Two years ago, I crashed a coaches’ clinic to see Bill Belichick.

Of all the football topics in the world he could have explored that night, Belichick chose to present on a single drill for 45 minutes straight. Late in the presentation, he declared that as long as he was the head coach, the Patriots would run this drill, the Texas drill, whenever they practiced in pads because it emphasized basic offensive and defensive fundamentals. His final words before leaving the stage that night were: “That’s what it’s all about. Good fundamentals.”

The reason I cite that story is not to brag nor long for the days of Belichick. It’s to underscore that for all its Xs and the Os, football is a simple game.

Block, run, pass and catch, if you play offense. Destroy blocks, tackle, rush and cover if you play defense.

That’s it.

Right now, the Patriots are screwing up this simple game. Their fundamentals, particularly on defense, are undercutting any potential for growth. This is the Patriots’ chief problem because it ought to be fixable, especially coming off a bye. Instead, their offensive line set them back with basic mistakes, and the defense broke down again; whiffing on nine tackles, hardly touching Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and getting steamrolled over back-to-back touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

Arizona won playing a simple game with a superior roster. But talent alone does not explain the Pats’ 20-point deficit before Drake Maye put lipstick on this pig of a game by rushing for a five-yard touchdown in the final moments. Coaching and culture do. Until the Patriots can fix their fundamentals, and their head coach stops making excuses, they won’t grow, let alone win.

And yes, the offensive play-calling was questionable at best, and those problems were obvious in real time. We’ll get to that.

But Sunday’s issues stemmed more from the Jimmys and Joes than the Xs and Os; both in the locker room and on the coaching staff.

Here’s what else the film revealed about the Patriots’ latest loss:

Drake Maye

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) throws against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

19-of-23 for 202 yards, TD, INT

Accurate throw percentage: 90.9%

Under pressure: 3-of-6 for 41 yards, INT, 10 rushing yards

Against the blitz: 5-of-8 for 38 yards, INT

Behind the line: 6-of-6 for 51 yards

0-9 yards downfield: 11-of-11 for 88 yards

10-19 yards downfield: 1-of-3 for 26 yards

20+ yards downfield: 1-of-2 for 37 yards

Notes: Rinse, repeat.

Drake Maye played well enough for the Patriots to win, particularly on a rookie curve. He completed every throw within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, and those came in bunches, thanks to a conservative game plan. Maye showed expert-level creation on his first touchdown, an improvised three-yard flip to DeMario Douglas on the run.

Maye also ran into one sack, risked another and triggered too quickly on a couple of third-and-long situations, where the Patriots failed to convert even once. Though his worst statistical sin, the interception, was not on him; but rather Kayshon Boutte’s butterfingers.

Later, Maye dropped one in the bucket on his 37-yard sideline completion to Kendrick Bourne. That marked his second-longest completion through the air this season, behind only the 40-yard touchdown to Boutte he ripped in his starting debut against Houston. More of that, please.

Critical areas

The Arizona Cardinals line up against the New England Patriots in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Jeff Lewis)

Turnovers: Patriots 1, Cardinals 0

Explosive play rate: Patriots 10.2%, Cardinals 9.4%

Success rate: Patriots 53%, Cardinals 57.8%

Red-zone efficiency: Patriots 2-3, Cardinals 3-4

Defensive pressure rate: Patriots 17.7%, Cardinals 34.5%

Offense

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 55% of snaps in 11 personnel, 37% snaps in 12 personnel, 6% snaps in 13 personnel, 2% in 23 personnel.***

Personnel production: 63% success rate in 11 personnel, 39% success rate in 12 personnel, 0% success rate in 13 personnel, 0% success rate in 23 personnel.

First-down down play-calls: 62.5% pass (60% success rate), 37.5% run (56% success rate)

Play-action rate: 24.1%

This had me at a loss.

Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt got second-guessed for handing the ball off on third-and-goal and fourth-and-goal at Arizona’s 1-yard line in the third quarter, when the Pats opted not to use Maye as a rushing threat and got stuffed twice. But Van Pelt’s opening game plan was just as head-scratching.

He called screen passes on most of Maye’s initial dropbacks, and none of his first-half attempts traveled longer than five yards downfield. Why?

Most of Drake Maye’s 7 pass attempts so far have been screens. Not sure why.

Arizona has a low blitz rate, and a bad pass rush. Their tackling isn’t great, and that should be targeted, but I wouldn’t build my whole pass plan around that.

Let Drake cook. (And snap better.)

— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) December 15, 2024

The Cardinals blitz at one of the lowest rates in the league. Their pass rush is bad. One of Maye’s best assets is his arm strength, and Arizona struggles to defend the deep pass. Oh, and one of the Patriots’ most glaring weaknesses is they roster one, maybe two, players who can shed tacklers in space.

What was the logic here? Sure, Arizona is a so-so tackling team that struggles to defend screens more than most, ranking bottom 10 in EPA per play allowed on screens per Sports Info. Solutions. But screens are a complementary play, not a core concept.

