Kyle Dugger proves the Patriots missed opportunity to challenge on big play

Coming into the week five matchup with the Saints at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots were considered slight favorites in a must-win game to get their season back on track. The AFC East is anything but certain, and this was an ample opportunity for them to have a bounce-back game after an embarrassing showing against the Cowboys last week.

But that's not at all what happened.

All the mistakes made in Dallas were made again on Sunday, with costly turnovers and lousy decision-making leading the way. It was another display of the Patriots getting in their own way and making games nearly impossible to win, even against beatable opponents like New Orleans this week.

On top of the tomfoolery we've become accustomed to this season so far comes a missed chance by Bill Belichick to challenge a potentially momentum-shifting play that Kyle Dugger has brought attention to via his Instagram.

The talented safety shared a slowed-down clip of himself appearing to nab an interception late in the third quarter, but officials ruled it incomplete. Based on the footage, it appears Dugger made the catch, proving Belichick missed out on challenging the ruling on the field.

It's one of those things that is good to know, but at the same time, it wouldn't have changed anything had it been ruled correctly in real-time or overturned after a challenge or review. The score was already 24-0, and with the Patriots failing to successfully come back when they fall behind over the last few years, Dugger making the interception at that point in the game likely wouldn't have mattered.

All that it does is add more frustration to an already infuriating game for the team and the fans and is just the latest example of NFL referees making critical errors in a game, as they have become known to do a lot this season.