Pats Pulpit
The good and bad from the Patriots’ game in NFL Week 12.
There is no sugar-coating it: this was a rough one for the New England Patriots. Traveling to Miami to take on the Dolphins, the team of head coach Jerod Mayo played its worst 60 minutes of football this year. The final score of 34-15 was the natural result of an underwhelming performance by players and coaches alike.
So, about those highlights? Well, let’s get through this together, shall we? It won’t be all bad, we promise.
The floodgates began to open as soon as the game turned from the first to the second quarter, and it was a former Patriot getting the honor. Jonnu Smith, who never found his footing in New England, opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa. It was the first of three second-quarter touchdowns for Miami.
The Patriots offered virtually no resistance in the first half, but they showed some signs of life in the second. Their first big play came courtesy of Christian Barmore, whose clean-up sack in the early third period was the first of his season.
The Patriots offense began showing some life in the second half as well, with DeMario Douglas as a catalyst of sorts. His 27-yard catch and run in the late third quarter was one of New England’s top plays of the day and an impressive effort from the second-year defender: after making the one-handed catch, he quickly turned upfield to gain additional yards after catch.
The Patriots offensive line had its issues all year, and while it seems it had turned a corner recently it reverted to its disappointing ways against Miami. A low point came after the DeMario Douglas catch-and-run, with Drake Maye getting strip-sacked and allowing the Dolphins a short field they turned into Tua Tagovailoa’s fourth touchdown pass of the day.
First-round rookie QB Drake Maye has had some moments of brilliance this season, and Sunday was no exception. Facing a 4th-and-15 down 31 points, he escaped the pocket to buy some time for tight end Austin Hooper to get behind the Miami defense. Maye found him for an improbable 38-yard touchdown to give New England some life in the early fourth quarter.
Christian Gonzalez is to the Patriots defense what Drake Maye is to the offense, and he showed as much on a 62-yard scoop-and-score touchdown shortly after the Patriots’ first points of the day. Marte Mapu knocked the ball loose, and the sophomore cornerback picked it up and ran it back for the defensive TD.
The Patriots offense is not particularly pretty to watch, but credit where credit is due: its successful two-point attempt after the Gonzalez touchdown was pretty. The play saw...
