FOXBORO, Mass. -- The Patriots were flirting with disaster throughout the majority of Sunday's matchup with the Miami Dolphins, and it finally struck with time ticking down in the fourth quarter.
New England took the lead on their second drive of the game, and held it for two full quarters despite being uncharacteristically pass-happy at several different points. Miami couldn't capitalize on a couple of long drives in the middle frames, but finally did late in the fourth.
The Dolphins went on a ridiculous game-winning drive, with Alec Ingold capping things off with a touchdown at 4:27. Miami ran 16 total plays, bled nearly eight minutes of game clock and overcame two offensive penalties to get the job done.
What happened?
"I know for a fact fatigue played a part in this game," Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said postgame. "You think about Marte (Mapu), this being his first game and playing pretty much every snap. I appreciate him doing that, but at the same time we've got to be able to get off the field, we've got to be able to move the ball offensively. We have to win the time of possession game or at least be close, which once again, they controlled that."
The Patriots went against what they've been preaching all season, inexplicably throwing the ball throughout the first three quarters -- despite averaging 7.1 yards per carry across that time frame. New England should never finish with more passing attempts than rushes, especially in a game where it was in full control early on, but did that Sunday.
Mayo admitted things aren't where they need to be as a coaching staff.
"I would say for me, it's all about getting better," Mayo said. "It's all about learning. It's experience. There are definitely things that I have to do better as a head coach. I would say the staff, they're still getting on the same page... I have to do a better job as a whole."
