FOXBORO — The Patriots made the wrong call at the wrong time on the 56-yard touchdown completion from Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith to wide receiver DK Metcalf.

And safety Kyle Dugger, who was in coverage on the play with cornerback Christian Gonzalez, owned the mistake.

DK Metcalf WIDE OPEN for a 56-yard TD!

: #SEAvsNE on FOX
: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/nLjzMeiUub

— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024

“We were in max blitz coverage, just a bad read by myself,” Dugger said after the 23-20 overtime loss. “And they caught us in a call that was kind of problematic, their offensive call vs. our defensive call.”

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Dugger explained what was supposed to happen on the play.

“You just have to read the quarterback,” Dugger said. “I didn’t get a good read on the quarterback. So, that’s basically like a bust.”

The Patriots sent six men on the blitz, and the defensive backs were supposed to hang out near the first-down marker and read the quarterback on the second-and-5 call. With eyes on Smith, by the time Metcalf ran past Dugger and Gonzalez, it was too late.

“Yeah, it’s max coverage. So, it’s not really a true man-to-man, so yeah. They caught us,” Dugger said. “I checked the play to max blitz. Probably shouldn’t have, obviously. Hindsight is 20-20. But yeah, we checked it after they checked it. That’s just kind of part of the gameplan.”

Dugger said checking into that play call was something they had practiced all week.

Gonzalez, who spent most of the game shadowing Metcalf, chalked it up to “miscommunication.”

“You can’t hide that in the secondary,” Gonzalez said. “When that happens in the secondary, it goes for a big play. We’ll get it fixed and be all right.”