It didn't take long Saturday for the Patriots' much-maligned offense to show more signs of dysfunction.
Facing third-and-4 on its opening possession, New England sent four of its five eligible receivers on routes that took them more than 10 yards downfield.
Tyquan Thornton ran a vertical route toward the goalpost. Jakobi Meyers ran a wheel out of the slot. Tight ends Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry ran an over route and a 10-yard in-cut that intersected. Only running back Rhamondre Stevenson ran a route that took him close to the first-down marker, and he was closely tracked by a linebacker as he leaked out of the backfield.
As the Patriots' pass protection broke down and the pocket began to collapse, quarterback Mac Jones had no viable receiving options anywhere near the line to gain. He wound up scrambling, was tackled for a zero-yard sack, and New England punted.
Two days after the game, which the Patriots went on to lose 22-18 to fall to 7-8 on the season, head coach Bill Belichick said that particular play was not run properly.
"We had a couple mistakes on the play," Belichick said. "It's not the way we were trying to run it."
Belichick did not specify who committed those errors, nor whether play-caller Matt Patricia also bore some responsibility.
In addition to the failed third-down conversion, the play also sidelined a key offensive player for the remainder of the game. Henry suffered a knee injury on a downfield collision with Smith and did not return. With Smith also exiting with a head injury during the fourth quarter, the Patriots finished the game with elevated practice squadder Scotty Washington as their only available tight end and could be severely shorthanded at the position if Henry and/or Smith can't return in time for Sunday's Week 17 matchup with the Miami Dolphins.
Losing Henry might have thrown off the Patriots' intended game plan. They utilized two tight ends on each play of their opening drive, but, out of necessity, spent most of the rest of the game in one-tight end, three-receiver sets.
"Anytime you have two tight ends on your roster and you lose one, it affects some of your two-tight end calls," Belichick said. "But fortunately, we had Scott in the game, so we were able to do some of that. But we ran a little bit more three receivers than two receivers after that."
Third-down execution was a major issue for the Patriots as they fell into a 22-0 first-half hole against the defending AFC champs. Their second third-down opportunity was similarly unsightly, with Jones and his receivers appearing to be on different pages.
The Patriots went 0-for-6 on third down to open Saturday's game, with their first conversion not coming until the final snap of the third quarter. They were much better in that area during their late-game rally, converting six of their final seven third downs as they cut Cincinnati's lead from 22 points to four.
Those included completions to Kendrick Bourne on third-and-7, third-and-10 and third-and-5 on the Patriots' first touchdown drive and a third-and-29 bomb by Jones that deflected off Washington and was caught by Meyers for a 48-yard touchdown.
Overall, the Patriots rank 27th in the NFL in third-down conversion rate this season.
"(We) couldn't convert on the third down in the first half," Belichick said after the game. "That was the biggest problem."
