It was a tale of three seasons for the Patriots.
New England got off to a 2-4 start, won seven straight then lost four of its final five games, including an embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs. It was a roller-coaster ride, one that ended in major disappointment but ultimately should be viewed as a success.
It might be disingenuous to focus on just a few plays from a season that featured nearly 2,500 of them, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. With that in mind, we identified three turning points for the Patriots in the 2021 season.
Let’s get into it.
Damien Harris’ red-zone fumble against Dolphins
Losing to Miami in Week 1 kick-started the digging of the hole that New England eventually climbed out of with a seven-game win streak. And while the Patriots deserved to lose this game, they likely would have won it had Harris not fumbled on the 9-yard line with just over three minutes left.
A touchdown plus an extra point on that drive would’ve given New England a 23-17 lead and put the game on Tua Tagovailoa’s shoulders. In all probability, the Patriots would’ve won and given Mac Jones a victory in his first start.
Instead, New England lost, opening the door for its 2-4 start. Additionally, had the Patriots won this game, they would not have ceded control of the AFC East to the Buffalo Bills with their Week 16 loss. New England still would’ve held a one-game lead with two weeks remaining.
At the time, many felt Harris’ fumble eventually would come back to bite the Patriots, and it did — though it’s not responsible for the defense cratering in the final month.
The Texans’ botched punt play
The Patriots were 1-3 after the first month, but their close loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4 felt like a moral victory — if such a thing exists in Foxboro, Mass.
Well, all the good vibes were gone by halftime in Houston the following weekend.
The Patriots entered the locker room losing 15-9 to the lowly Texans. Things went from bad to worse early in the third quarter, when a Jones interception was followed by a 37-yard Chris Conley touchdown that gave Houston a 22-9 advantage.
New England appeared on track to start 1-4, punctuated by a loss to rookie quarterback Davis Mills and arguably the worst team in football. It would not have been justified, but you just know the question “Should Bill Belichick be on the hot seat?” would’ve been asked on radio and morning sports talk shows throughout the next week.
Then, something we probably should’ve seen coming happened: first-year head coach David Culley (who recently was fired) completely overthought things and torpedoed the game. On fourth down, Texans punter Cameron Johnston initially lined up in shotgun formation before dropping back to actually punt. He then received the ball and promptly kicked off the back of his own long-snapper. The ball rolled out of bounds and the Patriots went on to score 16 unanswered points to claim a 25-22 victory. Players, fans and coaches were spared sky-is-falling takes for at least another week.
New England lost in overtime to the Dallas Cowboys the next weekend but won seven straight after that. Had they lost to the Texans, the Patriots would’ve been 1-5 through six games. The victory in Houston basically saved the season, and the win probably wouldn’t have happened without the Texans’ disastrous punt.
The bye week
The Patriots entered the Week 14 bye week atop the AFC standings with a 9-4 record. There was legitimate Super Bowl buzz.
They went 1-3 over the next four weeks, with the lone victory coming against the terrible Jacksonville Jaguars. New England finished with the sixth seed in the conference, leaving it with a wild-card matchup in Buffalo. The Patriots suffered a 47-17 loss to the Bills, in doing so completing the changing of the guard in the AFC.
Across the board, the Patriots were miserable after the bye. Jones struggled before playing very well in his playoff debut. Matthew Judon went from being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate to someone who didn’t even sniff second-team All-Pro and began the wild-card game on the bench. Belichick’s beloved special teams weren’t good, either. The Patriots also made an alarming amount of costly mistakes, including penalties, that they typically avoid late in seasons.
So, what happened?
Jakobi Meyers and Adrian Phillips both offered interesting insights Monday, pointing toward New England’s mental preparation and failure to raise its intensity level after the bye. Still, specifics thus far have been elusive.
Whatever it was, it sent the season off the rails. Unfortunately, we won’t know whether the Patriots learned from their post-bye-week failures until this time next year.