Meanwhile, the Pats fell behind and desperately needed a wrinkle to climb back from 16-3. Except at the goal line, they stayed vanilla, and the Cardinals crushed them.

Player stats

New England Patriots running back Antonio Gibson (4) eludes the reach of Arizona Cardinals linebacker Victor Dimukeje during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Broken tackles: RB Antonio Gibson 11, WR Kayshon Boutte 2, RB Rhamondre Stevenson

Pressure allowed: LT Vederian Lowe 4 (sack, QB hit, 2 hurries), C Ben Brown 2 (2 hurries), QB Drake Maye (sack), Team 3 (3 hurries)

Run stuffs allowed: Team 4, LG Layden Robinson, Lowe

Drops: Boutte

Notes

Stop if you’ve read this before: the Patriots’ offensive line is dragging down the rest of the offense, which isn’t equipped to overcome penalties or sacks.
Rookie left guard Layden Robinson got flagged for holding on the first drive, effectively killing that possession. Robinson also got away with a few holds and blew interior run-blocks that hampered later drives.
Left tackle Vederian Lowe allowed a sack on the second series, which killed that drive. Then it was center Ben Brown’s turn, and his bad snap led to a sack that forced the Pats to punt on their third possession.
The first half essentially ended with two poorly blocked runs on the fourth drive, where Antonio Gibson was forced to jump cut left and take losses of one and then five yards to set up a hopeless third-and-16 snap.
More poor blocking at the point of attack doomed Gibson and then Rhamondre Stevenson on the initial drive of the second half, when the Pats turned it over on downs at Arizona’s 1-yard line, and the game more or less died right then and there.
The good news: only two linemen (Lowe and Brown) allowed pressure. The bad news: the Patriots need two new starting tackles in 2025, with Lowe falling off from an early-season hot streak and playing his worst football the past five weeks.
Worse news: the receiving corps is as bad as the O-line. There was virtually no separation on this film, including Maye’s best throws (see: 37-yarder to Kendrick Bourne).
After the consecutive goal-line stuffs, Boutte got two hands on a pass thrown slightly low and behind him and flipped it to  Arizona for an interception. To that point, the Patriots’ offensive success rate was a below-average 43%, which better captures their overall performance than the figure above.

New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte (9) reacts during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in Foxborough, Mass. The New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets 25-22. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

Boutte later said he hoped the offense had attacked the Cardinals’ man-to-man coverage early. From this view, the Pats’ plan was overly conservative, but Boutte should focus on finishing catches and his routes, instead of slowing down late, which has caused timing issues with Maye.
Boutte might also lose some more playing time soon. He played 88% of the offensive snaps, while no other receiver climbed above 61%.
Let’s call it a lost season for Ja’Lynn Polk. The second-round rookie has two catches and six targets since Halloween, and may have rounded off a corner route on the only target he saw Sunday, which sailed over his head. Details like that — if Polk indeed erred — erode trust with the quarterback and coaching staff.
Gibson took just 16 offensive snaps, but was the Patriots’ best offensive player outside of Maye. His 11 missed tackles forced is a single-game season high for the Patriots. He’s been outstanding the past six weeks.
Nice bounce-back game for Stevenson, too, who seemed to limp into the bye week with declining production week after week. He didn’t break many tackles Sunday, but averaged more than four yards after contact, per Pro Football Focus.
More steady-eddy production from the tight ends. Jerod Mayo called Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper the team’s most reliable position on the roster; the wisest thing Mayo said all day.

Defense

Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner (6) runs against the New England Patriots during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 46% base defense, 28.5% three-corner nickel package, 18% dime, 6% dollar, 1.5% three-safety nickel.****

Coverage breakdown: 66% zone, 34% man

Blitz rate: 17.6%

Blitz efficacy: 66% offensive success rate and 8.2 yards per play allowed

Vanilla with a side of French vanilla.

Defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington went back to basics after the bye week, and it hardly did his defense any good. The Pats rarely blitzed, played mostly big personnel to slow Arizona’s run game and generated virtually no disruption against the pass.

Covington opened with a man-heavy coverage plan the Cardinals expected and ultimately spooked them out of by repeating a pass play (mesh) built on two, and sometimes three, underneath crossing routes. Arizona also spread the defense out, forcing them to show their hands with linebackers covering James Conner 1-on-1, a matchup Kyler Murray loved. That led to a heavy zone pivot and lots of Cover 2 and 3, which triggered easy throws for Kyler Murray underneath.

Murray also did the Patriots a favor by throwing at Marvin Harrison Jr. in critical situations; all passes Christian Gonzalez either batted away or otherwise kept Harrison Jr. from having any shot at a catch. That matchup, an obvious shadow assignment, was the best decision Covington made all day. He also sprinkled in some simulated pressures on third down (10-of-15), but the results of those plays, like the rest of this game plan, left something to be desired.

