Giardi: The early results are in, and they don't speak well of the Patriots.

FOXBOROUGH - I take no pleasure in writing this, but the Patriots stink. 

It doesn't mean they'll stink next week, a month from now, or by season's end, but it's undeniable in the first week of October.

The Pats bollixed more opportunities than should be allowed by law Sunday afternoon versus the Dolphins, right down to their final two possessions - a touchdown pass to Ja'Lynn Polk that was overturned, then a completion to Hunter Henry that, if we're being fair, should never have been thrown. Jacoby Brissett knows better than that. The Pats had no timeouts, and Henry had no chance to get out of bounds. What are they doing?

"Obviously, a very disappointing game," summarized Jerod Mayo. "There's no question like we're tough, but we just have to be better from an execution standpoint. We have to be able to execute in situations. We got to be able to execute on a play-by-play basis. We didn't do that. I would also say as the game wore on, fundamentals began to slip. That could be a combination of things, but we'll watch the film with a critical eye..."

All that talk reminds me of the great John McKay's line in his first year as the head coach of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When asked about their execution, he responded, "I'm in favor of it." Mind you, we're not at that point with the Patriots yet, but they are error repeaters, both on the field and on the sidelines. In fact, that dates back to last year, and obviously, this is almost an entirely different coaching staff. 

Of course, the Pats damn near escaped with a win they didn't deserve, although to be fair, neither did the Fins. Brissett led them on a 65-yard march late in the final quarter that appeared to end with a touchdown strike to Polk as he broke toward the goalpost. The rookie twisted his body mid-air, hauling in the football with his back to the end line. His first foot hit cleanly in bounds and the second? Well, that's where it gets complicated. Polk did get the front half of his back foot down in bounds, but from about mid-sole, his cleat was clearly in the white (out of bounds). The initial ruling was a touchdown, but it was quickly overturned. 

Rules expert Dean Blandino agreed with the change during the television broadcast, saying Polk took a "normal step" instead of a toe-tap or foot drag, and by the letter of the law, that's no catch. 

"It's pretty frustrating," admitted Polk, "but when you think about everything together, I feel like if I had been more dialed in on details and just taking advantage of the little things throughout the whole game, I feel like we wouldn't even be in the situation. I gotta find some way to get better, if that's practicing harder, getting extra film in, digging, and finding ways to help this team get better."

The on-field refs didn't explain to the players on the field—Mayo thought it was the correct call—so I explained to Polk how the rule read. He just shook his head in disbelief. 

However, that — and Henry's game-ending completion — was fitting because that was the vibe all afternoon — one dumb mistake after another. The Patriots couldn't stop shooting themselves in the foot, with no pun intended (but maybe), and there were more yellow flags than anyone in the stadium or watching at home on TV cares to see.

Walking around the press box at halftime, everyone - man, woman, or Patriots front office types - had the same look on their face. "What did I just watch?"

In that half, the Pats had twice as many penalties as they had first downs (6 to 3, for those keeping count). They had a possession where they took over at the Dolphins' 23-yard-line after Brenden Schooler's punt block, held the ball for over four minutes (seven plays), gained eight yards, and missed a 33-yard field goal. That drive included two infractions, a missed block that could have gotten Brissett killed - cue the Robin Williams "It's not your fault" meme - a swing pass for minus three yards, and was capped when your best offensive weapon, Joey Slye, missed his second kick of the season. 

"It was frustrating," said Brissett. "Honestly, nothing was good. Penalties taking us backward. Honestly, we just got to play better. It's getting to that point where we've got to play better — penalties in the wrong situations, in bad situations. We're not good enough to do that and to go backward to score points. We gotta continue to go forward."

With the offense unable to consistently succeed, the defense found itself on the field for 72 plays and over 34 minutes. Thus, fatigue may have played a role in what turned out to be the game-winning drive, a 15-play march that ate up over 7 minutes on the clock and 80 yards, although the reality was 100 yards because twice the Dolphins got flagged for offensive holding.

"Yeah, I know for a fact fatigue played a part in this game," said Mayo when I asked about that drive. "You think about Marte (Mapu), this being his first game and playing pretty much every snap. I appreciate him doing that, but at the same time, we've got to be able to get off the field, we've got to be able to move the ball offensively. We have to win the time of possession game or at least be close, which, once again, they controlled that."

There will be talk about making the switch to Drake Maye, and at this point, I'm done protesting, but he alone will not lift a ship that's taking on a lot of water. If the coaching doesn't improve — and the play follows suit— and these inexcusable mistakes don't get eradicated, this slide will continue, and this organization will continue to sink further into the NFL abyss.