. Marte Mapu looks good in first action: Marte Mapu had been on the shelf since the beginning of training camp, but he was finally ready for game action this week. With Jabrill Peppers and Kyle Dugger both out for the game, he was thrust into action in his first game.
He didn’t take long to make an impact, and his athleticism and physicality were easy to see on the field. He played safety and he played linebacker, and frankly, he looked like one of the best players on defense on Sunday. It was good to see, and hopefully he will build on the performance and continue to get better as the season goes on.
9. Rhamondre Stevenson looks how he’s supposed to look: Through four games, Rhamondre Stevenson — the Patriots best offensive player — had fumbled the ball four times. It got to a point that he was replaced in the starting lineup by Antonio Gibson. He still got the majority of the carries in the game versus Miami, and ran hard, including a 33-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Stevenson ran hard all game and, better yet, held onto the ball. The Patriots need their best offensive player moving forward, and the one-two punch of him and Gibson is a really solid duo. If Stevenson can keep his ball security under control, the Patriots should feel good about relying on him again moving forward.
10. The chance was there: Football is a game of inches, and the Patriots lost on Sunday because of Ja’Lynn Polk’s heel. Obviously, there were many other moments in the game, but that play will be the lasting imagine of this game.
The ruling itself was not without controversy, because Polk was able to get his toe down first before stepping down with his heel out of bounds. Unfortunately, the rule states that the whole step has to be in bounds, and Polk’s heel came down on the line. The Patriots are in need of guys who can make difficult plays, and they are going to need Polk to step up and make plays, even if they are difficult, and even if his quarterback doesn’t give him a good opportunity to make a play. It’s not fair, it’s just the way things are right now.