Patriots Ups & Downs: Inexcusable penalties doom Pats vs. Dolphins

FOXBORO -- Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett summed up Sunday's 15-10 loss to the Dolphins best.

"Honestly, nothing was good," Brissett said after the team fell to 1-4 on the season. 

Brissett is pretty close. There were a few good things from the Patriots on Sunday, otherwise we wouldn't have this lovely Ups and Downs column. But there was so much more bad than good from the Patriots, which is becoming a weekly theme for Jerod Mayo's team.

"We've got to be able to execute on a play-by-play basis, and we didn't do that. I would also say as the game wore on, our fundamentals began to slip," said Mayo.

The best part of Sunday's game is that it ended. Really, anyone who sat through that entire "contest" deserves some sort of reward. It was a true test of football fandom, because that was not actually football. If you like bad football, then it was the game for you, filled with blocked punts, bad snaps, missed kicks on both sides, horrendous overthrows, dropped passes, and a whole truckload of penalties.

Both teams entered Sunday in desperate need of a win following three straight losses. It would have been a very winnable game for the Patriots had they played a somewhat clean game. Instead, both the Patriots and the Dolphins embarrassed the NFL shield.

The Dolphins were just a little less embarassing than the Patriots, and espcaped with a win. Or it's probably best to say that the Dolphins did less to lose on Sunday.

Other than some solid defensive plays from Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots did next to nothing right on Sunday. The number of overall penalties was unacceptable, and the number of dumb penalties was downright alarming. 

Here are the Ups and Downs from New England's worst loss yet of the 2024 season.

DOWN: All the dumb, costly Penalties by the Patriots

The Patriots were hit with 12 penalties that cost them 105 yards, and those were just the accepted penalties against New England. It felt like there was a flag every other play at one point, which would have made things comical if it weren't so difficult to watch.

Center Nick Leverett was flagged twice, including once for a false start when he reset the spot of the ball illegally. That's not something the refs are just going to let slide.

The Patriots got a third-down stop on Miami's second possession of the game to force a punt -- but then had 12 men on the field for Jake Bailey's kick. That gave the Dolphins an automatic first down, which could have been costly but Gonzalez came through with a big interception.

At halftime, the Patriots have twice as many penalties (six) as first downs (three). And it just kept getting worse.

Out of the half, Keion White was flagged for two 15-yard penalties on Miami's first possession; one for an ill-advised horse collar tackle and another for roughing the passer when the Pats had made a key third-down stop. The Dolphins got a field goal to make it 10-6 after White continued the drive for them.

The worst infraction of the day was a Christian Elliss DPI that negated a third-and-13 stop by the New England defense midway through the fourth quarter. Elliss made a little too much contact on Raheem Mostert on a Tyler Huntley incompletion, and was hit with a back-breaking flag. 

The Dolphins ran all over the Patriots defense after that penalty, and Alec Ingold scored a three-yard touchdown with 4:24 left that was the difference in the game. 

The Patriots are a team with zero margin for error, and it's somewhat incredible that they nearly won a game despite being hit for a dozen penalties. With just a little more discipline, the Patriots could be in second place in the AFC East. Instead they're in the basement heading into Week 6. 

UP: Christian Gonzalez is really good

Christian Gonzalez saved the day after that 12-men penalty when he undercut a pass to Odell Beckham over the middle and picked it off at the Miami 43. It was Gonzalez's second career interception, both of which have come against the Dolphins.

Gonzalez nearly had a second interception in the second half while covering Tyreek Hill in the end zone. He had Huntley's bad pass in his hands and room to run, but Hill was able to punch out the would-be pick. But Gonzalez continues to shine for the New England defense in his second NFL season. 

UP: The Blocked Punt was good...

Brendan Schooler put the offense in an awesome position to score points when he blocked Jake Bailey's punt in the second quarter. He made a strong push off the line and just got his left hand in there to block the punt, and the Patriots took over at the Miami 23.

It seemed like the Pats were guaranteed points at least three points off that huge special teams play. But there is no guarantee for points with this Patriots offense.

Down: ... the Patriots did nothing with the blocked punt

New England's drive after that block was nothing short of a disaster. The Patriots lost 20 yards on two holding penalties, and then Joey Slye missed his 33-yard attempt wide right. It was a huge missed opportunity for New England.

Down: Alex Van Pelt's game plan

The whole world knows that the Patriots need to run the ball to win. And in the end, the Patriots are actually pretty good at running the ball.

Yet Alex Van Pelt continues to insist that the Patriots force throws downfield when it just is not an option for the team right now. Jacoby Brissett doesn't have the arm for it, and when he does let it loose, it's usually overthrown by a mile.

The Patriots ran for 151 yards on 19 rush attempts, good for a 7.4-yard average. Rhamondre Stevenson had a great bounce-back game after being benched to start. Antonio Gibson was also making plays, averaging 8.7 yards on his six carries.

But the two backs got only 18 carries (Brissett also had a 10-yard scramble) while Brissett threw the ball 34 times. 

There just doesn't seem to be any creativity in Van Pelt's offense, or anything that gets the team's talented backs involved in the pass game. When Brissett does throw to his backs, it's usually behind the line of scrimmage and ends in disaster. The offensive line has its issues, but this extra vanilla playbook isn't going to lead the offense anywhere.

How bad was the offense? Six of New England's 11 drives ended with less than 10 yards of offense. 

UP: Kayshon Boutte

Boutte only had two catches for 34 yards, but his 21-yard grab led to New England's last-gasp effort in the final seconds. 

He also threw some great blocks throughout the afternoon. He sealed off a would-be tackler on Stevenson's touchdown run, and his strong play without the ball in his hands should get him some more playing time going forward.

UP: Patriots fan break some bad news to Tyreek Hill

Through all the ugliness and disappointment on Sunday, Patriots fans at least had one fun moment when they got to let Tyreek Hill know that he did not in fact catch a third-quarter touchdown.

If only the afternoon had ended there...

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