FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In a season full of tough defeats, none will sting more for the New England Patriots than Sunday’s heartbreaking 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
New England led 24-17 with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter before the Colts drove for a touchdown and a go-ahead 2-point conversion in the final seconds. Joey Slye attempted a game-winning 68-yard field goal as time expired but it came up just short.
Colts Hand Patriots Gut-Wrenching Loss
The Patriots racked up 279 net yards in the first half but entered halftime with just a 16-14 lead. The two teams then went back and forth in the second half with Indy ultimately earning a dramatic win
New England appeared primed for victory after a nine-play, 54-yard touchdown drive gave it a seven-point lead late in the fourth, and Anthony Richardson threw an interception on the ensuing drive. However, the Patriots went three-and-out, and the Colts responded with a 19-play, 80-yard drive to win the game.
No extra point needed, AR wanted two.
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/J1tII90qbR
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 1, 2024
Drake Maye was excellent, completing 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards and one TD while throwing one fluky interception. The rookie QB added five carries for 59 yards but took four sacks.
Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson posted 73 and 62 rushing yards, respectively, with Gibson scoring one of New England’s two touchdowns. Hunter Henry led all pass catchers with seven catches for 75 yards.
On the other side, Richardson completed 12 of 24 passes for 109 yards and two TDs to go along with two interceptions and 48 rushing yards. Jonathan Taylor registered 96 yards and 25 carries, while Michael Pittman Jr. posted five catches for 42 yards.
Overall, the Patriots earned more yards (422 to 253), gained more first downs (23 to 20), were better on third downs (55% to 45%), and won the time-of-possession battle (34:12 to 25:48). They committed five more penalties, however, and were much worse in the red zone.
The Patriots dropped to 3-10 with the loss, while the Colts improved to 6-7 with the win. New England will enjoy its bye next week before visiting the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15.
Let’s look at three studs and three duds from Sunday’s game at Gillette Stadium.
Best Players for Patriots in Win Over Colts
QB Drake Maye
It’s close between this game and the Week 11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams for Maye’s best performance as a starter. He was calm and accurate and wasn’t at fault for his lone interception.
Maye was especially impressive in the first half when he completed 17 of 20 passes for 169 yards and one TD while adding 41 rushing yards on one carry. He didn’t have as many opportunities in the second half but was dynamite on the fourth-quarter drive that gave the Patriots the lead.
Maye also gets bonus points for playing well through near-freezing temperatures in Foxborough. He continues to check all the boxes.
Running Backs
Stevenson and Gibson both were impressive in this game. Gibson was more efficient (8.9 yards per carry), but Stevenson picked up tough yards and was more productive as a receiver with three catches for 21 yards.
The Patriots have a weird backfield. Gibson appears to be a better fit for the outsize-zone scheme that Alex Van Pelt wants to run, but he and Stevenson also complement each other well. It’d be interesting to see what this duo would look like if New England’s offensive line weren’t such a mess.
Antonio Gibson with the hesi 😮💨
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/i2IckoYtZq
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 1, 2024
TE Austin Hooper
Austin Hooper’s on a heater. After posting 64, 35, and 59 yards over the last three weeks, respectively, the veteran tight end caught four balls for 42 yards and one TD against the Colts. Hooper is on pace for his most productive pass-catching season since 2019.
Right in the window @DrakeMaye2 🫢
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/rXBCdY2Dn7
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 1, 2024
Honorable mentions: Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, Alex Austin, Hunter Henry, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kendrick Bourne
Who Struggled for Patriots in Win Over Colts?
Red-Zone Offense
What a brutal showing.
The Patriots’ offense scored a touchdown on just one of their first five trips to the red zone. They settled for field goals three times, with Slye missing one from 25 yards, and one trip resulted in a flukey interception after Henry bobbled a pass at the goal line.
Buck blows things up in the red zone. 💣
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/F3qMYLYkVZ
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 1, 2024
New England did plenty of good things on offense in this game, and the sixth red-zone trip resulted in a Gibson TD run.
