Patriots wasting another solid defensive effort in loss to Colts

New England’s defense did its job in Week 10. The offense, not so much.

The New England Patriots defense certainly was not perfect on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. The unit gave up a long touchdown drive to open the game, generated minimal pass rush throughout the day, and allowed a pair of fourth downs to be converted.

That all being said, the group led by assistant coaches Jerod Mayo and Steve Belichick played well enough to win yet again.

The Patriots ended the game giving up just 10 total points — clearly below the Colts offense’s season-long average (23.4) — as well as a 38.5-percent conversion rate on third down, 14 first downs in total, and 264 yards for only 4.9 yards per play. It also registered an interception and allowed New England to hold a time-of-possession edge for just the second time this season.

Under normal circumstances, that performance would be enough to secure a victory. The 2023 Patriots, however, are anything but normal for one clear reason: their offense continues to be one of the worst in football.

On Sunday, the unit scored just six points via a pair of Chad Ryland field goals. It had opportunities to add more and play its part in securing a win, but it went 0-for-4 in the red zone — including a Mac Jones interception in the late fourth quarter that led to him getting benched in favor of backup Bailey Zappe (who himself threw a pick to end the game).

That disparity in production was not an isolated event either: all year long the Patriots offense failed to hold up its end of the bargain, contributing greatly to the team’s 2-8 start.

And yet, as defensive captain Deatrich Wise Jr. pointed out after the 10-6 loss to the Colts, the two groups continue pulling in the same direction.

“There’s no division,” the soft-spoken Wise Jr. said. “As a defense, we have high expectations on ourselves. We didn’t personally feel like the first half — and the second half was a little different. I think if we’d have stopped them a few more times in that first half, they wouldn’t have even scored those points. That’s kinds of how we think, in a sense.

“I think the guys in the back half did a decent job of containing the running back, and we did a good job of stopping the run. They only scored 10 points, so I think that was pretty much it.”

The Patriots holding the Colts to a mere 10 points ties the team’s best defensive scoring outing this season after they already achieved the feat in Week 3 against the New York Jets. The difference between those two games is that the one in New York saw the offense do just enough to earn a W — on Sunday in Frankfurt, it did not.

And so, a solid defensive effort was wasted. It wasn’t the first time this year, and the way this season has gone it also might not be the last.