Fan Notes from the Patriots’ loss to the Dolphins

In case you missed yesterday's game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins — congratulations! You're the only real winners here.

Two of the worst offenses in the league duking it out for the right to say that they're the biggest disaster of 2024. And New England came out on top... I think. Honestly, who knows. And it doesn't really matter anyway.

I've decided to set myself a goal for the rest of this season's Fan Notes and stop talking about the offensive line. "The Patriots offensive line is terrible" has become the NFL equivalent of "gonna be a scorcher today" or "why the hell does gas cost so damn much." It has become one of those obvious statements that we find ourselves saying just to make some kind of small talk or rationalize our current situation, and there really isn't much more to be said about it. There's just nothing there and that's just kind of how it is.

I also don't think it's all on the O-line either. Jacoby Brissett has had time and missed open guys. The play calling hasn't reflected the limitations along the line. Injuries are of course a factor. It's very easy to cope by saying that the Patriots are just a competent line away, but it's more than that.

I also think that the only way I'm going to get through this is to treat yesterday's game like an academic exercise of sorts, where the players all represented little pieces of bacteria floating around a Petri dish and I'm back in 8th-grade biology glass pretending to take notes instead of giggling every time another kid in my class made the exact same joke about other things you'd need a microscope to see.

The real positive I'm taking away from this game — and I mean this sincerely — is that, among the flames of that debacle of a game, there are some Patriots players who continue to either get better each week or consistently make good plays. And all of those players are part of the young core that aims to be vital to future iterations of this roster. DeMario Douglas is starting to re-emerge as a solid route runner and viable receiving option. Kayshon Boutte continues to make the most of his snaps and is making a very strong case for becoming a more regular part of the offensive rotation. Christian Gonzalez is one of the best corners in the league, and Bryce Baringer is an All-Pro level punter. Rhamondre Stevenson is a legit weapon when he's not fumbling. Brenden Schooler is an elite special teamer. Marte Mapu had the green dot on his helmet and seems to be drawing high praise. You can see a talented team somewhere underneath all the nonsense, and all the players who aren't delivering aren't in New England's long-term plans.

But a real negative I'm taking away from this game is how undisciplined the Patriots were, and a lot of that is on the coaches. A too-many-men penalty that erases a punt is a horrible look, and giving Miami an entire football field's worth of free yards in a game where field position and points are going to be at a premium in inexcusable. Jerod Mayo made some highly questionable coaching decisions, and why the Patriots abandoned the run so early is beyond me. That all starts at the top and trickles down, so hopefully Mayo and Co. are watching the game tape of themselves this week as well.

I'd like to know what more Christian Gonzalez has to do in order for DeMarcus Covington to come to his locker every week with a photograph of a receiver and just say "cover that guy." The man hasn't had an easy matchup since he started in the NFL and he has delivered every single time. Any time an elite receiver makes a play on the Patriots, it's because they're in a zone or because Gonzo isn't covering him.

I'd also like to know how much of New England's inability to stop the run as of late stems from injuries as opposed to talent and a lack of fundamentals. Backs can bounce to the outside with relative ease against this team, and I'd say there's a standard deviation of about three yards in between when a Patriots defender first makes contact with a running back and when he finally goes down. It's odd too, because the thing I was most impressed with regarding the Patriots during the preseason was how strong the tackling looked.

And they might have to figure all that out without Jabrill Peppers. If these charges are legit, I can't imagine he's around much longer. You don't behave like that period, let alone as a team captain. We'll see how it develops.

I never expected Antonio Gibson to be as productive as he has been through these first five weeks. Granted, a lot of that has been out of necessity. But he seems to be good for at least one big play a game and has shown excellent patience and gap discipline as a runner.

Ultimately, I just have to repeat what I've already said multiple times: this is a team that plays exactly as we expected them to. They're just not talented enough to compete with most teams in the NFL.

And I'd still rather have this version of the Patriots than what we had to endure last year, where each three and out seemed like it was just three random plays with no rhyme or reason followed by a botched Special Teams play to screw over the defense. At no point during the 2025 season so far have I seen anything but max effort from everyone. You can't yell at a five-year-old kid who is swinging a hammer as hard as he can for not pounding the nail in.

On the Ja'Lynn Polk touchdown that wasn't: other than the fact that Polk is carving himself out an odd little niche of making spectacular catches on incomplete passes that land out of bounds, we have yet another example of how completely nonsensical the rules surrounding a catch are. What that play came down to is that Polk was facing the wrong way when he made that catch. Had it been along the sideline, it's in. Had he been facing the back of the end zone, it's in. But since he had his back to the boundary, the toes hitting the ground first takes a back seat to the heel needing to be in bounds as well. Right call, but just an insane nuance that makes no sense. And as we've all seen multiple times over the last 10-plus years, absolutely nobody who plays, coaches, watches, officiates, administrates, orchestrates, or broadcasts professional football could even begin to tell you what a catch is. That's simply the way it is and at this point we're never going to know.

I'll be very curious to see what the Drake Maye conversation is this week. Last week people seemed OK letting him sit for a while longer, and I wonder if what we saw yesterday converted anyone one way or another.

But Jerod Mayo said after the game that Jacoby is still the guy. He also said, in not so many words, that Brissett's job is more or less to take a beating for as long as he can take it. So, there's that.

Despite the loss — and as I've said many times, wins and losses don't really matter all that much this season — I'd much rather be a Patriots fan than a Dolphins fan this season. We all knew that New England was going to be bad this year, but Miami were a lot of folks' pick to win the AFC East. Now they have no quarterback and no prospects and are projected to be $44 million over the cap in 2025. I can't imagine that there are too many Fins fans feeling all warm and fuzzy over the win yesterday.

Also... this is worth saying. Buffalo seems like they're just good enough to get bounced early from the playoffs and don't have the teeth or the talent to make a really deep playoff run. They're also right up against the cap in 2025 and run the real risk of spending a few more years of Josh Allen's prime going 10-7 with a divisional round exit. Obviously only one team per year ends the season happy, and you can't have a Super Bowl or Bust mentality as a fan. But there's also something about the feeling that your team simultaneously has their best shot to win a championship but also doesn't have enough pieces.