FOXBORO – Regardless of yardage and yardage, the Patriots’ offense was terrible through the first five weeks of the 2024 season. But it was at its worst on third down, which once again proved costly for the team 15-10 loss to a struggling Miami Dolphins team.

The Patriots were just 4-for-13 on third down on Sunday. New England is now converting just over 32 percent of their third down attempts on the season, which ranks 24th in the NFL.

That there are eight teams worse than the Patriots in third place (including the Dolphins, who went 2-for-11 on Sunday) is pretty incredible. But that doesn’t change the fact that New England’s play-calling on third down has been downright infuriating this season.

Despite the run game being the Patriots’ best offensive attack – with Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson rushing for 141 yards on their 18 carries on Sunday – Jacoby Brissett was asked to drop back and complete a pass on all 13 third downs that New England made. facing Miami.

The Patriots started the game with a three-and-out, as Brissett was sacked for a nine-yard loss on the team’s first third. They were able to convert on their second third down — a third-and-1 at the Miami 34 — when Brissett dumped it to Stevenson, but it took a running back to fight for the necessary yardage.

The Patriots went with that dump to Rhamondre on third down twice more, and it didn’t work either time. He gained one yard on a third-and-15 at the Miami 16, followed by a missed field goal by Joey Slye. After Stevenson ran eight yards on the first two downs of New England’s second possession of the second half, he was dropped for a loss on that screen play on third down. Yes, a team that can barely move the ball a few yards at a time threw the ball behind the line of scrimmage on a third down, leading to one of five three-and-outs by the New England offense on the day.

The Patriots faced a third-and-1 on their third drive of the game and potentially could have scored it, but replacement center Nick Leverett was called a false start for illegally moving the football. Facing a third-and-5, Brissett passed to Ja’Lynn Polk down the right sideline, but he threw a little too much mustard on the throw.

The team’s best third-down play came out of halftime, when a scrambling Brissett hit Kayshon Boutte 13 yards on a third-and-4 from the Miami 35. But the Pats got just two more yards after that, settling for a 38- field goal.

Brissett hit DeMario Douglas 19 yards on the penultimate third of the day, bringing the Patriot to the Miami 12 and a Polk’s overturned touchdown. That touchdown-that-wasn’t came on second down, and Brissett’s third-down pass to the end zone went to no one in particular and fell incomplete.

Overall, Brissett went 6-for-12 for 38 yards on his third down throws, while also suffering a loss of nine yards on a sack. That’s not going to beat any team, even one that struggled as much as the Dolphins did.

The Patriots pass attack doesn’t strike fear in anyone, and teams should be giddy if New England drops back and passes on third down. Defensive backs know Brissett can’t make the throw, and pass rushers know New England’s offensive line can’t protect him. Still, Alex Van Pelt keeps calling. pass plays, and when he doesn’t, he makes Brissett play short passes that have no real chance to move the chains.

The Patriots offense doesn’t have the foundation they can rely on to move the ball. That one high-percentage play where everyone knows what they’re doing and is more likely than not to get a first down. (Think of all those Tom Brady wheel routes to the likes of Kevin Faulk/Shane Vereen/James White.) No one is reliable in this offense, starting with the quarterback.

Brissett went 18-for-34 for just 160 yards on Sunday, with 46 of those yards coming on their last-ditch drive while Miami was on preemptive defense. He’s a tough guy who hangs in there and gets hit after hit (he was busted nine times by the Dolphins on Sunday), but he fails to do what an offense should do: score points. The Pats can barely move the ball downfield, which will lead to a lot of loud shouting for Drake Maye in the coming weeks.

The lack of any pass protection plays a role in New England’s third-down woes, and the absurd number of penalties on Sunday made it difficult for the offense to do anything. But it would be nice to see some third-down runs, as the team’s best playmakers come out of the backfield. The only way the Patriots win is by running the ball, controlling the clock and keeping the ball away from the other team.

The Patriots didn’t have enough possession on Sunday and had no control over the clock at all. All those failed third downs led to the offense leaving the field and once again creating a heavy workload for the New England defense, which was clearly gassed in the fourth quarter when Miami scored the go-ahead goal.

The inability to convert on third down is just one of many issues facing the New England offense this season. But a real lack of inventive play-calling really hurts the team in those must-have-it situations.