Erratic Patriots looked unprepared to rally vs. Dolphins, and that’s on the coach

FOXBORO, Mass. —  The Patriots blew their chance for a late-in-the-game comeback victory over the Miami Dolphins Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. But because these are the 2024 Patriots, and because these are the 2024 Dolphins, the Pats were gifted a second chance for a late comeback victory. And they blew that one, too.

Final score: Dolphins 15, Patriots 10.

We’ll get to the details of those two drives in a moment. But first, let’s go to Patriots coach Jerod Mayo’s postgame news conference.

“Not to sound like a broken record …,” Mayo said, and we’ll pause here for a moment to make a couple of observations about news conferences, whether in sports, politics or entertainment. Such as when somebody says, “I like so-and-so personally …” (Fact: That means they actually hate so-and-so.) Or when they say, “Not to make any excuses …” (Fact: The chances are 100 percent that excuses will quickly follow.) And this: “Not to sound like a broken record …” (Fact: You are about to hear a broken record.)

And so when Mayo said “Not to sound like a broken record” following Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins, he followed with: “It’s about execution, especially in critical situations.”

But it’s not so much the lack of execution (especially in critical situations!) that explains why the Patriots are 1-4. That’s just a perfumed-up way of saying your team is lousy. What’s really ailing the Patriots — and sorry to be a broken record here — is that they continue to be a clumsy, undisciplined mess, which is not necessarily the same as being garden-variety lousy. And let’s be real: It’s the coach’s job to see to it that his players don’t do clumsy, undisciplined things.

We can talk about why it should be rookie Drake Maye, and not veteran Jacoby Brissett, doing the quarterbacking. We can talk about the lack of receiving star power. We can talk about a tattered, assembled-from-spare-parts offensive line. But this time it was more than all that. So much more.

Let’s start with that second-to-last drive. The Patriots managed to move the ball from the New England 30 to the Miami 12, and then back to the 17 after a false start call against Hunter Henry. That’s when Brissett made an incomplete attempt to Henry on fourth-and-15, ending the drive with 59 seconds remaining. That’s the Cliff’s Notes version of what happened. Look a little closer and you’ll see a second New England penalty, and a total of 12 on the day. Look even closer and you’ll see a New England touchdown until it was not a New England touchdown, this after a review determined that Ja’Lynn Polk didn’t have both feet inbounds when he caught a 12-yard pass from Brissett.

This is deep-in-the-weeds film stuff, but Polk’s catch, while pretty to watch, ran contrary to NFL rules in that the receiver did have a heel out of bounds. And according to the NFL rule book, “If any part of the foot hits out of bounds during the normal continuous motion of taking a step (heel-toe or toe-heel), then the foot is out of bounds.”

It looked like the Patriots had a go-ahead TD late in the 4th, but the play was reviewed, and the call was reversed. Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/6O7Om8NnRE

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 6, 2024

Polk, speaking with reporters after the game, was asked if he believes he had both feet in bounds.

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s clear to see, it’s clear to see I got two feet in. But we ain’t in that situation if I’m doing my job throughout the whole game.”

Polk is a 22-year-old rookie. He’ll learn. And it’s commendable he took some general accountability. But at this moment — or as of the close of business on Sunday — he hasn’t been coached up on what is and what is not a touchdown.

For what it’s worth, Mayo said, “It was close. But it was the correct call in my opinion, but I’ll have to go back and watch the film. I saw the replay live. Just a tough call.”

As for New England’s second chance for a late-in-the-game comeback victory, the Dolphins did the Pats a solid by conveniently going three-and-out on their last possession. Jake Bailey punted the ball 46 yards and Marcus Jones returned it 15 yards to the New England 43.

Brissett connected with Kendrick Bourne for 21 yards to give the Patriots a first down at the Miami 36.

Brissett spiked the ball to stop the clock with 12 seconds remaining.

KAYSHON ➡️

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/G7p1OMxmld

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 6, 2024

This is where and when the Patriots would either go for the end zone or a quick, step-out-of-bounds completion.

Instead, Brissett thew over the middle to Henry for 25 yards near the Miami 11 before … 3 … 2 … 1 … Please drive safely on your way home and don’t forget to fasten your seat belts.

Those are just the last two drives of the game. We don’t have space to delve into the 12-men-on-the-field call on fourth-and-1 that wiped out a Miami punt and gave the Dolphins a first down. On it went like that for the Patriots, leaving Mayo to say after the game, “I expected to take my lumps just like a lot of other first-year head coaches. Look, I’m fine with that. Once again, it’s about the guys in that locker room, and we have to be better. We, including me.”

Now, please, we’re not talking about hastily arranged news conferences to announce a coaching change. Nor are we suggesting there’s “mutiny” in the locker room, as was suggested by an in-house football writer last week on the team’s in-house podcast. Again: The Patriots just aren’t very good. But on this day, in this game against the Dolphins, they weren’t prepared, either.

And that’s on the coach.

(Photo of Patriots coach Jerod Mayo, right, meeting with Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel after Sunday’s game: Adam Hunger / Getty Images)