Bill Bumbles: Even Belichick's Pet Special Teams Letting Down New England Patriots

For the second consecutive week ... and the second consecutive defeat ... the New England Patriots' special teams were special in name only.

To the unit's credit, it was responsible for the Patriots' only scoreboard souvenirs from their excursion to Germany, which produced a 10-6 defeat at the hands of the mediocre Indianapolis Colts. But beyond Chad Ryland's two short field goals, New England's special teams came to define how far the current group has strayed from the so-called "Patriot Way."

Throughout the Bill Belichick era ... whose continued longevity is severely in question ... New England has made headlines for its innovative plays and formations on all sides of the ball. Sunday's idiosyncrasies, however, hinted at a team that has completely given up on its immediate future.

After both teams scored on their respective opening possessions, there were warning signs that the game was about to devolve into a sequence of dueling punts. New England had a brilliant chance to break the cycle in the early stages of the second quarter: a 13-second drive exclusively consisting of Gardner Minshew incompletions led to a Rigoberto Sanchez punt from his own 13.

While New England has certainly missed multi-facet threat Marcus Jones, hints of big play potential have lingered in receiver and substitute returner Demario Douglas. The rookie himself hinted that he wanted to work on his special teams impact after the Washington disaster and a prime opportunity to set the Patriots up in scoring territory was present with Indianapolis set to kick off.

The #Patriots sell out on the punt block with no returner back to receive and give up a 70-yard punt 🥴 pic.twitter.com/M7xeFXTO0P
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 12, 2023

Bizarrely, however, New England (2-8) opted to leave the return area empty, rushing all 11 but failing to generate any interference to his boot. With no returner back, the ball took several bounces in the Colts' favor, eventually crediting Sanchez with a 69-yard punt.

New England had enough trouble moving the ball the necessary 20 yards in the red zone: a trek that began at their own 18 was downright impossible. Mac Jones and Co. mustered a mere seven on the ensuing possession, allowing the battle of offensive surrender to continue unabated.

Ryland himself proved equally guilty: called upon to salvage a drive in Indianapolis territory set up by a Myles Bryant interception, the rookie leg hooked a 35-yard triple try wide right, costing the Patriots precious points when tallies were at a premium. He'd make for the error with a make-up kick that narrowed the gap to one but not only did Indianapolis (5-5) immediately counter it with a Matt Gay tally of its own, but it made the late insertion of backup quarterback Bailey Zappe all the more difficult, as he was expected to earn six rather than three when chosen to more or less officially end the Mac Jones era.

Confidence in Belichick and his staff is at an all-time low but special teams ace/captain Matthew Slater offered a vote of confidence in the otherwise-somber postgame proceedings.

“I have as much faith in Coach Belichick as I’ve ever had," Slater said, per Patriots Country's own Mike D'Abate. "There's no reason to be doubting who he is as a leader and a coach for this football team. The struggles that we've had on the field this year are due to us and our inability to execute. It’s got nothing to do with Coach Belichick.”

"I'm sure there's a lot of negativity going on around our team right now," he continued. "You can't let people who don't know the half of what's going on inside the building impact what's going on inside the building."

The group will have to be patient for redemption: the Patriots will mercifully be granted their bye week before facing the New York Giants on Nov. 26.

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