There are many things the Patriots can be criticized for this season, from the poor offensive performance and disappointing defensive effort despite the talent on the roster to questionable decision-making and play-calling. However, one of the new regime's more under-the-radar struggles is time management, which Bill Belichick mentioned in his limited discussion about his former team.
It was an aspect of the Patriots loss to the Seahawks in Week 2 that Belichick pointed out when discussing the results of the games that week, with that being one of the only comments he has made about the Patriots across his various gigs in the media.
That poor time management continued into their matchup with the Dolphins on Sunday, with mere seconds until halftime.
Alex Van Pelt's offensive play-calling was questionable, especially since the run game has proven to be the way to go against this Miami defense, but that's not what he chose to do with their unexpectedly gifted series after the Dolphins botched snap.
Instead, Jacoby Brissett went with three straight passes with just 22 seconds remaining in the quarter, all incomplete, not burning any time off the clock to get them into halftime.
Offensive play-calling and timeout management at the end of the second quarter looked like Seattle again.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) October 6, 2024
Error repeating here.
The decision made little sense, as the Dolphins got the ball back and could have made a big play in their limited time remaining. Luckily, they're not playing much better than the Patriots are and weren't able to do much with their final possession before the half, but the sentiment remains the same.
Time management needs to improve in Foxboro, or it could cause them to lose critical games in the future, as it has in the past.
They already have enough working against them, so they don't need their own mistakes or questionable decisions to make it even more difficult to get the job done.