Patriots hurt by questionable coaching decisions, and more takeaways from their loss to the Rams

The New England Patriots lost another home game on Sunday, this one to the Los Angeles Rams. While they were able to keep things close and had a chance to drive for the victory late, they also seemed to be overmatched at times in the talent department both on and off the field.

As a consequence, the Patriots were defeated with a final score of 28-22. They are now 3-8 on the year, and only theoretically alive in the hunt for a playoff spot.

With that said, let’s clean out the notebook from the game.

Conservative coaching decisions hurt Patriots

The Patriots went up 7-0 in the first quarter, and they had their third drive of the game stall at the Rams 37-yard line following an illegal formation penalty against left tackle Vederian Lowe. They had a choice to kick the 55-yard field goal, or try to punt and pin the Rams deep. They decided to punt, resulting in a touchback to limit the net gain to only 17 yards.

The Rams responded to that decision by driving 80 yards in nine plays, strip-sacking quarterback Drake Maye on third down on the next Patriots possession, and scoring on the first play of their subsequent drive to quickly turn a seven-point deficit into a 14-7 lead.

Hindsight is 20/20, but the decision to punt rather than attempt a long field goal turned out to be a costly one. Now, the wind was swirling a bit down that end, and Joey Slye had missed a few kicks in pregame, but the Patriots — especially given their current record and developmental stage — should probably try to be aggressive and attempt to score when they can. They are not winning because of field position, especially against the Rams.

“I just felt like when I made those choices, it was the best thing to do for our football team today,” head coach Jerod Mayo said about his decision making after the game.

Additionally, they also settled for field goals from the Rams 13-, 7-, and 23-yard lines. Frankly, the Patriots can’t afford to be conservative. They have a clear talent deficit against a team like the Rams, and going for broke is — in this humble opinion — the way they should play.

Christian Gonzalez’s usage raises questions

We will get into the defensive play calling as a whole in a second, but for now let’s focus on New England’s best player. For some reason, the Patriots decided against Christian Gonzalez shadowing Rams wide receivers Puka Nacua or Cooper Kupp, and it went horribly for them.

The player that the sophomore cornerback instead was primarily shadowing was Demarcus Robinson, who finished with two catches for 19 yards. That’s great and all, but Nacua and Kupp are why the Rams won the game: the former caught seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, the latter six passes for 106 and two scores.

“We just thought that was the best thing to do. It’s a mix of man and zone, so we thought that was the best thing to do,” Mayo explained about the decision to keep Gonzalez on the boundary rather than have him move around to help combat Nacua and Kupp.

Gonzalez himself also did not second-guess how he was employed.

“The coaches came in, told me what the game plan was,” he said. “I never look at it as surprise or upset or anything. I do what they want me to do. Whatever they tell me to do, I’ll go out there and do my best to do it.”

Defensive coaching concerns

Beyond using Gonzalez in a rather odd fashion, there also appeared to be an issue with the defensive scheme in general. The Patriots were slow to adjust to what the Rams were doing, and consequently had a hard time stopping the opponent in the middle two quarters, giving up all 28 of the points in the second and third periods.

The Rams and head coach Sean McVay obviously make it difficult on teams, but we also saw the Miami Dolphins limit them to only 15 points a week ago. So, it’s certainly not impossible to slow them down.

Whether it was the scheme, play calling — see: the Cover 0 blitz that resulted in Cooper Kupp’s 69-yard third-quarter touchdown — or personnel usage, the Patriots needed better to have a chance to win versus an opponent more competitive than its record would suggest. They don’t have the horses right now either, but they are getting some guys back healthy and just need to put the talent they have in better positions to succeed.

(It also doesn’t help that they have forced only one turnover in the last five games. Getting a momentum-changing play is something that would be huge, especially for a young team.)

Drake Maye plays well, but makes some rookie mistakes

First-round rookie Drake Maye has looked very good so far. He has the ability to make plays when things break down, does a nice job in structure, and makes some throws every week that genuinely wow people watching.

With that being said, he’s still rookie, and so he has also made some rookie mistakes. On Sunday, there were multiple of those.

The strip sack wasn’t totally on him — the line got beat almost immediately — but it was supposed to be a quick play, so he needs to know to get the ball out quickly. He said so himself after the game.

“Just can’t hurt our defense on the fumble, third down. Got to get the ball out. Can’t take a sack there,” Maye said.

