Getty Mac Jones
The New England Patriots‘ seven-game win streak had been powered by an offense taking care of the football, limiting some penalties and stout defense. At various times on Saturday night in Indy against the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots fell short.
The result: the Patriots’ seven-game win streak is over after the Colts’ 27-17 loss. New England mounted a comeback late in the second half, but a questionable decision from Bill Belichick on fourth down, a costly penalty and an inability to slow down Jonathan Taylor on the ground were the culprits.
Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones struggled mightily in the first half, but he did play much better late. His fourth-quarter heroics made it a game before Taylor broke the Patriots’ back with a game-winning 67-yard TD run to clinch the victory.
There were several low points on the evening from the Patriots, including punter Jake Bailey having his punt blocked and returned for a TD by the Colts’ E.J. Speed. The Patriots trailed 20-0 heading into the fourth before their furious comeback attempt fell short.
The loss dropped the Patriots to 9-5 and the Colts improved to 8-6. Here is a look at how Twitter responded to the final result.
Twitter Reacts to the Patriots’ 27-17 Loss to the Colts
We don’t hear enough about Taylor’s speed when we’re discussing the many talents he has that make him one of the NFL’s best running backs. On the clinching play, Taylor hit 22.13 miles per hour as he outraced Patriots cornerback J.C. Jacksons into the end zone, per Next Gen Stats.
Jonathan Taylor reached a top speed of 22.13 mph on his 67-yard game-clinching TD run, the fastest speed by a ball-carrier this season.
Taylor is now responsible for three of the top 5 fastest plays with the football this season.
Patriots fans will likely weep at the sight of this, but here is a look at the play from Taylor. It accounted for 67 of his 170 yards on the ground during the game. Taylor now has 1,510 yards on the ground.
Prior to Taylor’s huge run, the Patriots committed a huge fourth-quarter penalty. They went with a jumbo set and second-year offensive lineman Mike Onwenu was called for a false start that took the team out of goal line situation, and into a much tougher third-down conversion.
New England didn’t convert and they wound up settling for a field goal that cut the lead to 20-10. USA Today’s Henry McKenna lamented New England’s struggles with penalties in this tweet.
The Patriots committed 8 penalties for 50 yards this evening.
The Patriots would get the ball back and score a TD, to make it 20-17, but Bill Belichick got some criticism for not going for it on fourth down after Onwenu’s penalty. ESPN’s Seth Walder called Belichick’s decision to kick the field goal a “huge error.”
Patriots 4th-and-goal from the Colts’ 7
WP go: 9.5%
WP kick: 5.8%
Huge error
There was a lot of talk about whether Jones could guide his team to a victory if the Colts forced him to beat them with his arm. After throwing two first-half interceptions, including one in the red zone late in the second quarter, Jones rebounded and gave his team a chance. The pick was a big one, but we cannot honestly blame the loss on him–though we know some will.
The Athletic’s Jeff Howe seemed to have a more logical take on the Patriots’ route to this loss.
The narrative of this game should NOT be, “Can Patriots win when Mac Jones trails by 14-20 points?”
The narrative of this game SHOULD be, “You won’t win when you lose turnover battle, give 10 points on special teams, commit drive-killing penalties and give up 200 on the ground.”
What’s Next For the Patriots?
After the tough primetime loss, New England has a mammoth rematch at home against the Buffalo Bills next week. The run defense has to improve. Jones must take better care of the ball and special teams cannot wet the bed as they did on Saturday.
Here is a look at what’s left on the Patriots’ schedule as well as the results through 14 games.
New England Patriots (9-5) 2021 Regular Season Schedule
- Week 1 – vs. Miami Dolphins 17, New England Patriots 16
- Week 2 – New England Patriots 25, at New York Jets 6
- Week 3 – New Orleans Saints 28, New England Patriots 13
- Week 4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19, New England Patriots 17
- Week 5 – New England Patriots 25, at Houston Texans 22
- Week 6 – Dallas Cowboys 35, New England Patriots 29 – OT
- Week 7 – New England Patriots 54, New York Jets 13
- Week 8 – New England Patriots 27, Los Angeles Chargers 24
- Week 9 – New England Patriots 24, at Carolina Panthers 6
- Week 10 – New England Patriots 45, Cleveland Browns 7
- Week 11 – New England Patriots 25, at Atlanta Falcons 0
- Week 12 – New England Patriots 36, Tennessee Titans 13
- Week 13 – New England Patriots 14, Buffalo Bills 10
- Week 14 – Bye Week
- Week 15 – Indianapolis Colts 27, New England Patriots 17
- Week 16 – Buffalo Bills at 1 pm ET – CBS – December 26
- Week 17 – Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 pm ET – CBS – January 2
- Week 18 – at Miami Dolphins at 1 pm ET – CBS – January 9
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