Patriots Defender Calls Out Colts for Dirty Move on Decisive Play
![Dec 24, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore (90) reacts after a play ]in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4558,h_2563,x_0,y_193/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2F253%2F01je24eky56yxc1qsqj5.jpg "Dec 24, 2023; Denver, Colorado, USA; New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore (90) reacts after a play ]in the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images")
Week 13 saw a familiar story play out for the 2024 New England Patriots. Jerod Mayo's team was competitive, and it had a chance to come away with a rare victory, but they faltered in the final moments to rack up another loss.
Despite allowing a touchdown with under 30 seconds left on Sunday, the Pats still had a chance to win if they kept the Indianapolis Colts from converting on the go-ahead two-point conversion. Yet, New England couldn't get the stop it needed, resulting in its 10th defeat of the year.
However, according to Patriots stud Chrisitan Barmore, the Colts' two-point try was aided by a dirty move.
DT Christian Barmore (90) on the Colts’ 2-point conversion rush with 12 seconds left: “Felt like I had good position. I felt like someone was holding my leg. Quenton Nelson is a good player and he came and got me, but I felt like somebody was holding my leg. Real frustrating.” https://t.co/KpXqNpWL69
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 1, 2024
Barmore told reporters he thought he had "good position" to make a stop on Indy's quarterback run, but he "felt like someone was holding [his] leg."
And the replay clearly backs up the defensive tackle's complaint: while Barmore is run over by No. 56 Quenton Nelson, the refs miss No. 71 Matt Goncalves holding down the New England defensive tackle, which makes it easy for Nelson to take him out of the play.
This is the type of illegal block that should've been caught by the officials, who weren't shy to flag the Patriots seven times for a whopping 88 yards Sunday afternoon -- compared to just two penalties for the visitors.
Of course, the Pats could've avoided any kind of late-game controversy by getting a stop at any point during Indianapolis' 19-play drive to take the lead with only 12 seconds remaining. New England did force several third and fourth downs, yet it couldn't get the ball back to its offense when it needed to.
This season is about evaluating setting the Patriots up for their future with Drake Maye under center, and another loss helps New England's draft positioning, but it's still disappointing to see the team struggle to finish in big moments. At the very least, there's only four contests remaining before NE turns the page to 2025.
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