A week after their surprising victory against the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots traveled south to Miami to take on the Dolphins on Sunday.
While the Patriots were able to get on the board early, they were ultimately unable to contend with Miami’s explosive offense, losing the game 31-17.
New England quarterback Mac Jones had a rough day at the offense, unable to hit the passes when he most needed to and failing to execute in clutch situations. He was held to far below 200 passing yards, a low point after the performance he put on last weekend.
Here are five big takeaways from the game.
1
The season is over. It's time to think about the future
With Sunday’s loss, the Patriots are now 2-6 on the season. In an AFC East division where the next team above them in the standings is a 4-3 New York Jets squad, any hopes of a playoff push are all but gone.
Despite some fans and media having playoff delusions last week after New England’s surprising win over the Buffalo Bills, it is time to accept reality.
This season is over.
The Patriots’ most impactful playmakers on both sides of the ball – Kendrick Bourne, Matt Judon, Christian Gonzalez and Ja’Whaun Bentley, to name a few – are potentiall injured long-term, with Bourne and Bentley both leaving Sunday’s game with ailments.
Moreover, the team’s on-field performance is just plain poor, to say the least. While both the offense and defense has looked improved in recent weeks, they are still far below a competitive standard. Nothing was more emblematic of this than Miami cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s interception of Jones near the end of the first half as the Patriots were driving in Dolphins’ territory.
Sneaky, sneaky.#Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey fools Mac Jones in coverage. Looks a little like man-coverage — until Ramsey passed DeVante Parker to the safety (zone).
And it's an easy interception for Ramsey, who jumps Kendrick Bourne. pic.twitter.com/0PKFSw7dph
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) October 29, 2023
And those watching the game were not too surprised at this play either.
Oh, Mac.
— Tom Caron (blue checkmark redacted) (@TomCaron) October 29, 2023
And it’s not like Jones should be benched from here on out. He’s on the third year of his rookie deal and the Patriots have to evaluate their quarterback situation moving forward. With Jones under center for the rest of the season, the team will be able to truly evaluate their signal-caller in the offseason and the potential options on the market to replace him.
2
The defense played well, just not well enough
The Patriots’ defense came into the matchup on Sunday bolstering a unit that had confidently held the Bills’ pass-catchers mostly in check last weekend. Although it had lost both Judon and Gonzalez for the season, the pass-rush and secondary still posed a formidable threat against opposing offenses.
And though Miami was not able to routinely find the big plays against New England on Sunday, they were able to occasionally slash and gash the Patriots’ defense for significant gains downfield.
Such a play happened at the end of the first quarter when Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa hit speedy wide receiver Tyreek Hill for a 42-yard touchdown. The score – a routine style of play for Hill this season – provoked commentary from NFL pundits about the play.
tyreek hill is the slowest teleporter i’ve ever seen. you can literally witness his material form shift position in real time. gotta work on that
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) October 29, 2023
In total, Hill and his counterpart in fellow receiver Jaylen Waddle combined for 233 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 15 receptions. While the Patriots were able to limit the big plays from the unit, they were still able to amass a sizeable chunk of offense against what was promised to be a formidable defense.
3
The offense just can't function as is
Jones completed just 19 passes for 161 yards on Sunday, averaging 5.6 yards per pass attempt and putting up a measly 88.4 quarterback rating.
And it wasn’t as if his receivers were letting him down. Miami’s coverage smothered Jones, to the point where cornerback Jalen Ramsey effectively prohibited him from throwing to the left side of the field.
Mac Jones was 4 of 7 for 5 yards and an interception targeting the left side of the field, and 15 of 21 for 156 yards & 2 TDs targeting the middle and right thirds.
Jalen Ramsey played at right cornerback on 100% of his 47 defensive snaps in his season debut.#NEvsMIA | #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/aBLKXEhS52
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 29, 2023
As for the receivers, Bourne led the charge with 36 receiving yards and a touchdown on three receptions before leaving with a knee injury. Rookie Demario Douglas led the team with five receptions, though was only able to turn the opportunities into 25 receiving yards.
Currently, New England’s offense consists of many screen passes and dump-off routes, rendering them incredibly inefficient against a quality pass defense such as Miami’s. This offensive ineffectiveness showcased itself on Sunday, with the Patriots continually stalling later in the game.
4
Pharoah Brown - TE No. 1?
When the Patriots signed the veteran journeyman tight end this offseason, many did not think he would be a significant contributor to the offense.
Behind a tight end tandem consisting of Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki, Brown seemed to play the role of a depth piece only, able to fill in when needed but ultimately not a focal point for the offense.
But halfway through the 2023 regular season, Brown seems to be leading the pack in terms of efficiency and explosiveness.
Through the first eight weeks, the veteran tight end is only behind Henry in receiving yards (170 vs 238), but is far ahead in yards per reception at a staggering 24.3.
Moreover, Brown’s targets have almost seemed like afterthoughts in comparison to Henry and Gesicki. He rarely seems to be the focal point of a play, and routinely gains most of his yardage after the catch rather than before.
But Brown has shown an electricity on the field that the Patriots’ offense has lacked as a whole, as well as an ability to break tackles and find open space when needed. While an underrated player on New England’s offense, it’s not as if the unit is utilizing their playmakers.
Maybe Brown has a niche to fill in the offensive attack that would keep opposing defenses on their heels.
5
Who to pick in the draft?
It is basically inevitable at this point that New England will hold a top pick in next year’s NFL draft. While, of course, the pick will not be solidified until the end of the regular season, the Patriots’ 2-6 record currently has them picking at No. 4 overall.
And with such a high selection comes with a curious question: what positional group would they choose to address with the pick?
An obvious answer may lie at quarterback, as Jones has not consistently proven to be the signal-caller that New England has sought for long-term. But Jones still has one more year under his rookie contract, allowing the team to have some flexibility in their ability to address the position.
Say a quarterback is not high enough on next year’s draft board for the Patriots to select within the top five picks, they may very well address a different positional group instead, opting to roll with Jones for the final year of his rookie deal.
And in that case, what position could they address? Sure, the receiver position could use some help, but there are no bona fide top five options coming out of college. In fact, a large number of options in that area seem to be coming from the defensive side, an area the Patriots continue to flourish in despite consistent injury misfortune.
It is too early to tell what New England thinks of Jones as the future of their team past this season. But they do have flexibility with the final years of his contract, and could utilize that to their advantage when making their next franchise-defining selection next year.
