6 Frustrations from Patriots’ Week 17 loss
What a way to start the year. For the second week in a row, the New England Patriots face planted against a divisional rival, failing to secure the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC playoffs. As expected, the Denver Broncos defeated the San Diego Chargers later in the afternoon on Sunday, so the road to the Super Bowl will run through the Mile High City.
Patriots fall to Dolphins, 20-10
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world that the Patriots lost to the Miami Dolphins. They managed to emerge out of the game without further additions to the injury report, and they still have two weeks to rest up and prepare for the postseason.
But nonetheless, it was an extremely frustrating afternoon of football for Patriots fans eager to see their team gain momentum. For therapeutic reasons if nothing else, we’re going to vent a bit in this article. Here are six frustrations from the Week 17 loss.
Next: 6. Poor pass defense
6. Poor pass defense
Without a doubt, the dismal offensive performance was the source of most frustrations yesterday. But we’ll get to that in a second. To get things started, let’s talk about the underperforming New England pass defense.
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This time around, the Patriots didn’t have the excuse of an absent Devin McCourty. In fact, McCourty was at fault on numerous occasions, most notably on the longest passing play of the day, DeVante Parker’s 46-yard catch. After Logan Ryan tipped the ball, McCourty just stood there and watched as Parker caught the ball off the deflection. D-Mac has got to fly toward the ball and swat it down, pick it off or level Parker—he did none of those things.
On the day, the Patriots surrendered 350 yards through the air. Four Dolphins receivers caught at least one pass for over 20 yards, including Parker, Greg Jennings, Dion Sims and Damien Williams. The Patriots must sure-up the holes that emerged in the secondary in Week 17 before they face a playoff team. The Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, could have ripped the Patriots wide open yesterday.
Next: 5. Punts, punts and more punts
5. Punts, punts and more punts
This isn’t rocket science. The Patriots lost on Sunday because they only registered 10 points, which was a direct result of their struggles to move the ball. Seven punts off the right foot of Ryan Allen characterized the afternoon for the Pats, ending drives early and giving dangerous punt returner Jarvis Landry plenty of opportunities.
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After starting out the second half on a strong note with Steven Jackson’s first career touchdown as a Patriot, the Patriots’ offensive engine ran out of oil and punted on the next five possessions. That’s not going to win you a football game.
Of course, the Patriots punted so much because they struggled mightily on third down, converting on just four of 14 attempts. It’s not hard to see why the Patriots have dropped consecutive games; they are a combined five of 24 on the most important down in the past two weeks.
Next: 4. First quarter offensive play
4. First quarter play
With under five minutes to go in the first quarter, the Patriots had mustered just three offensive plays. Yes, the Dolphins also went three-and-out on their first possession, but after the Pats punted, the Dolphins got to work and drove down the field for the opening field goal.
The Pats got absolutely whooped in the time of possession category in the first quarter, and it resulted in the defense being on the field far too often.
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This was some of the worst first quarter play we’ve seen out of the Patriots since the rocky start to the 2014 season. In that first month, the Patriots’ offense had a hard time getting going early in games against the Dolphins, Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs.
With Julian Edelman back in the fold, this frustration should subside. Let’s hope.
Next: 3. Offensive line struggles
3. Offensive line struggles
Clearly, the Patriots are desperate for Sebastian Vollmer to be back in the lineup at left tackle. Even LaAdrian Waddle would have been an upgrade over Cameron Fleming yesterday, who had a rough go of it blocking Olivier Vernon.
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Brady was wacked six times and sacked twice, and he was visibly playing with a degree of timidness. Also, the fact that the Patriots simply refused to pass the ball in the first half indicated the level of confidence Josh McDaniels had in the offensive line protecting Brady against one of the highest-paid defensive line in football.
Thankfully, the Patriots got out of this game with a healthy quarterback even though the offensive line struggled so much. While Brady called his ankle “sore” after the game, it appears that he will be fine for the playoffs. Bullet dodged.
Next: 2. Misconnections with Gronk, ‘Dola
2. Misconnections with Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola
Without Edelman on the field, the best targets at Brady’s disposal are Gronk and Amendola. Obviously.
But those guys combined for just 35 yards on four receptions, which is what Edelman usually produces in a single drive.
It’s not like Brady didn’t try to the get the ball to Gronk and Amendola. They just weren’t successful connecting. Gronk only caught two of his seven targets, and Amendola nabbed just two of four targets.
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Meanwhile, the Patriots’ top two receivers were running backs, oddly enough. James White paced the team with two receptions for 63 yards, and Steven Jackson’s 20-yard catch and run was all he needed to rank second in receiving yards on the team yesterday.
Grrrrrr. Frustrating, frustrating. You’d at least expect Amendola to be targeted more than just four times, seeing as how he plays the role of Edelman without No. 11 on the field.
Next: 1. Timid, uninspired play
1. Timid, uninspired play overall
On the whole, the Patriots looked like they didn’t want to stick their necks out for a victory in Week 17. That honestly may have been a good thing because no one got seriously hurt. But it sure is frustrating to see the Patriots pretty much lie down against a divisional rival.
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Having lost four of their past six games—more importantly, each of their last two—the Patriots have next to no momentum carrying them into the playoffs. They will have to hope that two entire weeks of healing, film watching and practicing will get them into shape for the playoffs. The team we watched yesterday was not of Super Bowl caliber; the Patriots have some revising to do in the coming days.
Anyway, that’s enough of that. Most NFL fans would kill to have their team make the Wild Card, let alone win the division and earn a first-round bye. Now that this article has been written, this writer is going to take a perspective pill, relax and look toward the future. He encourages you to do the same.
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Go Pats.