The 2023 season has been an ugly one for the New England Patriots: Their starting quarterback got benched, their head coach is on the hot seat and to add insult to injury, their loss to the Colts on Sunday ended a 266-game winning streak by NFL teams that dated back to 2012.
During the 10-6 loss, the Patriots piled up 167 rushing yards while holding the Colts to just 10 points, which is notable, because NFL teams had been 266-0 over the past 11 years when rushing for at least 150 yards in a game where they also held their opponent to 10 points or less.
During the 2023 season alone, that exact situation had happened 12 times going into Week 10 and not only did those 12 teams all win, but nearly every single one of those games ended up being a blowout. The 12 winning teams had an average margin of victory of 23.4 points.
Of those 12 teams, 11 of them won by at least two touchdowns, with the only exception being the Patriots, who beat the Jets 15-10 back in Week 3.
Before New England came along, the last team to lose while rushing for at least 150 yards and surrendering 10 points or less was the 2012 Chiefs. During a Week 5 game against the Ravens that year, the Chiefs lost 9-6 despite gaining 214 yards on the ground.
If you go back 15 years, NFL teams were 412-3 since 2008 when hitting the 150-yard mark while giving up 10 points or less.
To put it bluntly, what the Patriots did was almost unheard of. The Patriots probably should have beaten the Colts in Germany, but they just made too many mistakes in the second half.
The Patriots had four possessions over the final two quarters and three of them ended in disaster with two interceptions and a missed 35-yard field goal. Mac Jones threw a back-breaking interception in the fourth quarter after the Patriots had driven down to Indy's 15-yard line.
The Patriots are an organization that's used to setting the standard in the NFL, but in this lost season, they're now hitting new lows. For more crazy facts from Week 10, be sure to click here.
