Coaching Blunders Serve Up the Biggest Slice of Blame for Devastating Loss

Coaching Blunders Serve Up the Biggest Slice of Blame for Devastating Loss

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was far from impressive at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon. In fact, he likely deserves the bulk of the blame for the team’s disappointing 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

During the latest episode of NESN’s “Foxboro Rush” podcast, co-hosts George Balekji and Travis Thomas, along with NESN.com’s Keagan Stiefel, all expressed similar frustrations regarding Van Pelt’s performance.

“If you want to point fingers for this game, it has to be at Alex Van Pelt,” Stiefel stated. “I’ve been really disappointed with his play-calling the past two weeks.”

Despite the Patriots setting a franchise record with 7.9 yards per rushing attempt, they abandoned the ground game when it mattered most. New England, which has faced challenges in pass protection this season, threw the ball 34 times while only attempting 19 runs.

“You can’t operate with a 60-40 pass-to-run ratio, especially against the Dolphins, who have been vulnerable on the ground,” Balekji argued. “The game was always within reach— it wasn’t a blowout. It was 10-3. Run the damn football!”