However, too often the group devolved into a disorganized, mistake-prone mess when it reached the red zone. Ultimately, that falls on Van Pelt and the rest of the offensive coaching staff. It’s too late in the season for the Patriots to look so discombobulated when they near the goal line.
Offensive Guards
Mike Onwenu and Layden Robinson both struggled in this game.
Onwenu committed a holding penalty that wiped out Stevenson’s wildcat touchdown in the first quarter and later allowed Stevenson to be talked for a big loss on third down.
Excellent blocking scheme. 👍 pic.twitter.com/KId4p3Hc15
— Savage (@SavageSports_) December 1, 2024
After that play, it looked like Maye told Onwenu he made the wrong check at the line, so it’s possible Onwenu did nothing wrong. Either way, it was another uneven performance from someone who’s supposed to be the Patriots’ best offensive lineman.
As for Robinson, he committed two holding penalties in his first start at left guard. He probably deserves a pass, as he also didn’t play any left guard in college, but it still was a tough day for the rookie.
Jahlani Tavai
Jahlani Tavai had a rough go of it, especially in the first half. He committed a defensive-pass-interference-penalty on Pittman and appeared to be at fault on Taylor’s 7-yard TD catch in the first quarter.
Take a look:
A little pitch and catch.
📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/iznlbwbUy5
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 1, 2024
Now, it’s possible that one of New England’s defensive backs was supposed to pick up Taylor after Tavai passed him off. But at first blush, it looked like Tavai made the key mistake.
Regardless, this was another game that saw an opposing offense target New England’s linebackers to repeated success. Christian Elliss, who had an interception in the first quarter, also struggled.
Honorable mentions: Kyle Dugger, DeMontrey Jacobs, Joey Slye, Christian Elliss, pass rush
4 Takeaways from the Patriots-Colts Game
Awful Situational Football
The Patriots are maddening. If you squint hard enough, you can see a team that’s better than their 3-10 record. After all, New England has lost five games by fewer than seven points, including three losses by three or fewer points.
Simultaneously, the Patriots deserve their record. They’ve been far too sloppy in key situations, which falls on coaches and players.
New England’s offense made it inside Indy’s 10-yard line four times on Sunday. Those four trips resulted in two field goals, a missed 25-yard field goal, and an interception. Many of the Patriots’ seven accepted penalties came in big spots, including the Colts’ final drive, and two negated touchdowns for the offense.
New England also failed to build momentum when the Colts were doing everything possible to give the game away.
After Richardson’s first interception, the Patriots gained 5 yards on three plays before kicking a field. After Richardson’s second pick, the Patriots went three-and-out when they could’ve driven for a two-score lead late in the fourth quarter.
Oh, and the Patriots allowed the Colts to convert three fourth downs on their final drive.
More Coaching Controversy
Among the coaching second-guesses from this game:
- DeMarcus Covington’s defense again looking ill-prepared in the first quarter.
- Jerod Mayo not challenging Will Mallory’s 7-yard catch that set up fourth-and-short on Indy’s final drive.
- Mayo forgoing a Hail Mary attempt in favor of having Slye attempt a 68-yarder, which would’ve set an NFL record.
- Mayo not calling timeouts as the Colts milked the clock before their final touchdown.
- Van Pelt having Stevenson line up in wildcat formation on first-and-goal from the 2-yard line.
- Conservative playcalling on New England’s penultimate drive.
Where Are the Receivers?
Henry and Hooper were the Patriots’ top pass catchers with 75 and 42 yards, respectively. Here’s how the receivers fared:
- Kayshon Boutte: three catches on six targets for 41 yards.
- Kendrick Bourne: three catches on three targets for 39 yards.
- DeMario Douglas: four catches on four targets for 20 yards.
- Ja’Lynn Polk: zero catches on one target.
- Javon Baker: zero targets.
