Patriots' Kyle Dugger takes responsibility for poor coverage in loss to Seahawks

FOXBORO — The Patriots made the wrong decision at the wrong time on Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith’s 56-yard touchdown completion to receiver DK Metcalf.

And defensive end Kyle Dugger, who was in coverage on the play with cornerback Christian Gonzalez, acknowledged the mistake.

DK Metcalf WIDE OPEN for a 56 yard TD!

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“We were in max blitz coverage, just a bad read on my part,” Dugger said after the 23-20 overtime loss. “And they caught us in a call that was pretty problematic, their offensive call versus our defensive call.”

Dugger explained what was supposed to happen in the play.

“You just have to read the quarterback,” Dugger said. “I didn’t read the quarterback well. So, that’s a failure.”

The Patriots sent six men on the blitz, and the defensive backs were supposed to hang around the first-down marker and read the quarterback on the second-and-5 call. With eyes on Smith, by the time Metcalf got past Dugger and Gonzalez, it was too late.

“Yeah, it’s max coverage. So it’s not really a true man-to-man, so yeah. They caught us,” Dugger said. “I checked the play to maximize the blitz. I probably shouldn’t have, obviously. In hindsight, you can see that. But yeah, we checked it after they checked it. That’s part of the game plan.”

Dugger said checking that play call was something they practiced all week.

Gonzalez, who spent most of the game shadowing Metcalf, attributed it to “poor communication.”

“You can’t hide that in the secondary,” Gonzalez said. “When it happens in the secondary, we make a big play. We’re going to get it fixed and we’re going to be fine.”