Everyone on the Patriots had a bad day in Week 12 loss to Dolphins
BOSTON -- In a season full of ugly football games from the New England Patriots, Sunday's 34-15 loss to the Dolphins was easily the ugliest. Jerod Mayo's team was never in it as Tua Tagovailoa and company did whatever they wanted against the New England defense, while the Patriots' offensive line kept making life difficult for Drake Maye.
Everyone in a Patriots uniform had a bad day in Miami on Sunday. Mayo and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington have to be questioning everything they thought they knew about defense after being shred to pieces by Tagovailoa and the Miami offense. The New Engalnd offensive line has to be wondering if they can do anything right, and Maye has to be flustered that he has to do everything for the offense to have a chance at functioniong.
In their two losses over the last three weeks heading into Week 12, the Patriots were at least competitive. It looked like they were heading in a somewhat decent direction.
Well, there was nothing competitive about Sunday's game, especially throughout a horrific first half. The game was a massive step back for the Patriots, as they were outplayed and outclassed in every facet of the game.
With that being said, we're not going to force an equal amount of "Ups" as "Downs" in this post. That's just not healthy for anyone involved. Reliving Sunday's loss isn't all that beneficial for anyone's psyche either, so proceed with extreme caution as we go over the few Ups and many, many Downs from Sunday's embarrassing Patriots loss.
DOWN: The Patriots defense made no plays
It didn't matter if the Patriots defense was in a man or a zone look, the Dolphins seemed to always have at least one guy open and Tua always seemed to find them for a big gain. Miami had 16 plays that went for 10 or more yards on Sunday.
Tagovailoa was comfy and cozy all afternoon as he completed 29 of his 40 pass attempts for 317 yards and four touchdowns. Eight different players caught a pass for Miami on Sunday.
Jaylen Waddle has been struggling all year, but he had his best game of the season. The receiver finished with eight receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown, and consistently beat Marcus Jones in Miami's win.
Safety Kyle Dugger had a real bad day, as he was on coverage for two of Tua's four touchdown passes. He should have been covering De'Von Achane on another, but he left the running back wide open for an easy score.
The defense did make one play on the afternoon, as Christian Gonzalez returned a fumble 63 yards for a touchdown. But that had more to do with Jaylen White having the ball hit off his facemask, and the scoop-and-score was too little, too late to make it a 31-15 game in the fourth quarter.
DOWN: A nightmare of a second quarter for Patriots
Miami scored 24 points in the second quarter as they out-gained the Patriots, 209 to negataive-11, in the frame. The Dolphins had 12 of their 17 first-half first downs in the second quarter.
How many first downs did the Patriots have in the second quarter? Zero.
DOWN: Pats' Pass Rush goes MIA in Miami
Tagovailoa had all the time he needed on Sunday, as he was barely pressured and sacked just once. He wasn't hit on any of his 27 drop backs in the first half.
DOWN: Patriots owned by Jonnu Smith
Smith looked like the guy that the Pats wanted when they gave him a massive contract in 2021. He torched his former team for nine receptions, 87 yards, and a touchdown.
Smith now has three touchdowns over his last two games for the Dolphins. He had just one touchdown in his two seasons with the Patriots.
DOWN: No points off a promising second drive
Maybe this game would have looked different had the Patriots got on the board first. They had a great chance on their second drive of the game, but came up empty as the laundry started to fly on the offensive line.
The New England offense drove into the red zone, but they got nothing out of it because of three penalties on Maye's "protectors."
Vederian Lowe was hit with a false start (his second of the game) and Demontrey Jacobs was flagged twice on the drive; a false start and a 10-yard holding. That second penalty was big, as it turned a second-and-6 into a second-and-16.
The Patriots got conservative on third-and-14 and Rhamondre Stevenson picked up just three yards on a draw. Joey Slye then missed his 45-yard field goal attempt, which hit off the right upright.
Those three penalties were just a sign of things to come for the Patriots.
DOWN: Patriots doomed by penalties
The Patriots were once again their own worst enemy on Sunday. They had 10 penalties accepted against them (and were hit with 13 overall) which cost New England 75 yards.
Six of those penalties came before the snap.
"It starts with me," Mayo said after the game. "We've had these hiccups in games where penalties really affected us and it did today."
Lowe and Jacobs had miserable days, and Jacobs was benched in the second half because of his struggles. He was also getting beat by rookie linebacker Chop Robinson, which led to Maye hitting the deck a few times.
A 10-yard hold on Lowe wiped out a 19-yard catch-and-run from Stevenson on New England's fourth possession. The left tackle was later flagged for a false start that turned a third-and-10 into a third-and-15, and Maye was sacked on the next play to force a Patriots punt.
Lowe was hit with four flags overall -- three false starts and a hold -- and he was also beat by Zach Sieler which resulted in a third-quarter strip sack.
The Patriots were never able to get anything going on offense, and much of the blame rests on the team's ineffective and undisciplined offensive line.
Small Up: Barmore gets a sack
OK, let's try to force a little positivity here. Christian Barmore came up with his first sack of the season early in third quarter to finish off a Miami three-and-out. It was nice to see from Barmore, who missed the first 10 games after being diagnosed with blood clots over the summer.
His sack on Tagovailoa was New England's first since the fourth quarter in Chicago in Week 10.
Slightly Bigger Up: Drake Maye's touchdown
Let's go out on a high note. Drake Maye turned it over two more times on Sunday with a fumble and an interception. He's gotta be better at that.
But hey, look at this touchdown off a broken play.
Maye wasn't as good as he was last week against the Rams, but a lot of that had to do with the offensive line. He also missed on some throws, and had his two turnovers.
But win or lose, Maye continues to give New England fans a reason to watch on Sundays -- however painful it may be for large stretches.
