Many questions await for the New England Patriots in the second half of the season.
New England is heading into their bye week with an 8-1 record and the most difficult stretch of their schedule ahead of them. They breezed through the first eight weeks of the season with an incredibly impressive defense and an efficient offense. Questions often arose about the strength of schedule, so their loss to the Baltimore Ravens brought out criticism about this team.
Tom Brady is 42 years old and keeping the offense alive, but he’ll need some help from his line and skilled players going forward. With N’Keal Harry and Isaiah Wynn coming back, it’s very likely that Brady will get major upgrades at wide receiver and left tackle. The Patriots have two weeks to realign the team and prepare for this next stretch.
Here are five takeaways after nine games.
Defense has holes, but is still extremely good
New England’s defense played eight consecutive weeks of historically good football, while leading the league in almost every major statistical category. The secondary has leaders in Stephon Gilmore and Devin McCourty that have taken command, while the linebacker core is led by Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy. They have veteran players who have experience with each other and it has shown.
The Patriots are still the second-best defense in yards allowed per game (249.3) and passing yards allowed per game (150.2) — while leading the league in interceptions (19), touchdowns (4) and they’re second in sacks (32). The hole that has been exposed is the run defense, and they just allowed the Ravens to rush for 210 yards on them.
This trend began in Week 8 when the Patriots played the Cleveland Browns and Nick Chubb ran for 131 yards. Fortunately, they forced two early fumbles on him and they were able to overlook this flaw in the defense. Baltimore came into the game with a run-heavy mindset, and it also helped that they have the quickest quarterback in the league. Gilmore and his secondary still held the Ravens to 162 passing yards, so coverage is still a strong suit for New England.
If the Patriots can continue to get takeaways and make special teams plays, they may be able to overlook the glaring hole in the run defense.
Offense has yet to find an identity
Brady and the offense have went through some ups and downs this season. They’ve went from one of the weakest-looking teams when it comes to wide receiver depth and they’ve also looked like one of the strongest. At one point they had Antonio Brown, Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman — now they have Edelman, Mohamed Sanu and Harry coming off of the injured reserve list.
The running back core seemed to be the deepest crew on the offense heading into the season, but they’ve been subpar. It has a lot to do with missing pieces in David Andrews, Wynn and James Develin. Sony Michel and the running backs don’t have the blocking that they’ve previously had, and it’s hurting them tremendously in their rushing attack.
New England is ranked No. 23 in rushing yards per game (92.9) and they’re ranked No. 8 in passing yards per game (273.9). Ideally, this team is set up to play strong defense and pound the football, so that their 42 year old quarterback could facilitate and make throws when he needs to. This hasn’t been the case and it’s resulted in Brady getting sacked 15 times this season.
The Patriots should be returning Wynn by Week 12, which will help both the passing and rushing attacks. For now, the offense seems to solely rely on Brady, Edelman and Sanu. New England can continue to develop Sanu and Harry over the bye week and they could give the Patriots an added spark, while helping find the identity of this offensive unit.
No consistency at the placekicker position
Adam Vinatieri showed the importance of an NFL placekicker while pursuing a championship. It’s absolutely necessary to have a good one, and it’s a position that the Patriots haven’t had any issues with since Belichick came along in 2000.
The Patriots transitioned seamlessly from Vinatieri to Stephen Gostkowski — who are both Hall of Fame kickers. That changed drastically this season after Gostkowski’s season was cut short by a left hip injury. This happened in the beginning of October, so the Patriots had to scramble to find a kicker. They eventually went out and signed Mike Nugent, who lasted four games with the team. He made 5 of 8 field goals and the Patriots didn’t trust him to kick anything beyond 40 yards.
The newest addition to the team is Nick Folk, who spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Jets before signing with the AAF. Folk hasn’t played an NFL snap since 2017, but the Patriots trusted him and he made both of his field goals in Week 9 against the Ravens. New England is comfortable with Folk currently, but he hasn’t been put in a situation to kick a field goal longer than 40 yards.
This inconsistency puts more pressure on Brady and the offense to either score touchdowns, or bring the offense within 20 yards of the goal post.
The road is going to get more difficult after the bye
As aforementioned, the schedule is going to get much more difficult for the Patriots after the bye. They got a glimpse of this against the Ravens and the next four teams are all playoff contenders.
New England’s best opponent in the first half of the schedule was the Buffalo Bills, and it wasn’t close. They played a lost Pittsburgh Steelers team, the New York Jets twice and a Washington Redskins team that was on their third quarterback. This doesn’t discredit the incredible defensive run they were on, but they didn’t face an elite quarterback.
The next four teams on the schedule include the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. This defense will have to prepare for Carson Wentz, Day Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes — all top 10 in quarterback rating. Lamar Jackson is also a top 10 quarterback in quarterback rating and the Patriots struggled to stop him.
The Patriots have built a cushion with their 8-1 record and they finish the season against the Cincinnati Bengals, Bill and Miami Dolphins. A path to the playoffs shouldn’t be an issue for the Patriots, but the road will get rocky over the next five weeks.
Young coaching staff has been excellent
The Patriots lost a chunk of their coaching staff over the offseason, including de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores. This left the defensive play calling up to Belichick and it left some uncertainty for the team.
Belichick didn’t appear to be worried about it over the offseason, and it’s all making sense now. Belhick’s son, Steve, and Jerod Mayo have shared responsibilities with the defensive play calling and they’ve been extremely efficient in doing it. They both have great relationships with the players and there’s trust among them and the organization.
He still has the proven leaders in Josh McDaniels, Dante Scarnecchia and Ivan Fears. They’ve provided leadership and experience for the younger coaches that were given opportunities. Ultimately, Belichick is still running the ship, but it’s helpful for him to have a trusted coaching staff alongside him.
This was a growing concern throughout the offseason, but the Patriots appear to be content with this area of the team through nine weeks.