Simply put: The Patriots aren’t getting nearly enough from their receiving corps.
A New No. 2 Corner
Outside of his pass-interference penalty on the Colts’ final drive, Alex Austin played well as the No. 2 corner opposite Christian Gonzalez. In fact, Austin saw 26 defensive snaps compared to 21 for Jonathan Jones.
Austin missed eight games due to an ankle injury before returning in Week 12 in a special teams-only role against the Miami Dolphins. But after his performance against the Colts, Austin could see extended run as the No. 2 corner over the final four games.
Alex Austin, have yourself a day! 🔒 pic.twitter.com/PJGdgnDibL
— Carlos Talks Pats (@LosTalksPats) December 1, 2024
Notable Postgame Quotes
Here are some of the most notable quotes from postgame availability.
Joey Slye on what went wrong on his missed 25-yarder: “Operation. I need to be better on my communication as a whole. To be honest, just kind of a sh—y situation.”
When asked to elaborate, Slye added: “Just a sh—y situation overall. No other comments on that.”
Joey Slye on what went wrong on his missed 25-yarder:
"Operation. I need to be better on my communication as a whole. To be honest, just kind of a shitty situation."
When asked to elaborate, Slye added: "Just a shitty situation overall. No other comments on that." pic.twitter.com/CBiQJ92Q3L
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandall) December 1, 2024
Slye on missing the 68-yarder: “I hit it clean. Straight down the pipe from where I was looking. … Cold weather today. Little wind in the face going that way as well. Knew I needed to put pretty much everything I had into it, and it just fell a little bit short.”
Mayo on not challenging the Mallory catch: “We were waiting to see the replay. Never really got a clear shot of it, so I didn’t challenge it.”
Jerod Mayo on why he didn't challenge Mallory's questionable catch in the #Patriots loss to the #Colts: pic.twitter.com/tKVh1jtzH8
— New England Sports Insight (@NESportsInsight) December 1, 2024
Mayo on not calling timeouts in the final minute: “Absolutely, there was a thought. We have also won a Super Bowl here doing it the other way. Keeping our time-outs is what I thought was best for the team.”
Mayo on the officiating: “Look, we know with this crew the first — I think we had them the first Miami game. They threw ten holding penalties between the two teams. So we went into the game knowing that’s one of the calls that they make a lot. It just comes down to, look, some of them obviously were questionable, but they called them, and we just have to fix those mistakes.”
Mayo on opting against a Hail Mary: “That was 100% me. Look, Slye was hitting it well in pregame, and I felt that that was the best thing to do to help our team win the football game. Not sure what the numbers are on Hail Marys versus the field goal there, but that’s what I felt was right.”
Kendrick Bourne on another tough loss: “Tired of being on the short end of the stick. The attention is there. Just need to be better in the red zone as a group. … I feel like practice definitely showed in the game today; like, the things we hit in practice this week showed getting down there. But just gotta finish.”
Maye on losing such a close game: “It was heartbreaking. I think our guys fought hard, did a lot of good things. That’s what Coach Mayo preaches in the locker room. We did a lot of good things on film. Proud of the way the guys fought. I’m proud of the defense. I thought they played their butts off. Especially our guys up front on offense. They did a great job. I think we ran the football for a bunch of yards. I think we were efficient in the passing game and just came up short. It’s a bummer. I hate it for these guys, and I hate it for these coaches. We’re practicing hard. We’re fighting hard, and just came up short.”
Maye on the interception to Henry: “Just tried to get to him quick, and hopefully he gets in. I think I put it on the wrong shoulder. I think if I put it on the opposite shoulder away from the defender, and I think that’s maybe a completion there. Just unfortunate it got tipped up. Just a bummer.”
Maye on if he wanted to try a Hail Mary: “I think it’s up to the coaching. I’m here to support what Coach Mayo and the special teams guys and what Joey thinks. So I think whether it’s that or the Hail Mary, either one.”