The New England Patriots made six trips inside the Indianapolis 20-yard line, but only came away with two touchdowns, two field goals, one interception at the goal line, and a missed field goal that was shorter than an extra point.
Looking back on how close they were to beating the Colts, those missed opportunities are what will hurt the most.
“I left some plays out there,” rookie quarterback Drake Maye said after watching the Colts drive 80 yards to win 25-24 on Sunday. This loss sent the Patriots (3-10) to their third straight defeat and eliminated them from playoff contention.
“I just hate it,” said Maye, who completed 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. “I pride myself on trying to lead this team to wins, and we didn’t accomplish that. That’s probably the biggest thing.”
The Patriots scored on their first four possessions but missed a 25-yard field goal on the fifth. They also had only one punt in the game, with 5:34 remaining. Two touchdowns were negated by penalties, one delaying the touchdown by one play and the other forcing them to settle for a field goal.
Their inability to convert inside the red zone left them with just a 16-14 lead at halftime and ahead 24-17 when the Colts (6-7) got the ball back with 5:34 remaining.
Anthony Richardson led the Colts on a 19-play drive, converting three times on fourth down, including a touchdown pass to Alec Pierce on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line with 12 seconds left. The Colts went for the 2-point conversion and the win, and Richardson ran it in to make it 25-24.
That was the fourth time the Patriots could have clinched the victory with a stop.
“It just wasn’t good enough,” cornerback Christian Gonzalez said. “We made plays; they made more plays. We’ve got to hold it down for the offense. When we get it on our back, we’ve got to be better.”
The Patriots got the ball back with 12 seconds left, and Maye connected with Hunter Henry for two short passes over the middle to get to midfield. Instead of a Hail Mary, coach Jerod Mayo opted for a 68-yard field goal attempt that would have been the longest in NFL history.
Joey Slye kicked it straight, but the ball landed short, hitting the base of the goalpost.
“Not sure what the numbers are on Hail Marys versus the field goal there, but that’s what I felt was right,” Mayo said.
Here are the numbers: Since 2006, there have been 45 passes thrown 30 or more yards downfield from near midfield in the last 5 seconds of the fourth quarter, and four of them ended in touchdowns. (No one has ever kicked a field goal of 68 yards, so that technically has a 0% success rate.)
It was New England’s fifth one-score loss of the season.
“It’s too late in the season to be saying, ‘We’re close,’” Gonzalez said. “We’ve got to make those plays and finish out the game.”
