6 takeaways as the Patriots get blown out coming off of the bye week

• Offensive operation letdown

  

  Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) huddles teammates against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at State Farm Stadium. Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

  Last time we saw the Patriots, they had their best all-around offensive performance of the season putting up a season high 422 yards on the Colts. With a week off to build on that, there seemed to be a chance for significant progress heading into the final stretch of the season.

  Instead of progress though, the offense looked to have regressed. They were averaging just 3.7 yards per play at halftime, and had just 167 yards of offense through the first three quarters before the game got out of hand and they put together two late garbage time touchdown drives. At the two minute warning of the first half, they’d had more negative offensive plays (6) than offensive first downs (5).

  Throughout the game, issues with the offensive operation and conservative offensive play calling limited the unit. We’ll highlight a couple of instances here.

  Let’s start early in the game. The Patriots had the ball first after winning the coin toss and choosing to receive, and started making their way down field.

  Just when it looked like they were about to enter the red zone though, a holding penalty on Layden Robinson erased a 15-yard run by Antonio Gibson, moving the ball back to the fringe of field goal range. After that the play calling got overly conservative, and a 3rd & 10 screen went nowhere leading to a 53-yard field goal. That kick was missed, and what started as a promising drive ended with no points.

  Fast forward to midway through the third quarter. The Patriots were down 16-3, but seemed to be on their way to making it a one-score game. After a couple of big runs by Rhamondre Stevenson, Gibson had a 29-yard run that put the Patriots at the Cardinals’ 13 yard line.

  Right away the momentum was zapped, as the Patriots couldn’t get lined up in time for the next play and had to burn a timeout to avoid a delay of game. On top of losing the momentum and giving the Cardinals’ defense a breather, had the game stayed close that could have been a costly second-half timeout.

  Coming out of the timeout the Patriots had an incomplete pass followed by a nine-yard Gibson run setting up a 3rd & 1. With two plays to gain one yard the Patriots were stuffed twice, with Gibson and Stevenson each getting a shot up the middle on 3rd and 4th down respectively. There may have been a bad spot on the first attempt, but not being able to gain a clear yard on two tries in that situation encapsulates where the Patriots’ offense is at right now.

  That conservative play calling was a theme for most of the game. In the first half Drake Maye completed all 10 of the passes he attempted – but none traveled more than five yards downfield. That included multiple screens. On the first play of the second half Maye finally threw deep to a covered Kayshon Boutte, with the pass falling incomplete on a play that seemed to be about showing the deep ball more than anything else. Maye didn’t throw deep again until the Patriots were down 23-3.

  Coming off of the Colts game, it looked like Alex Van Pelt and the Patriots’ offense would have plenty to build on. Instead they went in the other direction, and from here the push for any late season momentum will only get tougher against two of the elite defenses in the NFL in the Buffalo Bills (who they’ll play twice) and the Los Angeles Chargers (who had the No. 1 ranked defense in the league heading into Week 15).

• Offensive line issues

  

  GLENDALE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 15: Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots is tackled by Zaven Collins #25 of the Arizona Cardinals in the second quarter of the game at State Farm Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

  From an execution standpoint, the Patriots’ problems offensively started up front. This was a rough one for the offensive line, especially in the ground game.

  While the rushing performance overall was one of the bright spots for the Patriots on Sunday – they ran for 4.8 yards per carry – like early in the year that was more of a product of the running backs creating on their own.

  PFF’s initial charting had Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson rushing for a combined 118 yards on 21 carries, with 100 of those yards coming after contact. Gibson alone ran for 33 yards, but had 44 after contact.

  When it comes to pass blocking, the mistakes weren’t as regular but were glaring when they happened. Early on in the game Vederian Lowe got blown by twice on back-to-back plays, once on a run and one on a pass, leading to a negative run and a sack and clean hit on Drake Maye. Lowe allowed two pressures in the game, with center Ben Brown allowing two more.

  It wasn’t a great day for Brown, who also had two botched snaps early in the game (both in shotgun). This comes as Brown could be fighting for his job with the activation of Cole Strange from the PUP list. Strange was inactive on Sunday but the coaches have talked about trying the career left guard at center. Brown has a case to stick to keep the continuity with Maye, but if he can’t get the ball back to the quarterback the team will make a change.

  The other player who has Strange’s return looming over his job status is rookie left guard Layden Robinson. Robinson didn’t have any major pass protection issues in this game but he was called for the early hold and was beat on the 3rd/4th & short runs in the second half.

• Drake Maye’s game

  

  GLENDALE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 15: Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots looks to pass during the fourth quarter of a game against the New England Patriots at State Farm Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)

  The offensive issues around Drake Maye definitely put a ceiling on what he was able to do in this game. For what it was though the rookie had a solid day. He finished 19-of-23 for 202 yards with a touchdown through the air, another on the ground, and an interception.

  Maye didn’t get to open things up much until late in the game, when the Cardinals were up multiple scores. Of course there’s less pressure in garbage time, but his deep throw on a dot to Kendrick Bourne followed by his ad lib scrambling flip touchdown pass to DeMario Douglas showed the kind of plays that fans should be excited about for the future.

