Being bad is part of a rebuild, but the Patriots are getting worse
Sunday's game against Miami was a bout of the two lowest-scoring teams in the league this season.
Welcome to the Unconventional Review, an instant reaction to standouts, stats, and story lines from the Patriots’ most recent game . . .
It’s not so much that the Patriots are bad. That much we expected, and if we’re being totally honest, it’s necessary for a proper, full rebuild.
It’s that, five games into the season, they’re actually getting worse. Some bad teams can be kind of fun. This is turning into the kind of bad team that makes you wish halftime lasted a little bit longer and the clock would keep running under all circumstances.
In a flyweight bout of the two lowest-scoring teams in the league this season, the Patriots lost to the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium, 15-10.
The Dolphins are bad largely because they lost starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to another concussion, in Week 2, and for some reason didn’t think to keep a viable backup on the roster.
The Patriots are bad — lousy, really — for so many more reasons, most of them their own fault. Some is due to attrition — they’ve started four left tackles and two centers, and they played without, among others, gutsy safety Jabrill Peppers on Sunday.
But most of their problems are due either to a lack of discipline, poor judgment, and the inability to make the few plays that are there for the taking.
Lack of discipline, you say? How about Keion White committing 30 yards of penalties on one Dolphins scoring drive. Or the Patriots having more penalty yards at one point in the game (89) than passing yards (70). Or Christian Ellis’s brutal third-down pass interference penalty on a running back on the Dolphins’ lone touchdown drive.
Poor judgment? How about offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt having Jacoby Brissett throw 34 passes behind his plywood offensive line while running just 19 times — even with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson combining for 141 yards on their 18 total attempts?
Failure to make plays? The Patriots nearly won the game in the final minutes when Brissett found Ja’Lynn Polk in the back of the end zone for what looked like a go-ahead touchdown. Upon review, the touchdown was overturned because of the correct interpretation of a stupid rule — the heel of Polk’s second foot touched out of bounds, and the entire foot needs to be in. That wasn’t Polk’s fault. Brissett threw the ball too high, forcing his receiver to leap for it.
For a team with an already slim margin for error, these Patriots sure figure out creative ways to get in their own way.
Some further thoughts, upon immediate review . . .
Three players who were worth watching
Players suggested in the Unconventional Preview: Antonio Gibson, White, Jaylen Waddle.
Jonnu Smith: One of the lesser frustrations from this game, but a frustration nevertheless: Smith, a bust who totaled 539 receiving yards in two seasons (2021-22) with the Patriots, was actually impactful.
Smith entered Sunday’s game with just nine receptions for 78 yards in his first season as a Dolphin, but he came through Sunday with five catches for 62 yards, second only to Tyreek Hill (six receptions for 69 yards) among Miami pass catchers.
Four of those catches — including two on the game’s opening drive, which ended with a 54-yard Jason Sanders field goal and a 3-0 Dolphins lead — came in the first half.
But his most important contribution came on the methodical 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, when on third and 5 at the Miami 38, he caught an 8-yard pass to give the Dolphins a crucial first down.
Smith had five catches just once in his Patriots’ career — in his debut with the franchise in September 2021, when he had five receptions against . . . the Dolphins.
Christian Gonzalez: He’s played all of nine games in his NFL career, but Sunday brought more evidence the second-year cornerback is fast becoming the Patriots’ best player, if he isn’t there already.
Gonzalez snagged his first interception of the season in the first quarter. On second and 10 at the Miami 36 on the Dolphins’ second possession, he made a smart read on a Tyler Huntley short pass intended for Odell Beckham Jr. and picked it off at the Miami 45.
Four plays later, Rhamondre Stevenson ran 33 yards for the Patriots’ lone touchdown and a 7-3 lead.
When Gonzalez was covering him, Hill managed just three receptions for 34 yards. Gonzalez also has improved as a tackler in his second season. He finished with six against the Dolphins, including a takedown of Jaylen Waddle after an 11-yard catch on third and 13 at the Patriots’ 40 late in the third quarter.
The Dolphins ended up settling for a 47-yard field goal from Sanders, with the Patriots maintaining a 10-9 lead.
Brenden Schooler: The one consistently decent thing about the Patriots’ performance was their special-teams play. Yeah, Joey Slye missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt that loomed fairly large late in the game, but he bounced back to hit a 38-yarder.
Bryce Baringer delivered his usual strong punting performance — good heavens, we’re at the point where we have nothing better to do than praise the punter every week — including a 70-yarder.
But it was Schooler who came through with the biggest play on special teams, blocking ex-Patriot Jake Bailey’s punt deep in Miami territory early in the second quarter. Isaiah Bolden recovered the rejected punt at the Dolphins’ 23. Schooler provided precisely the kind of help with field position that this disheveled offense needs.
Grievance of the game
Did the Patriots take advantage of the aforementioned field position Schooler gave them with his special-teams aptitude? Oh no. No, they did not.
Instead, they responded with a truly inept possession, which included a holding penalty on Stevenson, a holding penalty on center Nick Leverett, and the Slye missed field goal attempt.
When that “drive” was complete, the Patriots had twice as many penalties (six) as first downs (three).
Three notes scribbled in the margins
Predicted final score: Dolphins 19, Patriots 13.
Final score: Dolphins 15, Patriots 10.
Stevenson, who was benched for the first series after fumbling for the fourth straight game in last week’s loss to the Niners, finished with 12 carries for 89 yards, that lone touchdown, and no fumbles . . . Dell Pettus and Jaylinn Hawkins, filling in for injured safeties Peppers and Kyle Dugger, combined for 16 tackles while fulfilling the responsibility of keeping Hill and Waddle from beating them deep . . . Between Rich Eisen on the morning Jets-Vikings game and Chris Myers on this one, we’ve had about enough of former “SportsCenter” anchors calling play-by-play for the season.
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