No QB can save Patriots from their historic offensive ineptitude

No QB can save Patriots from their historic offensive ineptitude originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Patriots offense is a special brand of bad right now. No team in the Super Bowl era had allowed 10 points or fewer in three consecutive games and lost all three. The Chicago Cardinals from 1938 were the last team to hit that embarrassing low.

Until this year’s Patriots.

This is a level of offensive ineptitude that Bill Belichick has never seen in his nearly 50 years in pro football. And it’s happening right under his nose.

There’s not one person to blame, but there’s also not one person who doesn’t share in the blame for what’s happening on that side of the ball. Players, coaches, front-office personnel. They all have had a hand in the direction this offense has taken. And here they sit, now last in the NFL in scoring average (12.3 points per game) and on pace to be the lowest-scoring team in the NFL since 2011 (Rams, 12.1).

Not surprisingly, Belichick would not commit to a starting quarterback during his Monday conference call with reporters. He’s been consistent in that regard. Maybe because he knows deep down it really doesn’t matter.

There have been countless hours of television, radio and podcast programming devoted to that position over the course of this season. Why has Mac Jones regressed? What is Bailey Zappe capable of? Why not give Malik Cunningham a try?

But the reality is that New England’s issues go much deeper than that.

What Zappe did as Sunday’s starter actually represented a slight up-tick in performance in some ways, particularly in the second half. There were times when he eluded pressure. He made accurate throws down the field. He didn’t turn it over.

Yet the team’s production was worse against the Chargers — one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL coming into Week 13 — than it was in dreadful performances against the Giants and Colts in Weeks 12 and 10, respectively.

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-qb-save-patriots-historic-155045839.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2023-12-04 15:50:45

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