  Meanwhile, he played another relatively clean game in terms of not putting the ball in harm’s way. His one interception was similar to his lone pick in the last game – he threw low to protect the receiver from contact over the middle, but the ball bounced right off of Kayshon Boutte’s hands and to a nearby defender.

  Maye did have one other bad miss in this game – rolling out he had Boutte wide open but missed him with a completely uncatchable throw. However, Maye missed in an area where no defenders could make a play on the ball. Those kinds of misses were more prevalent earlier in the year for Maye, but he’d cut back on them in recent weeks. We’ll see if he can keep it that way next week.

  The other question with Maye regards him not being used as a runner in the short-yardage situations in the third quarter. The Patriots have yet to call a designed run for Maye, despite Alex Van Pelt suggesting a few weeks ago they could be an option in crucial short-yardage situations.

  Asked about taking advantage of Maye’s rushing ability in that situation after the game, Jerod Mayo responded to a reporter with “you said it [Maye can factor as a runner], I didn’t.” Asked to clarify if it was his or Van Pelt’s decision whether or not Maye could be used as a runner there he explained “it’s always my decision. I would say, look, the quarterback obviously has a good pair of legs and does a good job running the ball. We just chose not to do it there.”

• Defense losing at the line of scrimmage

  

  GLENDALE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 15: James Conner #6 of the Arizona Cardinals carries the ball against the defense of the New England Patriots in the first quarter of the game at State Farm Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)

  While the offensive line struggled, it wasn’t a much better day for the Patriots up front defensively. The Cardinals controlled the tempo with the ground game, picking up 163 yards on 32 carries at 5.1 yards per carry.

  While Jerod Mayo noted after the game that “we give up a big run play that really hurts us and really skews the rest of the stats,” even when removing James Conner’s 53-yard run that came at a key moment to set up the Cardinals’ first touchdown Arizona’s running backs still combined to average four yards per carry.

  When the Cardinals did break through the line of scrimmage, the tackling wasn’t always there to clean things up either. Both starting safeties – Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers – had either missed tackles or bad angles that led to big plays in this game.

  Meanwhile the Patriots pass rush failed to turn up the heat on Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray to a significant degree. PFF’s initial charting had him pressured seven times on 34 dropbacks. As has been the case this season Murray was excellent from a clean pocket, and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt completing 20 of those 26 throws. While he wasn’t a major factor with his legs as a runner, multiple times he evaded rushers to extend plays for positive gains. The Patriots didn’t record a sack or even a QB hit in this game.

• Another missed kick

  

  Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots placekicker Joey Slye (13) reacts after missing a field goal against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at State Farm Stadium. Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

  After Joey Slye missed two kicks going into the bye week, the Patriots signed kicker John Parker Romo to their practice squad. How would Slye respond?

  Slye ended up going 1-of-2 in this one with two long field goal attempts. He missed wide left from 53 yards to end the Patriots’ first drive, then hit from 50 yards out just before the half.

  It’s tough to outright knock a kicker for missing a distance kick like that. But, Slye has his job in part because he has that kind of range. If he’s not going to hit regularly from distance, he doesn’t have the consistency on shorter kicks to be a long-term answer at the job. These final three games – all played outdoors in the Northeast winter – will be big for him as he finishes up a contract year.

  Meanwhile the kicker Slye replaced – Chad Ryland – had a solid day for Arizona. The Patriots’ 2023 fourth-round pick went 3-for-3 against them on Sunday, hitting from 49, 35, and 40 yards.

• Bright spots

  

  GLENDALE, ARIZONA – DECEMBER 15: Christian Gonzalez #0 of the New England Patriots breaks up a catch by Marvin Harrison Jr. #18 of the Arizona Cardinals in the second quarter of the game at State Farm Stadium on December 15, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images)

  For the most part, this game represented a major step back for the Patriots as a whole from where they were heading into the bye week. That being said there were a few players who stood out with strong performances, and should get their due.

  That list clearly begins with cornerback Christian Gonzalez. Perhaps the best one-on-one matchup in this game featured Gonzalez covering fourth overall pick rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., who Gonzalez did end up shadowing.

  Harrison got a win early, when Gonzalez was caught in traffic on a pick play allowing Harrison a 23-yard catch-and-run. That would be Harrison’s only catch with Gonzalez in coverage though. In 23 more coverage snaps, Gonzalez didn’t allow a completion in four targets, including four pass breakups. Gonzalez continues to play high-level football, and should be getting Pro Bowl and even All-Pro consideration.

  This was also a big game for linebacker Christian Elliss. Elliss’ highlight play was an open field tackle on Kyler Murray short of the sticks on a third down on the Patriots’ first defensive drive of the game. He also showed good hustle chasing down James Conner to prevent a touchdown on the big run. However, he left the game early with a head injury.

  Finally there’s the running backs, who as mentioned above had to find ways to create without much help from the offensive line. In particular this was another strong game for Antonio Gibson, whose role continues to grow here late in the season as he stacks these sorts of performances.