Six Takeaways After Patriots Suffer Last-Second Loss Against Colts

FOXBORO, Mass. — That’s a brutal way to enter the bye week.

The New England Patriots led by a touchdown with five minutes left, but ultimately suffered a 25-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

The Patriots fell to 3-10 while the Colts, who lost four of their previous five games, improved to 6-7.

Here are six takeaways after Patriots-Colts:

Patriots defense can’t get needed stop
The Patriots defense let the offense down again. Indianapolis marched 80 yards in 19 plays (!), which took 5:22 off the clock. Anthony Richardson crossed the goal line on a game-winning two-point conversion with 12 ticks left. The Colts converted three fourth-down conversions after benefiting from fourth-and-short. Richardson hit tight end Mo Alie-Cox on the initial fourth-down conversion before a 6-yard run and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce. New England’s Alex Austin was whistled for a defensive pass interference during the crunch-time drive, as well.

Offense sustained drives, but red area struggles continue
The Patriots scored on each of their first four drives and would’ve went into the half having scored on all five first-half drives if it wasn’t for a chip-shot miss by Joey Slye. They exceeded 400 yards of offense for the first time this season. But New England was unable to make the most of its trips to the red area. The Patriots entered Week 13 with the fourth-worst red zone percentage in the league (46.9%), and scored touchdowns on two of their six opportunities. The Patriots settled for field goals on each of their first three drives and had a goal-line interception in the third quarter. Drake Maye and company took another step forward against a below average pass defense, but the next step is capitalizing in the red area.

Much better day for Patriots rookie
Layden Robinson started his first game since being benched after he was destroyed against Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons. The fourth-round pick, who replaced Michael Jordan at left guard, was much better than his last start and a noticeable improvement over Jordan. It wasn’t an easy task for Robinson either, as he faced a Colts defensive line with DeForest Bucker. Robinson allowed three pressures and was called for two holding penalties, but showed improvement. Buckner concluded with two pressures, but his sack came against right guard Mike Onwenu, per Pro Football Focus.

Patriots secondary bounces back after consecutive clunkers
It’s nice when you don’t have to go against talented tandems like Cooper Kupp-Puka Nacua as well as Tyreek Hill-Jaylen Waddle, right? New England’s secondary allowed an early explosive completion in zone coverage, but for the most part locked down Anthony Richardson’s weapons. The Patriots intercepted Richardson twice, their first game this season with two interceptions. Christian Gonzalez allowed two receptions for 15 yards while Alex Austin had a nice day and Marcus Jones had a crunch-time pass breakup.

Sloppiness sets them back
New England’s first-half showing felt like a carryover from the previous week against the Miami Dolphins (10 penalties, 75 yards). The Patriots committed five first-half penalties, four of which were holding calls on the offensive line. They had another holding penalty declined, too. New England finished with seven penalties. The pre-snap penalties have got to be fixed.

Jabrill Peppers removed as Patriots captain
When asked if Peppers would remain a Patriots captain, Mayo said the team would keep those conversations in-house. Well, that was until the Patriots took the field and Peppers wasn’t wearing his captain’s patch. Peppers, who was removed from the Commissioner Exempt list Tuesday, played for the first time since Week 4.