Armchair Analysis: Patriots Are Young, Not 'Mentally Tough'

It's the talk of New England sports fans this week: The suddenly struggling Patriots. The Pats are now 7-5 for the season after falling to the Dolphins 22-21 in Miami on Sunday, in a very un-Patriots-like game.

The offense could not get a fourth-quarter score to put the game away. The defense could not stop a late drive by the Dolphins. After the Pats had blown the lead, a potential game-winning drive ended not with the magic that fans have come to expect from Quarterback Tom Brady, but with an interception.

After their shellacking by the Saints the week before, it was the first time the Pats lost back-to-back games in more than three years.

"Obviously, it's a disappointing loss," said head coach Bill Belichick in a news conference Monday. "We'll try to correct the mistakes and try to reinforce the things we did well — which there were some of those in the game — but ultimately, it came down to a handful of plays and they made a couple more than we did. We had that go the other way, and we just gotta do a better job. That's all of us."

Sportswriter Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com explains whether the Patriots can do a better job, and what they need to do differently.