Is it time to hit the panic button in Foxboro?
The New England Patriots suffered a stunning loss in Miami during Week 14, as the Dolphins scored on a last-second, 69-yard, multi-lateral play to grab a 34-33 win and drop the Pats to 9-4.
Bill Belichick’s club still is primed to win the AFC East for the 10th straight year and could still earn a first-round bye, but the Patriots haven’t been their dominant selves this season.
Former Patriots executive Mike Lombardi believes the loss in Miami should give the Tom Brady and Co. reason to worry heading into the playoffs. On the latest episode of The Ringer’s “GM Street” podcast, Lombardi discussed how New England’s biggest weaknesses were put on display in South Beach and why this isn’t your typical Patriots team.
“I think (they’ve) got to be worried on the road,” Lombardi told co-host Tate Frazier. “I think there’s no doubt, they are not a good team on the road. Their defense was porous. If you want to take one thing from the miracle play, it’s take how slow the Patriots looked defensively on that play. And I’m not talking about Gronk, Bill admitted Gronk didn’t belong on the field that was a mistake … The Patriots got beat in an area where they never normally get beat which is situational football and it cost them.
“But I think the key component here is when you look at that Patriots defense on that last play is how slow they looked and how poorly they looked is space, and I think that’s got to concern you. That’s what I’ve been saying all year about their defense. I think it showed on that play, Drake just ran away from everybody. They didn’t have anybody that could really run with Drake, and I know Devin McCourty wasn’t on the field, so he would have been somebody that could have. But I think you have to be concerned with the Patriots, I mean this is not your same Patriots. They are in the same uniform but they are not your same 2014, 15, 16 Patriots.
“This is the Patriots team that right now sits at 3-4 on the road,” Lombardi continued. “They sit at 3-4 on the road. They have a below .500 record on the road. They haven’t had one of those in a long, long time. And I think it shows because they are not as talented as a team.”
New England will look to bounce back when they visit the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15. One more loss could send the Patriots to the No. 3 seed in the conference and a road game in the AFC Divisional Round, which could spell doom for this year’s version of the Pats.
