Patriots film review: Drake Maye can’t continue to carry the team and more Miami takeaways

Another Miami meltdown.

More bad penalties.

Extra questionable coaching.

The same problems sprouting up again and again.

At 3-9, the Patriots aren’t just a rebuilding team navigating a rocky stretch in a tough season.

Right now, they just stink.

Here’s what else the film revealed about their latest loss:

Drake Maye

22-of-37 for 222 yards, TD, INT

Accurate throw percentage: 64.7%

Under pressure: 4-of-10 for 66 yards, TD, INT, 4 sacks, 21 rushing yards

Against the blitz: 2-of-5 for 19 yards, sack, 4 rushing yards

Behind the line: 5-of-5 for 30 yards

0-9 yards downfield: 15-of-19 for 138 yards, INT

10-19 yards downfield: 1-of-7 for 16 yards

20+ yards downfield: 1-of-3 for 38 yards

Notes: It’s hard to evaluate a quarterback in a game setting like Sunday’s.

Maye’s teammates repeatedly put him behind the chains, committing five pre-snap penalties in the first half. He felt pressure on more than a third of his dropbacks. He was handed a 24-point deficit at halftime, after which Miami pinned its ears back without any thought of stopping the run or respecting play-action.

Nonetheless, this much can be said about Maye’s play Sunday: it was not his best.

Maye was less accurate than previous starts, delivering an on-target pass on fewer than 65% of his attempts. He lost two bad turnovers, one on a strip sack where he exposed the ball with an outstretched arm and the other a bad-decision interception under pressure that ended the game. In between, Maye aggressively hunted big plays down the stretch at the expense of small profits; which, granted, is what the Patriots needed to mount any semblance of a comeback. He also scored a touchdown and averaged 12.5 yards on extended plays, including scrambles and passes.

But the concern here for Maye is twofold.

Drake Maye has 2 deep completions over his last 5 starts and 184 dropbacks, per PFF.

He had 4 deep completions over his first 2 starts and 84 dropbacks.

The #Patriots must find a way to unlock that deep passing game again. pic.twitter.com/q2cO1JuzEU

— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) November 25, 2024

No. 1: games like Sunday’s could drag Maye back into bad habits. Arguably the most impressive part of his NFL development has been tamping down the hero impulses that led him astray in college, and how the Patriots seemed to have replaced those with a greater discipline. Maye led the NFL in turnover-worthy plays among starting quarterbacks entering Sunday, but most of those mistakes were not of the deliberately reckless variety seen Sunday.

No. 2: Maye has only two deep completions over his last five starts and 184 dropbacks, per Pro Football Focus. He connected on four deep passes in his first two starts and initial 84 dropbacks. Defenses have adjusted to him, not only playing more zone against the Patriots to keep eyes on Maye and protect against his scrambling, but to shut off his other avenue to creating explosive plays: the long ball.

Of course, right now it takes a perfect throw for Maye to beat the tight coverage that’s often plastered all over his receivers, who can’t separate and especially downfield. More on them later.

Critical areas

Turnovers: Patriots 2, Dolphins 1

Explosive play rate: Patriots 8.2%, Dolphins 7.5%

Success rate: Patriots 36%, Dolphins 46%

Red-zone efficiency: Patriots 0-0, Dolphins 3-4

Defensive pressure rate: Patriots 14.2%, Dolphins 34.7%

Offense

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 69% of snaps in 11 personnel, 29.5% snaps in 12 personnel, 1.5% snaps in 21 personnel.***

Personnel production: 26% success rate in 11 personnel, 61% success rate in 12 personnel, 0% success rate in 21 personnel.

First-down down play-calls: 79% pass (42% success rate), 21% run (20% success rate)

Play-action rate: 8.7%

Alex Van Pelt’s game plan effectively went out the window late in the first half, thanks to several penalties and constant pressure.

Initially, the Patriots threw the kitchen sink at Miami, deploying five different personnel groupings over their first 13 snaps. Van Pelt sent out multiple tight ends or running backs on most plays, and the Pats out-muscled and out-flanked the Dolphins en route to a field goal attempt on their second drive. But naturally, playing through false starts, holding calls and a turnstile offensive line proved unsustainable.

The Pats suffered three three-and-outs to end the half. Van Pelt then leaned into more 11 personnel (packages with three receivers, one running back and one tight end), which reminded anyone paying attention why it’s the Pats’ least efficient grouping this season. The receivers can’t separate, and the line can’t protect. Maye’s first sack came on a three-man rush.

Van Pelt seemed to manage the game with a lack of confidence in his O-line, notably calling a run on third-and-16 in the first half and a gross Kendrick Bourne double-pass in the second while facing third-and-17.

