The New England Patriots were close to beating the Miami Dolphins but ended up losing 15-10 on Sunday. A potential game-winning touchdown catch by rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk with just over a minute left was taken back after a review.
The Patriots struggled with 12 penalties and allowed 193 rushing yards to the Dolphins, who had been averaging only 97.8 rushing yards in their previous four games. With a record of 1-4, New England is tied for the worst in the NFL and has lost four straight games since their opening win against Cincinnati.
Coach Jerod Mayo stated, “I think there’s no question we’re tough, but we have to be better from an execution standpoint.” He also noted that the team’s fundamentals began to decline as the game went on.
New England’s decision-making was poor during the final play. With no timeouts and the ball on the Miami 36-yard line, quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw a 25-yard pass to tight end Hunter Henry.
The Patriots didn’t get another chance to run a play as the game clock ran out before Brissett could act again.
Brissett commented, “We’ve got to play better. There’s no magic thing that we need to do. We’ve just got to play better. We’ve got to execute better. We’ve got to play with good fundamentals better. We’ve got to do all the little things better.”
He added that he didn’t reach 200 passing yards for the fifth straight game. “When we go back and watch this film, it’s not about this person, that person, this play, that play. We’ve just got to play better as a unit.”
Mayo agreed that the decision to overturn Polk’s touchdown was the right one, which was disappointing for Patriots fans. They then had to see Henry get called for a false start before the fourth down from the Miami 12.
