FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots walked away with a dominant 26-3 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but it wasn't pretty on one side of the ball.

The Patriots' offense recorded just 203 total yards in the win and for a second game in a row, they struggled to get the ball into the end zone. New England's offense scored just one touchdown, which came after a blocked punt set them up at the Colts' 2-yard line, and settled for a field goal on four other drives. A week earlier, the Patriots scored just one touchdown and kicked five field goals in a 22-17 win over the New York Jets.

While there was happiness in the Patriots' locker room following the win, there was certainly some disappointment from players on the offense on the team's inability to finish drives in recent weeks.

“We just want to score more touchdowns as a group. No frustration, a win is a win, we win, it's all good. But we definitely want to score more, once we play as a team, we need to be able to score,” Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne said. “Especially the defense putting us in a great position, we have to take advantage. They're balling, so we’ve just got to play better football, special teams, defense. Offense just needs to pick it up. Points is points, three points is good, but you never know how these next games are going to go, so putting up points is just more secure.”

The two offensive touchdowns over the last two weeks were enough for the Patriots to get wins in both games. But it's disappointing because their average starting field position for their drives on Sunday's game was at their own 36-yard line, which would be the best mark in the league. As a matter of fact, the Patriots' average starting field position (their own 32-yard) was the best in the NFL entering Sunday's game.

Yet, the Patriots still struggle to get down the field and score. Their 46.15 red zone conversion percentage is the fourth-worst in the league.

Bourne thinks that the Colts' physicality might have played a role in the Patriots not finishing drives, but also acknowledged that they still have to do better.

“I think we can do better with that, you know check downs, check downs, check downs, going down the field we need to have longer drives,” Bourne said. “Obviously take what the defense gives us. I mean I'm not the quarterback so I wouldn't know, I'm just running my routes, but we just need to play better as a whole, string longer drives and finish.”

Part of the reason for the Patriots' failures on offense is the hole they put themselves in on third downs. They converted just 6-of-17 third downs on Sunday, likely because their average yardage to go in those situations was 6.2 yards.

Patriots quarterback Mac Jones knows the team needs to perform better on the earlier downs to make their lives easier on third downs when they return from their bye week.

“First and second downs is a big part of the NFL,” Jones said. “I think really good teams are good on first and second down. Third down, they're in a better spot and convert more. You want to be above whatever percentage mark we set, and we've got to be better and extend drives that way.

“Every drive can't seem like it's so hard to get yards. We've got to be able to skip some third downs and move the ball and get explosive plays. Once again, defenses are kind of trying to take that away, playing a lot of two-high coverage and trying to stop that. So it's a respect towards our skill players and the guys we have.”