A few other critiques: the Patriots were caught three times sliding their protection away from Miami blitzes that generated free rushers. The Dolphins timed those pressures perfectly on a day they blitzed just seven times. Downfield, the Pats receivers were asked too often to win in isolation downfield, Van Pelt’s passing plan did little to stress Miami’s deep zone coverage or stem the pressure flying off each offensive tackle spot, save for a few chips by the tight ends.

Player stats

Broken tackles: WR DeMario Douglas 4, QB Drake Maye 3, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, WR Kendrick Bourne, WR Ja’Lynn Polk, RB JaMycal Hasty

Pressure allowed: RT Demontrey Jacobs 4 (sack, 2 QB hits, hurry), LG Michael Jordan 4 (sack, QB hit, 2 hurries), LT Vederian Lowe 3 (sack, 2 hurries), Team 3 (sack, QB hit, hurry), QB Drake Maye 2 (2 hurries)

Run stuffs allowed: C Ben Brown, Jacobs

Drops: N/A

Notes

• Penalties, penalties, penalties. The offense got flagged seven times in the first half and had six completions. That, as much as anything, explains the miserable start that helped drop the Pats into a 24-0 hole.
• Jerod Mayo told reporters Monday he plans to make lineup changes moving forward. Vederian Lowe and Demontrey Jacobs should be on alert.
• The Patriots’ starting offensive tackles combined for six penalties Sunday and have allowed three-plus pressures in three straight weeks.
• Jacobs also got benched in the fourth quarter, and Lowe might have played worse. Whether the Pats turn again to Sidy Sow — who replaced Jacobs in Miami — or move Mike Onwenu back to right tackle, change is deserved.
• Onwenu was the only offensive linemen to escape with a clean sheet (zero pressures or run-stuffs allowed). Fundamentally, this O-line had a disastrous day.
• Quietly struggling behind them was Rhamondre Stevenson. At the end of a hard-charging second series, Stevenson ran a sloppy route that led to an incompletion, and was a non-factor the rest of the game. That’s not good enough for one of the highest-paid running backs in the league, who’s forced an average of just two missed tackles per game the last month.
• Fellow running back Antonio Gibson was responsible for the two longest plays of the first half: a 14-yard run and 14-yard checkdown from Maye. Those numbers, almost as much as the penalties, explain how much of a slog it was in South Florida.
• If they weren’t rookie draft picks playing in Year 1 of a rebuild, it would be hard to argue why Ja’Lynn Polk or Javon Baker should see meaningful snaps the rest of the season.
• Polk’s only catch Sunday was a designed touch on a screen pass that ended the first drive. His other target was batted away, a consistent problem for one of the NFL’s worse separators, per Next Gen Stats.
• Baker, meanwhile, played just 11 snaps, and saw one target. Last month, Alex Van Pelt explained his lack of playing time by saying Baker needs to line up correctly and run better routes. Baker’s issues may have flared on his one target, considering Maye threw five yards behind him, while Kendrick Bourne ran the same route on the opposite side of the field but stopped six yards before Baker did.
• Kayshon Boutte’s deep targets have gone from a fun, new feature to a bug in the passing game. He does his best work on in-breakers, and specifically slants. Free DeMario Douglas, or someone else, downfield.
• Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper: still rock solid.

Defense

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 62% three-corner nickel package, 19% three-safety nickel, 16% dime, 1.5% base, 1.5% quarter.****

Coverage breakdown: 55% zone, 45% man

Blitz rate: 16.7%

Blitz efficacy: 57% offensive success rate and 4.3 yards per play allowed

A week ago, the Patriots’ refusal to adjust mid-game cost them against the Rams. This time, they got flat-out beat.

Defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington mixed his coverage calls, leaning mostly on Cover 1, Cover 2 and Cover 3 and blitz pressure only around the red zone. The Patriots usually played out of a single-high structure from three-safety nickel personnel, which afforded them enough beef to stop the run and crowd the middle of the field to disrupt Miami’s favorite in-breaking routes. The only problem: the Dolphins didn’t care.

Tua Tagovailoa carved up all of the Pats’ preferred coverages, beating Cover 1, Cover 2 and Cover 3 each for multiple first-down conversions and at least three completions of 10-plus yards. Inside the red zone, the Patriots’ secondary did the rest with two coverage busts and late reactions to a screen pass and play-action throw that in total allowed four touchdowns. Miami manipulated the Pats’ plan to double-team Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle inside the 20-yard line and hit tight end Jonnu Smith and running back De’Von Achane for three combined touchdowns.

Unlike the Rams loss, when Christian Gonzalez was restricted to one side of the field, Covington moved him around, across from Hill, Waddle and even Odell Beckham Jr. That helped, especially when the Patriots stuck Gonzalez on Hill (one catch in that matchup) and doubled Waddle, who had 118 receiving yards at halftime. But it was too little, too late.

