Patriots' conservative approach in key moments is holding them back

In the end, the Patriots took their tenth L of the season for the same reason they took their ninth last Sunday against Miami. And their eighth against the Rams. 

Penalties. Cement-headed mistakes. Tentative coaching.

There’s no doubt this one-point loss looked and felt a lot better than last week’s drumming, during which the Patriots fell behind 31-0.

They could have scored more than 30 for the first time since Oct. 16, 2022 (a 38-0 win over Jacoby Brissett and the Browns)! Hell, they could have scored 40! Ten points were given away on Joey Slye's missed 25-yard field goal and the goal-line interception off the body of Hunter Henry. They also had first-and-goal at the Indy 7-yard line, first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, first-and-10 at the 11-yard line and came away with six points on those three drives.

Meanwhile, they gifted the Colts their first touchdown by being unprepared at the snap and leaving two Indy pass-catchers completely wide open for quarterback Anthony Richardson. Then they allowed three third-down conversions and three fourth-down conversions on Indy’s 19-play, 80-yard game-winning drive.

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If you want to seek solace, it’s there to be found. The Patriots should have killed the Colts the same way they should have beaten the Seahawks, or the Snoop Huntley-led Dolphins, or the Titans, or even the Rams. Including Indy, that’s five wins if the Patriots want to play the "it’s not you, it’s me…" game. Which they often do.

But here’s the problem. The mistakes are a feature. Not a bug. If it’s not a penalty at a critical moment, it’s an assignment bust.

Kendrick Bourne copped to mangling his route on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, getting in Henry’s way and causing a Drake Maye to be sacked.

Mike Onwenu didn’t hear an audible on a third-and-1 and Rhamondre Stevenson got dropped for a loss.

Some kind of f---ery entered into the missed 25-yard field goal by Joey Slye.

Compounding that maddening ability of the players to screw up in high-leverage moments is a coaching staff that remains insistently conservative in critical situations, especially at the end of halves and in the red zone.

When Christian Gonzalez picked off Richardson with eight minutes remaining, the Patriots led 24-17. They had the ball at their own 48-yard line. That should have done it. Let Drake bake, gain 20 yards, kick the game-sealing field goal. They had all the momentum having just scored the go-ahead touchdown three plays earlier.

Instead, they tried to bleed the clock with two runs, which gained two yards and lost three, respectively. Then Maye got sacked on third down, leading to the Patriots' first punt of the day.

That was the first time IN THE ENTIRE GAME the Patriots opened up a possession with consecutive designed runs. They were in front because of Maye and another really good day of game-planning and play-calling by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.

Then they turtled. Which they also did before halftime. After getting down to the Indy 11-yard line with 41 seconds left, Stevenson ran for a yard. On second-and-9 from the 10-yard line, they ran it again. Clearly, they were trying to use as much clock as possible so Indy didn’t get the ball back.

The play-calling announced the Patriots were happy to take three points and get out of there. The priority wasn’t maximizing points. It was reducing risk. They got nothing.

Who cares if the Colts get the ball back with 20 seconds left on their own 30-yard line? It’s Indy and Anthony Richardson, and at that point he was 4-for-8 for 46 yards passing.

It was reminiscent of the same conservative play-calling in critical situations against the Rams. And the decision to go to overtime on the road against the Titans when the Patriots could have gone for the win with a two-point conversion.

If you’re gonna be a bear, be a grizzly.

The Patriots entered the season with the mentality that they’d be risk-averse. Jacoby Brissett’s marching orders were to take care of the football, stay out of harm’s way and let a capable defense keep the game close. Now that it’s clear the defense isn’t tremendously capable, and now that Brissett’s given way to the much more dynamic Maye, the Patriots continue to lapse into being risk-averse when they should be in attack mode.

They’re too aggressive at critical moments on defense (zero-blitz touchdowns allowed against the Seahawks and Rams), too conservative at critical moments on offense.

Forget about situational football during games. The Patriots need better situational awareness as to who they are as a team and where they are in the season. They aren’t good. They have three wins. The opportunity to start ingraining an attack mentality centered around the ability of their best player -- Maye -- is there for the taking.

They won’t do it.

So a great game from Maye is wasted. And so, most likely, was the Patriots' best chance in the final five games to get their fourth win.