Perry’s Problems Week 9: The Patriots Offense Seems To Be Stuck In Mud And It’s Miserable

The New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday but the offense had little to do with the victory. It’s taken me a day to collect my thoughts on the Patriots offense but I finally know what it is, the play calling is terrible.

Of course it is great to have a stellar defensive performance, which the Patriots got, but to win games consistently in the National Football League there has to be some support from the other side of the ball. The Patriots offense has looked great at times and looked absolutely horrible at times throughout the 2022 season and there is more bad than good in regards to the offense.

If anyone tells you it’s Mac Jones’ issue in New England they’re out the freaking minds

This offense has completely regressed this player, and it’s awful.

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 7, 2022

The offensive game plan when Mac Jones went down with his high ankle sprain was very simple and linear for Bailey Zappe. Not at all is it Bailey Zappe’s fault but it’s just the reality of the situation. Matt Patricia was calling plays that were based on timing routes and one to two read passing plays that made life easy for the rookie quarterback. The issue with the Patriots is that with Jones behind center they seem to have a completely different playbook. 

Play Calling Needs To Improve

Matt Patricia’s play calling has been suspect throughout the season and honestly it doesn’t look like it is going to get much better. The Patriots run play action when they cannot establish the run, they run screenplays that only go for five yards because they fail to set up the run, and when they do get an opportunity to take a shot downfield they call some rinky dink play that does nothing. 

Playcalling and redzone execution has been so bad today the Patriots fans are booing with a 16-3 lead. Matt Patricia calling formations exclusively from the shotgun when the Patriots getting up close and Oline is getting zero push when trying to run.

— George Balekji (@GeorgeBalekji) November 6, 2022

They also look to be calling plays on the conservative side, which is okay, but every once in a while you have to take a chance. It almost seems like they don’t trust Mac Jones to not turn the ball over. Perfect example of this was at the end of the first half of the Jets game two weeks ago. 

Be More Aggressive

With 42 seconds on the clock the Patriots offense got the ball and threw it to Rhamondre Stevenson for 15 yards. The next play was Jones throwing to Thornton which was the play that was intercepted but nullified by the Jets John Franklin-Meyers roughing the passer. After that it was three straight runs up the middle for no gain.

If you’re taking a shot on second down with timeouts in your pocket then why not continue to try to throw. Instead Matt Patricia packed in his tent and decided to not put Jones in a situation to turn the ball over. I understand there was a holding call by Cole Strange on a Stevenson run but still it just looks like they don’t trust Jones.

Points scored over the last two games:

Nick Folk: 29
Rest of the Patriots' offense: 12

— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) November 6, 2022

So on one play you want to throw the ball then the next you say “okay whatever we don’t trust you”. It’s completely frustrating to watch an inept play caller and a quarterback who they don’t trust. Not to mention the offensive line has a penalty once every ten plays. 

Find A Real Offensive Coordinator

All in all I just think that the Patriots offense needs to figure out one of two things. Bring in a coach who can call plays to enable Jones’ skill set as a passer and get rid of Patricia or he needs to realize that he is just calling the wrong plays in general. Stop calling RPO plays that have never worked this year, not to mention for a guy returning from a pretty significant injury.

I understand that Cleveland and Detroit were the worst two defenses in football when you played them so Bailey Zappe shined and how the past two weeks you faced the 8th overall and 10th overall passing defenses but at some point enough is enough. Just put your team in a position to win and call better plays instead of passes that go for negative five yards.

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