Should Patriots Have Challenged This Close Call Vs. Saints?

One of many problems plaguing the Patriots: They’ve gone three straight games without forcing a single turnover.

That streak nearly — and, perhaps, should have — ended Sunday.

Late in the third quarter of New England’s 34-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium, Derek Carr fired a third-down pass that sailed over receiver Michael Thomas’ head and straight to deep safety Kyle Dugger.

Dugger dove for the ball and came up with it, but officials called it an incompletion, ruling that the ball hit the ground before the Patriots defensive back could corral it.

A replay aired on the CBS broadcast, however, seemed to show Dugger got his hands under the ball and prevented it from hitting the turf. But head coach Bill Belichick declined to throw his challenge flag. The Saints punted, intercepted a Mac Jones pass one play later and then quickly scored their third touchdown to take a 31-0 lead.

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An interception on the play in question would have given the Patriots around the 34-yard line, as the blown whistle would have negated any Dugger runback. Instead, they took over on their own 10 after Lou Hedley’s punt.

Dugger seemingly believed he got robbed, sharing a video of his would-be pick on his Instagram story after the game.

Kyle Dugger reposted this video to his IG story. Certainly looks like a play the Patriots could/should have challenged. pic.twitter.com/8oHzfwKMZ8

— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) October 9, 2023

The non-challenge came nine minutes after Belichick chose to punt on fourth-and-3 from the Saints’ 40-yard line down 24-0.

The Patriots were tied for second in the NFL with 30 takeaways last season, but they’ve managed just two through five games this season and zero since Week 2. Only the Las Vegas Raiders (who have yet to play their Week 5 game) have fewer.

On the other side of the ball, New England’s offense has turned it over 10 times, with opponents returning four of those for touchdowns. In their blowout losses to the Dallas Cowboys and Saints, the Patriots had six turnovers — all by Jones — with three returned for scores.

The Patriots haven’t finished a season with a negative turnover differential since 2005.