SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It’s not good enough.
That’s a good way to sum up the state of the Patriots offense.
The unit struggles to pass and block, and their best running back has fumbled the ball four times in four games. Other than that, things are going swimmingly for the 2024 Patriots offense.
Following a 30-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Jerod Mayo’s offensive unit is in a troubling predicament. They lack elite talent, and they lack depth. How can they turn this around?
After Sunday’s game, players admitted they were frustrated and were at a loss for words.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t explain it. Honestly. I can’t explain it,” receiver DeMario Douglas told MassLive. “We’ve got to play complementary. We had energy, but I guess it just died.
“That’s why it sucks for real – you work too hard, and we just lose.”
The Patriots aren’t a team that lacks heart. They lack things that an above-average offense needs – elite playmakers, stud pass protectors, and a quarterback who can lift the team when times get tough.
Considering their starting quarterback, Jacoby Brissett is getting clobbered more than Rocky Balboa, it’s hard to envision this getting much better until the offensive line sorts itself out.
On Sunday, Brissett was sacked six times and hit 10 times total.
“There’s a combination of schematically, we have to do a better job getting the ball out of our hand right now, and then secondly, I would say the offensive line has to do a better job of holding up in protection,” Mayo said. “We’re trying to find better ways to do it.”
Mayo made a good point. The issues are split between the line not being good enough and Brissett not getting rid of the ball quicker.
Now, team health is compounding the issues.
The Patriots went into Sunday’s game against San Francisco with their fourth starting left tackle (Demontrey Jacobs) in four games. Then, they lost starting center David Andrews to a shoulder injury after their first series.
In the postgame locker room, rookie tackle Caedan Wallace was on crutches with a boot on his foot. Backup center Nick Leverett was walking with a slight limp. Brissett was also moving slowly.
The offensive line has been a massive disappointment with a massive hole at left tackle. Considering their big free agent signing (tackle Chuks Okorafor) left the team and their third-round pick (Wallace) looks like he has a serious injury, it’s unknown if they have the right personnel to fix the issues.
“It’s just time for us to do better,” right tackle Michael Onwenu said. “It’s hard to put a finger on one thing. Obviously, it’s a team sport. Collectively and individually, we can do better. Starting with individually and then it goes to the bigger picture.”
Through four weeks, the Patriots offense is averaging 13.0 points per game. That’s worse than last season when they tied the New York Giants for last in scoring. That mark is worse than 30 other NFL teams. It’s better than the Miami Dolphins, who play on Monday night and lost their starting quarterback.
On Sunday, on top of the pass protection issues, the Patriots looked incompetent in the run game – averaging 3.0 yards per carry – as Stevenson lost a fumble for the second week in a row. Brissett, who was lauded for his ball security, fumbled the ball three times and threw the first interception of his season.
The veteran quarterback hasn’t been good this season, but it’s clear that he’s just keeping the seat warm for whenever the Patriots think rookie Drake Maye is ready to take the reins. Considering the state of the offensive line, it’s still not wise to start the rookie. Why throw a promising young player to the wolves?
The Patriots only hope is the promise of tomorrow.
In the post-game locker room, players were already talking about their next matchup against the Dolphins. Their hope is they can turn around this season with one good performance. How they get there is a lingering question.
“It sucks. Frustration is going to be there,” running back Antonio Gibson said. “But it’s a hard league. It’s hard to win. All it takes is for us to come out one Sunday and put it all together. That can be the flip to what we need to do and get us rolling. We’ve got another week to go out there and prove ourselves. We just have to figure it out.”
Following the Patriots loss, Brissett gave his teammates a passionate speech. He told them to think about how hard they worked to get to this point in their lives. He reminded them that they have 13 games left to play and there’s time to turn everything around.
“When we started this climb, we never thought it was going to be just you’re an escalator, you’re going up automatically, no, we knew there were going to be bumps in the road,” Brissett said. “We knew we were going to be knocked down and be tired and be hurt. That doesn’t stop the climb. That just puts a little adversity in the climb.
“As much as we can hold our head, no one is going to come and save us and pick our head up for us. We have to do that ourselves.”
They have no other choice.
