The Patriots entered the Saturday Night showdown with the Colts as heavy favorites to win the game. It was a logical pick because they were on a seven-game winning streak, and the team was coming off their bye week. However, the Patriots started the game flat, were outcoached and outplayed in the first half. In the second half, the team rallied from the deficit to make the game close in the fourth quarter. Jonathan Taylor ended all hopes by busting a 67 yard run for a touchdown with just 2 minutes left in the game and a 10-point lead. In this article, we discuss the five major takeaways from this game.
1. Mac Jones was resilient in his bad rookie game-every rookie quarterback in the NFL generally has a bad game where they seem overwhelmed and fold. Jones struggled in the first half with three straight short drives that ended with a punt and then a costly interception in the red zone on the fourth drive. He threw another bad interception to start the second half and put his team 20-0 hole. Jones answered the critics by bouncing back with two touchdowns and putting his team in a position to win the game. Jones finished the game completing 26 of his 45 passes for 299 yards, and outplayed Carson Wentz on the other sideline. Wentz was awful in completing 5 of 12 passes, 57 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
2. Hunter Henry and N’keal Harry made big impacts-Jones needed some of his weapons to come alive for the comeback possible, and the two players that stood out were Hunter Henry and N’keal Harry. Henry has emerged as the number 1 weapon on the team, and he proved it in this game by finishing with six catches, 77 yards, and two touchdowns. He is a reliable tight end that makes catches when his team needs it. In addition, N’keal Harry made two big plays for his team. On a critical third down, he caught a strike over the middle and held on to the ball despite getting whacked by the defender. Then, he pulled off a brilliant catch on a deep shot down the field for 43 yards to bring the ball to the Colts 10-yard line.
3. The defense played well enough to win- many analysts felt that the Patriots defense got dominated in this game. Jonathan Taylor did finish with 170 yards but the Patriots did hold Taylor to 103 yards before the 67-yard gallop. The big play was allowed when the defense seemed to have ten payers in the box trying to stop the run and force a punt. It was an all-or-nothing move that turned out to be a major failure. The defense was excellent in shutting down the Colts’ passing game and was responsible for 17 of the 27 points the opposition scored.
4. The specials team was abysmal-the specials team’s rough night started with Gunner Olszewski fumbling it out of bounds. Then, Jakob Johnson failed to block his assignment leading to the block punt and recovery by the Colts for the touchdown. Jake Bailey had a poor game by his standard by failing to pin the Colts in their area and losing the field position game. Finally, Brandon King had the terrible offside during the Colts’ missed field goal that they re-kicked for a successful try. In totality, the specials team cost the team 10 points, and the team lost by 10 points.
5. The coaching staff had a bad week-the fact that the team started this flat in an important game and after a bye week has to come down to the coaching. The Patriots went nowhere with the running game, and it felt McDaniels took too long to adjust to the Colts. The special teams’ coach, Cameron Achord, will need to watch the tape and clean up the mess that cost his team. Steve and Bill will want to stiffen up that run defense as bigger challenges lie on the horizon.
Up next for the Patriots is a rematch at home with the Bills in a contest that will likely decide the division.
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