The Patriots Beat Themselves On Thanksgiving

The Patriots played the Vikings on Thanksgiving night. It was a close game and at the end of the night, the Vikings would win. The Patriots looked like a football team but they made mistakes in two areas and that is why they lost.

The Patriots failed to execute. That had chances to stop the Vikings but allowed the Vikings to go eight of 15 on third downs and three of five in the red zone. The Patriots offense would go three of 10 on third down and fail on their only fourth down attempt while going zero for three in the red zone.

On top of that they gave up a touchdown on special teams and had several critical mental errors including roughing the kicker and failing to get seven after getting an interception. The Patriots had six penalties for 55 yards but their performance on the field penalized them on their own.

This was a good game for Matt Patricia as the offensive coordinator. The players just didn't seem to be completely aware of what was going on and that's just one more example of mental errors. 

Execution and mental errors were also visible in the pass defense. There were too many catches that shouldn't of been had. The biggest one is the touchdown play in the end zone that Dugger fell on. Then there was a naked boot that Tavai didn't do enough to try and knock down, and of course the hit on the defenseless receiver.

Overall they showed up but showed they still are not ready for January football. The Patriots need some help from the Lions, Texans, Titans, Bears, Cardinals and Steelers as they currently dropped to eighth in the AFC. The Patriots are in a must win situation at home against Buffalo next week and still control their own destiny.

Jonnu Smith Is The Answer To The Power Run Game

The Patriots let fullback Jakob Johnson go in the offseason as they were getting away from the fullback position. At the time they still had Jonnu Smith and Dalton Keene. Even with going away from the position, at the time they had two guys who could fill the role if needed.

Now the Patriots have just Jonnu and have no idea what to do with their need for fullback. Before anyone says Jonnu is a tight end, Jakob Johnson was a tight end in Germany before coming to the Patriots. Furthermore Smith is an H-back which is just a more athletic fullback.

I wrote an article on how to use Jonnu in the passing game earlier in the season. I guess it's only fitting that I have to talk about him in the run blocking game.

People are trying to figure out how the Patriots utilize the power run without a fullback and it's quite simple. Either have Smith lineup as the fullback, send him in motion from the H-back spot to the fullback spot, or have Smith block inside between the guard and tackle and have the back run behind him. They should also be finding ways to have Smith as the second back on shotgun run plays.

I'm not an offensive coordinator, so I'm not gonna guess when to call plays. With Jonnu one needs to know he's an H-back and have a basic understanding of that position. And a smart play caller will utilize the play action to keep defenses guessing.

Using Jonnu Smith should not be rocket science but yet people are making it complicated. As long as the Patriots have a tight end on the practice squad they should be fine. The Patriots just have to show some signs of competence with knowledge of the H-back position.

The Patriots Control Their Fate

Here's what's being said about the New England Patriots coming out of the bi-week and my thoughts to what they addressed. This is still the Patriots. They're capable of playing poorly but so is everyone else but that doesn't mean to give up on them or does it?

Does Mac Jones have to be better? Yes but so does the entire offense including Matt Patricia. If the line is off, if the pass catchers can't get open, if Mac is hearing footsteps or if Patricia is calling the wrong plays, the team will suck. Everyone has to execute on offense. I don't put the remainder of the season on Mac.

Barmore was put on injured reserve. The Jets are averaging 116 yards per game on the ground and the Jets are ranked 19th. The Jets in my opinion are the weakest of their division opponents. The interior line doesn't need to get to Wilson but it needs to show it can disrupt the line and close holes without their star lineman.

The Patriots need to be a run first team. They need to learn how to use Jonnu Smith as a blocking back. Mac Jones is expected to manage the games but he doesn't need to become Aaron Rodgers or Patrick Mahomes. What he needs to do is to use his super computer and make better decisions when he drops back to pass. As long as the backs are getting positive yardage, there's no reason the run game cannot carry the team.

The funny thing is for the Jets, the key to victory is almost the same. The Patriots offensive line must block well and not let Mac Jones speed up his clock. The goal for the Jets is to make Mac turn it over or look like a rookie over his head. 

Would the Patriots offense be better if was McDaniels behind the helm? Yes but Mac wouldn't of taken the deep shots or aggressive plays that fans were excited to see. McVanilla would've kept things the same as they have been. The Patriots biggest mistake because we don't know who wanted the change, was getting away from the Brady offense when all they had to do was take more deep shots.

The bi-week is over and we'll see who the Patriots are. They're a wildcard team until they forfeit their spot. If they make the playoffs, they have achieved all that I have expected for this season. And that's as much expectations I would advise fans to have. It doesn't matter how they get there, as long as they do.

State Of The Patriots

The Patriots have problems, mostly on the offensive side of the ball. They have time before playing the Jets to fix them. I really don't know if the 2022 Patriots can fix them. I have thrown out the Idea of brining in the former Colts H.C. as an advisor but it's throwing darts at just one problem.

Consistency is not anywhere and it's not just from the players. Some games one phase looks good, other games not so much. The decision making has to be better on the sidelines. Dysfunction starts at the top and that starts with Bill and his staff.

Execution is another issue and it falls into the consistency problem. Players need to do their job. There have been games where the players didn't look like they were hustling. They're making mental errors or just playing bad. Then there are other games where they look competent. It doesn't matter what gets called if the players don't perform.

That leads me to my next issue and that's coaching. Yes Belichick lost a good portion of his staff to the Raiders but still, that excuse train has to go. Whether it's Jake Bailey, Isaiah Wynn, Mac Jones or one of the other 53, the recurring problems are coaching issues. They're not coaching problems away.

Then there's play calling, especially on offense. Matt Patricia is doing okay for a first year O.C. on any level but the offense should not of changed the way it did this year. The problem with McDaniels was he wasn't aggressive enough and he didn't find ways to use people to their strengths enough.

All Patricia had to do was add more RPOs, have Mac rollout more to a flooded side of the field & add deep shots to McDaniels offense. As far as Smith and Bourne all he had to do was change their spot in the progression on some plays and treat Smith like a fullback pass catcher. Instead he tried to reinvent the wheel. He showed with Zappe that he can run a basic offense. Maybe the Patriots should let Mac do the play calling with advice from Patricia or let Mac override Patricia if he doesn't agree with the call.

I said before the season and I'll say it again. The Patriots are a wildcard team until someone eliminates them. They're good enough to get to the playoffs but they're not good enough to win there. If they fail to make the playoffs, it's gonna be a team effort that cost them.