Covington’s only major adjustments in the second half were to call more Waddle double-teams and less man-to-man coverage. Waddle had less than 30 yards in the second half, but scored Miami’s last touchdown.

Player stats

Pressure: DL Keion White 2 (2 hurries), Christian Barmore (sack), S Brenden Schooler (sack), DE Yannick Ngakoue (QB hit), DL Davon Godchaux (hurry)

Run stuffs: Team 4, S Kyle Dugger, S Marte Mapu, Godchaux

Pass deflections: DB Marcus Jones 3, S Marte Mapu 2, CB Christian Gonzalez, S Kyle Dugger, LB Jahlani Tavai, LB Christian Elliss,

Missed tackles: LB Sione Takitaki 2, CB Jonathan Jones, OLB Anfernee Jennings, LB Christian Elliss, S Jaylinn Hawkins, Mapu

Notes

• First, a hat tip to Miami. Tagovailoa played an outstanding game with exceptional accuracy and timing, including four completions he zipped within an inch or two of defenders’ hands.
• Other than that, this was front-to-back embarrassment for the Pats. No pressure, no first-half adjustments and basic breakdowns galore.
• Miami’s pre-snap motion and use of tempo tested the Patriots’ ability to simply line up, communicate and adjust on the fly. Too often, they failed, sometimes leaving a receiver or a gap unaccounted for pre-snap.
• And that’s a black mark on coaches and players, considering they all prepared for this same offense less than two months ago, and faced a similar Rams system a week earlier.
• A disastrous game for Kyle Dugger. He lost sight of ex-teammate Jonnu Smith on Miami’s first touchdown, a play where the Pats had Hill and Waddle successfully doubled and everyone else covered.
• Dugger was also involved in the bust that allowed the Dolphins’ third touchdown, a De’Von Achane walk-in score invited by a miscommunication between him and linebacker Christian Elliss late in the second quarter.
• Between those touchdowns, Dugger appeared to have a delayed reaction to the pre-snap motion that set up Achane’s initial touchdown.
• Later, Dugger was caught flat-footed playing the deep half on a snap of Cover 2 that allowed Waddle to speed through the secondary for his 23-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
• Not all blame lies with him, though. Marcus Jones got beat for four catches before fighting back for three pass breakups in the second half. Miami picked on Jones most
• For the second time in three weeks, the Patriots treated Jonathan Jones as more of a safety than cornerback. He’s been a frequent target for opponents at corner, which could portend a full-time move down the road.
• Christian Gonzalez: even with a hip injury, he allowed just one catch to Hill and Waddle and added a pass breakup. Stud.
• Christian Barmore’s reemergence may be the only hope for the Patriots’ pass rush, which posted a season-low 14.2% pressure rate after finishing below 23% a week ago.
• The Pats tallied a single pressure against 27 dropbacks in the first half. Barmore picked up his first sack of the season in the third quarter, after Keion White flushed Tagovailoa down the middle of the pocket.
• Jahlani Tavai: still solid, but unspectacular. The Pats need more playmaking from their linebackers.
• Might it be time for more Brenden Schooler on defense? The star special-teamer recorded another sack playing just two defensive snaps in Miami.

Special teams

• Kicker Joey Slye clanged a 45-yard field goal attempt off the right upright to cap the Patriots’ second drive. It was his only kick of the day.
• The Dolphins largely neutralized Marcus Jones on punt returns, sans a 20-yarder he ripped off in the second half.
• Neither team returned a kickoff, though it was notable the Patriots removed rookie receiver Javon Baker on kick return after he started there last week versus the Rams.
• Punter Bryce Baringer had a decent performance, dropping two of five punts inside Miami’s 20-yard line and booming another for a touchback. His longest punt covered 69 yards.

Studs

S Marte Mapu

He had a run-stuff on the fumble that resulted in a touchdown and broke up two passes. After sitting a week ago as a healthy scratch, Mapu should be part of the regular rotation moving forward.

Duds

LT Vederian Lowe

Three false starts. A holding penalty. Multiple pressures allowed. Shoulder injury aside, this was a complete embarrassment.

RT Demontrey Jacobs

Jacobs got benched after two penalties and a sack allowed.

S Kyle Dugger

He was involved in or adjacent to all the Patriots’ major coverage busts. Can’t have it.

*Explosive plays are defined as runs of 12-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards. 

**Success rate is an efficiency metric measuring how often an offense stays on schedule. A play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down.

***11 personnel = one running back, one tight end; 12 personnel = one running back, two tight ends; 13 personnel = one running back, three tight ends; 21 = two halfbacks, one tight end.

****Base defense = four defensive backs; nickel = five; dime = six; dollar defense = seven.