The New England Patriots fell to 3-9 after dropping an embarrassing 34-15 decision to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
The Patriots managed just 44 total yards in the first half and 269 total across 12 drives in the loss. Head coach Jerod Mayo’s message to the team was pretty blunt after the game.
“Look, this is the NFL,” Mayo told reporters. “It just wasn’t good enough. First quarter, zero points across the board and then give up 24 points in the second quarter definitely is a hard pill to swallow.
“Then look, we saw some fight at the end which is encouraging, but at the same time, this game, every single play counts.”
New England had the opportunity to get on the board first on their second drive, but pre-snap penalties and a missed field goal killed the offensive energy and Miami scored on its ensuing drive.
“I thought we gave up too many big plays defensively,” Mayo said. “Did a better job in the run game. Too many big plays, tackling, scheme whatever you want to call it … just overall execution defensivley just wasn’t good enough.”
The Patriots had two turnovers, a strip-sack fumble and an interception by Drake Maye that the Dolphins were able to capitalize on, scoring 10 points as a result.
“On offense (we) did some good things, but anytime you lose a turnover battle, it’s always going to be a tough game,” Mayo said. “And then, special teams, we just got to continue to improve on that.”
Mayo added: “The last thing I told the guys, and this was before the game, I said, ‘It’s about us.’ And this is before the game. I said, ‘It’s about us, not about anybody else. It’s about us and to make a commitment to one another.’
“And, that’s what the game really came down to. It’s us going out there, kicking ourselves in the butt or stomping our toe against the wall because of penalties. We don’t have a team, I don’t think any team wants to go backwards in any case, but we did that today.”
The Patriots will look to end their two-game skid when they host the 5-7 Indianapolis Colts in their final matchup on Dec. 1 before the bye in Week 14.
