The Ups and Downs of New England’s Week 13 Loss
The New England Patriots fell roughly four yards from victory against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye posted his best performance as a professional, outdoing his only win of the season, completing 24 of his 30 passing attempts for 238 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, which bounced off his receiver’s hands and into the other team’s possession. Maye turned into a track star on the ground, rushing five times for 59 yards, including a 41-yard scamper. The Patriots lost the game on the defensive side of the ball, as they gave up an 80-yard 19-play drive to lose the game in the fourth quarter, including three fourth-down conversions.
To start with the negatives of their one-point loss to the Colts, it would be remiss to avoid talking about the Patriots’ playcalling on their final offensive drive. Up seven points and fresh off a Christian Gonzalez interception, the offense came onto the field and ran the ball twice to set up a sack on 3rd and 11. With seven minutes left in the game, the Patriots looked to run the clock rather than advance the ball and kick a field goal to go up by two possessions and effectively end the game. With Maye moving the ball effectively throughout the game, it is a head-scratching puzzle on why the coaching staff decided to take the ball out of his hands on 2nd and 9.
Another negative that came from their matchup with Indianapolis is that the defense cannot stop the run to save their season. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor rushed for 96 yards on 25 attempts, and second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson gashed the defense when it counted on nine attempts for 48 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots could not stop the quarterback run, which forced them to commit their efforts across the front and spread them thin. This stretching effect allowed Taylor to pound the rock up the middle and broke the defense’s spirit the whole game.
When they managed to hold the Colts to passing downs, the defense was quite efficient, holding Richardson to a 50% completion rate, two turnovers, and just 109 yards through the air. Despite using a 41.7% blitz rate, the Patriots only got pressure on the young quarterback on 30.8% of dropbacks. On the other hand, the Patriots held the main goal of the Colts' passing attack, their deep game, to zero completions. This is thanks to the performance of second-year cornerback Alex Austin, who allowed one catch for eight yards on four targets, which resulted in a 39.8 passer rating when he was the nearest defender.
Finally, the real positives from the game are mostly about the third overall pick and how he has elevated this offense. His footwork is polished at this point, and his accuracy is at the top of the league, even though these were the two main knocks on him coming out of college. Tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper led the way for the receiving core, combining for 13 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Finally, the team used their free-agent acquisition running back Antonio Gibson effectively for the first time in a couple of months, who rushed for 62 yards on seven rushes and tacked on a touchdown, someone who fans should hope to see more of through the final games.