Entering the thirteenth week of the NFL regular season, the New England Patriots have a 3-9 record, which is the second-worst record in the AFC. They made sure to keep the Miami curse alive with a 34-15 defeat to the Miami Dolphins, a game in which there were next to no positives on either side of the ball. Drake Maye got sacked four times and coughed the ball up twice, the defense gave up over 300 yards and four touchdown passes to Tua Tagovailoa, and all it took was one missed field goal by Joey Slye for this game to get out of hand. New England will be back home on Sunday afternoon to welcome a former rival: the Indianapolis Colts. They have struggled with four losses in their last five games, but if anybody recalls from last year’s matchup in Germany, the Patriots know that this is not going to be just a simple cakewalk. Two weeks ago, the Colts overcame an eight-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Jets by one point, so New England cannot simply expect that their opponent has no fight left in them. Let’s take a look at the five biggest things to pay attention to on Sunday afternoon and see what New England can do to make sure that their season still has some dignity left.
Patriots Week 13 Preview vs Colts
1. Anthony Richardson: The Ultimate X Factor
After getting torched by the Dolphins’ offense last week, the Patriots’ defense needs to have a bounce-back performance against the former fourth overall pick from the University of Florida, quarterback Anthony Richardson. He has the worst completion percentage out of anybody else in his position and it is the biggest reason why Indianapolis has struggled. Two weeks ago, he was more than impressive against the New York Jets as he was the biggest reason why they won the football game. But in the following game at home against the Detroit Lions, Richardson completed just eleven of eighteen passes, including four for fourteen in the second half. What makes this even more important is that one of his top receivers Josh Downs is ruled out for this week due to a shoulder injury, and another one Alec Pierce is questionable due to a banged-up foot. If New England does not have any answers for this Colts offense, then their season is officially going to head down the tubes. However, there is only one thing that the Patriots must do to make this a one-sided contest.
2. The Plan is Simple: Shut Down Jonathan Taylor
Over the last couple of weeks, All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor has been bottled up and shut down. His performance against the Jets did not cost the team, even though he ran for just fifty-seven yards on twenty-four carries, but the team did not have much luck against Detroit when he picked up thirty-five yards on eleven touches. However, the greatest players can always break out of a slump at any given moment, and it appears that he can do such that on Sunday against the eighteenth-ranked rushing defense in football. When the Patriots to the Dolphins last week, one of the only bright spots that slid under the radar was that they only allowed sixty-five rushing yards on twenty-four attempts, which is an average of just 2.7 yards per carry. Obviously, one of the biggest reasons why was because Miami thrived in the passing game, but New England must shut down Jonathan Taylor for their defense to have somewhat of a strong performance. Otherwise, this is going to be another painful defeat, regardless of how close or bad the score looks in the final seconds.
3. Keep Drake Maye in the Pocket
This should not be repeated time and time again but this Patriots offensive line needs to keep their star quarterback in the pocket for this offense to perform well against a vulnerable Indianapolis Colts defense. When the two teams met each other in Munich last year, former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones got sacked five times, three of them from Dayo Odeyingbo. This season, the Colts defensive line has a few returning faces, but also a couple of new additions. Defensive end Kwity Paye and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner are the two team leaders in sacks, the former with 5.5 and the latter with 4.5, and each of them has proven to be some of the best at their respective positions. Rookie Laiatu Latu was taken in the first round out of UCLA and he is keeping up in the race with four quarterback takedowns, so he can be an impactful player in this game if he gets the matchups he wants. However, that is not even the biggest strength of their defense. What makes this Indianapolis unit under-appreciated is that they have three of the top five leaders in tackles: linebackers Zaire Franklin and EJ Speed, as well as safety Nick Cross. Both Franklin and Cross hold the top two spots, while Speed is eight tackles short of the latter. Even though the Colts have the fifth-worst passing defense and sixth-worst rushing defense, the Patriots’ offense is not exactly a top-ten unit if anybody has failed to keep up. It is too easy to put more pressure on the wide receivers for failing to get open or the running backs for not having any sort of consistency this season, but if the offensive line remembers how to block, New England might be able to squeak out of this game with a victory.
4. Christian Gonzalez vs. Michael Pittman Jr.
With Josh Downs ruled out and Alec Pierce questionable, it is more than likely that Patriots star cornerback Christian Gonzalez will primarily be matched up against Michael Pittman Jr., the top receiver for the Indianapolis Colts who has struggled to get his footing in 2024. Last offseason, he received a three-year contract extension worth over $70 million that included $46 million guaranteed. This was after he finished the 2023 season with over 100 catches, over 1100 receiving yards, and four touchdown receptions. In 2024, he has only caught forty-one passes on seventy-two targets for just a bit over 500 yards with only two scores. Obviously, the lack of a reliable quarterback has played a huge role in those statistics, but he also has five games in which he has fewer than three catches. That means Christian Gonzalez is set up to have another outstanding afternoon. Last week’s defeat against Miami was very bitter to accept, but the silver lining was that he scored his first NFL touchdown on a 63-yard scoop-and-score in the fourth quarter. He also allowed just two catches for twenty-four yards to both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as the primary defender, so Gonzalez was the furthest reason why New England’s defense struggled mightily on the road.
5. Do Not Turn the Ball Over and Take the Ball Away!
Every head coach emphasizes these two messages to their football team, but Jerod Mayo needs to do it at least five times per day, given where his football team is right now. When the Patriots lost to the Rams a couple of weeks ago, it was a lost fumble and interception that swung the entire momentum of the football game. Last Sunday in Miami, Drake Maye coughed it up two more times and the game turned into a rout. Heading into this matchup in Gillette Stadium, the Indianapolis Colts have seventeen takeaways, which is the eighth most in the National Football League. They also recovered the fourth most fumbles with nine. The Patriots offense does not need any more statistics or fast facts to understand what they are going up against, but they must remember that one tiny mistake could be the biggest difference in the ball game. The Indianapolis Colts also have eighteen turnovers, which has them placed in the top five in that category, but the Patriots’ defense only has nine takeaways. New England has come up with an interception in just four games this year, and now they are going up against a quarterback who has thrown seven of them, along with just five touchdown passes. The Patriots absolutely have more than enough pieces to beat the Indianapolis Colts, but if they get in their own way, then the only thing that fans can be somewhat excited about is that they will still have a very high draft pick.
Main Image: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