Player stats

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) can’t make the catch as New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) makes the hit during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Pressure: DL Keion White 2 (2 hurries), OLB Anfernee Jennings 2 (2 hurries), DL Daniel Ekuale (QB hit), Team (hurry)

Run stuffs: Team 2

Pass deflections: Christian Gonzalez 3

Missed tackles: S Kyle Dugger 3, LB Jahlani Tavai 2, LB Sione Takitaki 2, White, Jennings

Notes

For the third time this season, the Patriots finished without a sack or a turnover. They posted one of their lowest pressure rates of the season and allowed first downs on one-third of Arizona’s rushing attempts. That lack of disruption is a death sentence for almost any defense.
Granted, two sacks were nullified by penalty; one offensive and one defensive. Bad luck also bit the Patriots on the first-quarter fumble Arizona recovered in its own end zone for a touchdown, and a questionable roughing the passer penalty that negated Jonathan Jones’ third-quarter interception.
But bad luck doesn’t excuse a defense that, aside from Christian Gonzalez, failed to make any critical plays at any level. Let’s count the mistakes.
Linebacker Christian Elliss triggered too slowly on James Conner’s 53-yard run in the first half. Safety Kyle Dugger missed three tackles. Linebacker Jahlani Tavai missed two. The Pats lost several edges against the run, and let Kyler Murray escape several times to scramble or extend plays.
Nose tackle Davon Godchaux, the rock upon which the Patriots have built their defense, was a non-factor, even against single blocks. Safety Jabrill Peppers ran himself out of a few plays. Linebacker Sione Takitaki whiffed on two tackles and an edge that led to a long Arizona run in the second half.
The Pats allowed the Cardinals to convert 10 third downs, including a third-and-11 snap during their two-minute drill before halftime. During those passing snaps, only Keion White generated any consistent pressure (though he also cut Murray free on a first-quarter scramble).
Once the Patriots got spooked out of their man-to-man approach, the linebackers let crossing routes go freely against zone. No surprise, Arizona’s leading pass-catcher, tight end Trey McBride, finished with nine catches for 87 yards.
One of McBride’s catches, a 29-yarder, came at the expense of rookie safety Dell Pettus on a third down early in the fourth quarter. Of all the Patriots’ defensive backs, why was Pettus on McBride in single coverage? A fair question, because a few plays later, Arizona scored to stake a 23-3 lead to effectively seal the game.
For a rebuilding team, this was a curious coaching decision: deploying second-year corner Alex Austin for just 25 snaps after he posted two pass breakups against two allowed catches in his previous game versus the Colts. Fellow second-year corner Isaiah Bolden didn’t play defense at all, while veteran Jonathan Jones saw 42 snaps.
No pressure from veteran edge-rusher Yannick Ngakoue, who pass-rushed on 23 of his 28 defensive snaps.

Special teams

New England Patriots kicker Joey Slye (13) celebrates his field goal against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Kicker Joey Slye missed his first field goal attempt, sending a 53-yarder wide left. Slye is now 4-of-8 in his last three games, with a potential replacement looming on the practice squad in John Parker Romo.
A ho-hum day for punter Bryce Baringer, who boomed two balls longer than 50 yards, including one he had downed inside Arizona’s 20.
Not much on the returning front. The Patriots averaged 26 yards per kick return, with Antonio Gibson and JaMychal Hasty each taking one. Marcus Jones’ lone punt return covered six yards.
The Pats continue to sail kickoffs into and through the end zone, and did not allow the Cardinals to return one kick Sunday.

Studs

CB Christian Gonzalez

Gonzalez locked down Cardinals rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and stopped two touchdowns. In all, he broke up three passes and allowed a single catch on a play where he got picked by another Arizona player.

RB Antonio Gibson

Arguably the best performance by a Patriots running back this season. Gibson forced 11 missed tackles, most by a Patriot all season, and created multiple explosive plays.

Duds

Related Articles

Drake Maye credits maligned Pariots OC Alex Van Pelt for his development

This weekend’s Patriots-Bills Week 16 game flexed to later time

Jerod Mayo unsure if Brian Belichick will follow Bill Belichick to UNC

Jerod Mayo reacts to viral Krafts clip from Patriots loss to Cardinals

Jerod Mayo claims he meant nothing by comments deemed critical of Patriots OC

LT Vederian Lowe

A sack, three other pressures allowed and a run-stuff. Terrible outing from the Pats’ starting left tackle.

S Kyle Dugger

Three missed tackles, including a costly whiff against receiver Greg Dortch who converted a third-and-11 play before halftime to set up a field goal try.

C Ben Brown

Two bad snaps, multiple pressures allowed. Rough day at the office for another offensive lineman who could be out the door in 2025.

*Explosive plays are defined as runs of 12-plus yards and passes of 20-plus yards. 

**Success rate is an efficiency metric measuring how often an offense stays on schedule. A play is successful when it gains at least 40% of yards-to-go on first down, 60% of yards-to-go on second down and 100% of yards-to-go on third or fourth down.

***11 personnel = one running back, one tight end; 12 personnel = one running back, two tight ends; 13 personnel = one running back, three tight ends; 23 = two halfbacks, three tight ends.

****Base defense = four defensive backs; nickel = five; dime = six; dollar defense = seven.