Apparently, this has more to do with personnel than coaching. No matter what game plan Belichick came up with, nothing seemed to work. Brees torched the defense early and often, coming up big on a 75-yard touchdown pass in the first half in which Devery Henderson was wide open over the middle.

"We just had a blown call," defensive coordinator Dean Pees said. "It was disappointing (Monday) because it wasn't exactly a call that was a new call. It's something that we have done numerous, numerous times. ... We even actually had the communication and for whatever reason, he froze and it happened.

"So it is rare and we've been doing a pretty good job in the past of not allowing big plays. And the biggest problem in this game was, I mean, that's all we gave up."

The good news for the Patriots is they still hold a two-game lead over Miami in the AFC East thanks to the Dolphins' dreadful loss to Buffalo this past weekend. That gives the Patriots a chance to bury Miami for good this weekend in southern Florida, however, they must correct their flaws from Monday night to avoid another pitfall on the road.

Generally, it's tough to mold a young defense into a savvy unit over 16 weeks, but Pees refuses to use inexperience as an excuse. The Patriots have only five games remaining, so they better grow up fast, or else their season will end prematurely.

"I don't think we're a young defense anymore. I don't look at it that way," Pees said. "I look at it like we've played 10 games going into that game last night plus preseason games. We've been around the system long enough and we know it."