Despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary, Bill Belichick remains optimistic that the New England Patriots' offense can and will improve.
The Patriots head coach said Tuesday “I feel good” about the team's entire offensive process. Belichick was asked to elaborate more on that answer on Wednesday, but he didn't really give much of an answer.
“Look, I'm not saying that we can't improve in every area because we can. We'll continue to try to do that,” Belichick said. “So that's across the board; players, plays, coaches, decisions, etc. We're always trying to improve all the time. We'll continue to do that. So that's where we are. That's where we have been. That's probably where we always will be. Just always trying to do a little bit better and try to find the best ways to be successful.”
When asked it there was anything specific that made him felt good, Belichick again evaded the answer.
“Yeah, again success comes through consistency and that’s really what we’re trying to build towards,” Belichick. “Always more consistency, more production and we’ll continue to try to work towards that.”
So why Belichick remains confident in the Patriots' offense remains a mystery, especially when looking at the stats. They're 24th in yards and 20th in scoring. In more clutch play situations, the Patriots rank pretty close to the bottom, too. They're 25th in third-down conversions and tied for last in red zone efficiency.
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A lot of the blame for the Patriots' poor play on offense has been pointed to the new coaching setup, which has Matt Patricia calling the plays while also coaching the offensive line. It's possible that the offensive line has suffered because of Patricia's split duties.
The stats certainly seem to back up that the Patriots' line has played poorly through the first 12 games of the season, too. They rank 25th in sack rate and in yards per carry, both indicators of poor protection. They've also allowed 32 sacks already, four more than they allowed all of last season.
There have obviously been injuries and other issues that the Patriots have dealt with on the line, but they've gotten next to nothing at right tackle and starting left tackle Trent Brown has struggled in recent weeks.
The Patriots offense set to the Benny Hill theme. pic.twitter.com/hFEdjTN3kR
— David Wade (@davidwade) December 2, 2022
Belichick believes that there's some correlation between the line struggling and the Patriots having a hard time in other areas offensively. At the end of the day though, he knows they've got to play better.
“Collectively, offensively it's about overall team execution. Some of the things or all the things that we could talk about are somewhat interrelated,” Belichick said. “Obviously, the passing game is a function of protection, timing, coverage, decision making, etc. So sometimes there's good protection and not good throwing opportunities. Sometimes there are good throwing opportunities, not in the protection and so forth. Sometimes it could be combination of things.
“So it's really about the execution, the individual plays. We've had good plays. We've had bad plays. They haven't all come on the same type of play. Not everything falls into the same bucket. Three-step drops, five-step drops, deeper drops, play-action, quarterback movement plays, etc., third-down plays, first-down plays. So there are a number of different things that go into this discussion. I appreciate the question but it really transcends a lot of overall execution of the particular play that was called against the team and the defense that we're facing. Whatever plays haven't gone well, we have to address either a better design, a better execution or better timing or something so that we don't have negative plays.”
Belichick will hope the Patriots' offense can have some better correlation beginning in Week 14, when they take on the Arizona Cardinals on Monday night. That game against the Cardinals begins a crucial five-game stretch that will make or break the Patriots' season. They stay on the West Coast to face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15 before playing three games against teams currently in the AFC playoffs (Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, and Buffalo Bills) to close out the season.
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