Christmas almost came early this year.
The New England Patriots almost completed a 22-point comeback against one of the more prolific offenses in the entire NFL, as the defense pitched a shut out in the second half and forced a few turnovers.
As the game rolled to the final minutes, it looked like the Patriots could just run the ball, drain the clock out and punch it in to seal off a victory.
But the Cincinnati Bengals punched the ball out of Rhamondre Stevenson’s hands, ending the game there and cutting the Patriots’ playoff hopes off in the moment.
Let’s not get too optimistic, as the Patriots still have numerous issues that are mostly stemmed from offensive coaching. Watching this game should tell people that this is not quarterback Mac Jones’ fault.
There is a clear need to get help all around him. Offensive tackles, receivers, tight ends, coaches—you name it. Virtually, everything on the offense has struggled to amount to much.
Let’s get into the leftover notes from this Christmas Eve matchup.
We have a Kendrick Bourne sighting
After being placed in the dog house for much of the season, and wrongfully so, Kendrick Bourne was featured heavily, and deeper than three yards or less. Bourne tallied 129 total offensive yards, caught some much-needed grabs and looked in sync with Mac Jones like he was much of 2021.
It still irritates and shocks me that a signing like Bourne could play so well in Year 1 with the Patriots and seemingly goes non-existent while healthy in 2022.
It’s not like he’s injured or not getting open.
He just wasn’t featured as much as he should have been, and quite possibly limited the Patriots’ success in 2022. If Bourne played more this season, it is possible that his presence could have at least kept defenses honest that currently treated the Patriots like a joke all season. He could have even opened up more of the under routes that the Patriots wanted to do during the stretch run.
Patriots defense played a stellar second half
What is going unnoticed is that the Patriots defense that struggled heavily in the first half managed to adjust at halftime and completely shut down the Bengals offense.
The unit generated pressure, forced turnovers and actually managed to cover the three-headed monster of Tyler Boyd, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins very well in the second half.
One thing is for certain: a Belichick-led defense is still elite and still forces teams to find creative ways to get going for a full 60 minutes.
Do not let the second half success overshadow the issues this team faces ahead
Although this team looked like the 2021 Patriots that gave us hope, this team has glaring holes on the offense, most notably the offensive tackles and offensive coaching tree, particularly with Matt Patricia.
The Patriots will need to address things in 2023, if they wish to have an offense that resembles even a middle-of-the-pack offense to better compliment their elite defense.
The offense is so bad that it has overshadowed how good this defense has been. Matthew Judon has a real case for Defensive Player of the Year, but it hasn’t been mentioned due to how lackluster the Patriots’ season has been.
Now sitting at 7-8, the Patriots can play spoiler and finish out above .500, but there are fans clawing for them to lose out and get young players more reps. Personally, that is a terrible mentality to have, to wish to lose games, but I do want to see the younger players like Jack Jones (if active), Joshuah Bledsoe, Sam Roberts, Kody Russey and others get some meaningful in-game reps late in the season.
