The New England Patriots have dominated the NFL for the entirety of the last two decades. In most of those seasons, and especially recently, they have had a couple games down the stretch where they don't look good at all, and play very poorly. Last season, you could have pointed at the 34-10 blowout they suffered to the Tennessee Titans, or the 17-10 loss handed to them by the Steelers. However, this season, things are much worse. While they are 10-2 right now, the Patriots offense has been completely lost and full of dysfunction since week 9, when the Pats lost to the Ravens on Sunday Night Primetime. Four weeks later, it is evident that none of those problems have been solved at all, and that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has a lot of work to do in order to get this team back up to its usual excellent standards.
The first area we would have to look at in order to try to root out the major problems in this offense is the wide receiving corps. Coming into the season, the Patriots boasted a group featuring Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, N'Keal Harry, and Philip Dorsett. Two weeks later, that group only got better, as the Patriots signed superstar receiver Antonio Brown. Paired with a relatively soft schedule and terrifying defense, it looked like the Patriots were set for another Super Bowl run. These plans first came crashing down when Antonio Brown was released following sexual assault allegations that came up soon after he was signed. Josh Gordon was also placed on IR and then released. Despite trading for Mohamed Sanu at the trade deadline, the Pats receivers were hardly as good as earlier. Rob Gronkowski's retirement also severely affected the corps.
After the receiving corps suffered a hit, they have been borderline awful. As Chris Collinsworth pointed out on the broadcast of Sunday Night Football yesterday, Brady has two reads every play. He looks for Julian Edelman, and if he doesn't have that option, he looks for running back James White. The Texans smartly double teamed Edelman wherever he went, and while White played very well(8 catches, 98 yards, two scores through the air), whenever he wasn't open Brady was flustered and unsure of who to throw it. The Patriots certainly seem like they could use someone of the caliber of Antonio Brown or Rob Gronkowski. Another issue has been drops. Julian Edelman currently leads the league in passes dropped(8), and running back Sony Michel also has a few(3). All of these problems put together emphasize how bad the Patriots receivers really are, and explain why the Patriots are third in the league in punts.
Another issue for the Patriots offense has been the offensive line, who seem to be injured every other day. First, it was center David Andrews, who was put on IR soon before the season started due to blood clotting in his lungs. Then, left tackle Isiah Wynn was placed on IR for part of the season, and his replacement, Marshall Newhouse, was less than good(see #72 in the gif below).
In general, while the receivers haven't been able to get open very well, Tom Brady has had little to no time to actually throw to them because of poor offensive line play. The combination of these two factors severely impacts the Patriots offense. Even Brady has not been up to his usual play, and it is clear that Father Time might be catching up to him. He threw for a total of two touchdowns in the entire month of November, and is having one of his worst statistical seasons. The run game hasn't been very helpful either, as they only have about 1100 yards total this season, and are 21st in the league in rushing yards per game.
Some of the play calling has been questionable too. Check out this critical fourth and inches that the Patriots faced yesterday:
On fourth and inches, the Patriots decide to throw a drag route into double coverage to Mohamed Sanu. They have the best QB Sneaker in football, and two good running backs capable of getting six inches of yardage. This call changed the game, as a conversion likely would have led to some sort of points to make it a one score game.
Even the defense hasn't been at its best lately. Missed tackles are becoming a huge problem, and the Pats gave up several of them over the past couple weeks, especially against Houston yesterday. In addition, the run defense has been a weakness, as Ezekiel Elliot, Nick Chubb, and Lamar Jackson all played very well against the front seven.
13 weeks into the season, it is evident that the Patriots need to do something to fix this offense. It still isn't too late to resign Antonio Brown, but that is a very unlikely possibility. With matchups against both the Chiefs and the Bills coming up, the Pats will need to change something in order to continue their streak of first round byes that dates back to 2010.
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