The last offensive play, meanwhile, was a miscommunication between him and wide receiver DeMario Douglas.

All in all, though, Patriots fans should feel lucky to have Maye as their QB. The sidearm throw to Kayshon Boutte, the running throw to Hunter Henry (even though it didn’t count), the throw across his body to Douglas while getting hit, are all throws that a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL simply cannot make. Having a guy that can make those plays seemingly effortlessly makes life a lot easier for the rest of your team.

“I’m behind Drake, everybody is behind Drake,” said Christian Gonzalez. “Mistakes are going to be made but he still made a lot of plays today. The offense came out and they really did what they had to do. They were making plays and scoring points, so it’s good rallying behind Drake. He’s a leader, and it will be fun to continue to play with him.”

Kendrick Bourne makes his presence felt

After dressing but not playing last week, Kendrick Bourne didn’t wait long to make his presence felt on Sunday. He finished with five receptions on five targets for 70 receiving yards and his first touchdown of the season.

Besides making some good catches, he also continued to bring his usual high level of energy. He looked to have some juice back on Sunday, which will be important moving forward. Bourne is an important member of this team.

“Just to see him come back here after what he went through and ball after adversity, the way he set out and came back, he balled. Shoutout to him,” said fellow wideout DeMario Douglas after the game.

Marcus Jones finally returns to offense

Marcus Jones is one of the most electric players on the Patriots. When he has the ball in his hands, something good usually happens. A three-way player, he was used on offense a bit his rookie year, but is playing a much bigger role on defense now, so his usage decreased ever since 2022.

On Sunday, he was on the field for two snaps and although he only had one carry for 5 yards, he did make an impact. After his run on the first rep, he served as a decoy on the other, which allowed the Patriots to run an effective screen on the other side.

“It was great. The last time I played an offensive snap was 2022, so it was good to be back out there” Jones said about his usage after the game.

Would he be willing to increase his offensive role, though?

“I’m definitely open to it,” he said. “I’m mainly defense, but I’m definitely open to it.”

Tight ends are not flashy, but reliable

The Patriots are lacking playmakers on offense, but they do have some reliable tight ends in Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. They may not be flashy, and neither of them will be mistaken for Rob Gronkowski or Ben Coates, but they are simply in the right place at most times and seem to make important catches for the offense every game.

“I’m trying to find 85. I think he’s one of the best tight ends in this league,” Maye said about Henry, who caught a team-high six passes for 63 yards.

“I think him and Hoop, those are two great players for us. I think week in and week out, blocked their butts off in the run game and make plays for us. I’m proud of 85 and 81.”

Time for more fun

The Patriots had some fun on the goal line when they threw a touchdown pass to Vederian Lowe in the early fourth quarter. That is exactly the type of thing the team should show more of.

Look at what the Detroit Lions have done with involving other players into their offense; it makes the guys up front happy, and it obviously is always fun to see a big guy score a touchdown. Like the Lions before them, the Patriots are also trying to build a new culture and identity, and rewarding guys for working hard — and be it via calling their number — should be a good thing.

“The throw to Lowe in the end zone, that was pretty cool,” said fellow big man and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. “I know we worked on it in practice, but I didn’t know we were actually calling it, but that was a great time to call it.”

Patriots are getting closer

The Patriots are not winning these close games right now, but they seem to be moving in the right direction. With 2 minutes left, they had the ball down one score. Drake Maye wasn’t able to lead a scoring drive this time, but he has before, and he will again.

The Patriots might not be winning, but being competitive against a talented, well coached, team is a good sign. Now they have to put it all together and beat a good team. Something they’ll have a chance to do multiple times down the stretch this season.

A trip to Miami on the horizon

The Patriots play another talented team next week in Miami against the Dolphins. They were able to beat the Rams on the road last week, and they smoked the Las Vegas Raiders 34-19 on Sunday. Their 4-6 record isn’t good, but they are a very different team with Tua Tagovailoa under center.

“We’re sitting here at 3-8 and we’ve got to go on the road and win a tough division game in Miami,” said ex-Dolphin Davon Godchaux. “They’re playing great football, they’re stringing wins together. We have the ability to do the same, we’ve just got to do it. Don’t talk about it, just go out and do it.”

It will be another good test for a Patriots team that hopes to continue an upward trajectory. They don’t have the talent yet, and their coaches are still learning, but if the Patriots can continue to improve their play, it could be bode well for the team in the future.