For the Patriots, A Lack of Change is the Problem
The Patriots came into this season 66-1 when holding a halftime lead in the “Belichickean” era. At this point in the season, their record is just 6-4 while leading after two quarters of play.
This team was known for making spectacular second half adjustments and preying on opponents’ weaknesses which were noticed throughout the game. Unfortunately, this year has been a vastly different story.
The Patriots lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Jets, Broncos, Dolphins, and most notably, the Colts. In their most recent failure against Miami, the Pats managed just 7 second half points, a fluky touchdown to Sam Aiken who made a great reception and ran 70 yards to the end zone.
In all of these contests, the other team has seemingly shut down the juggernaut Patriot offense in the second half, with Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Tom Brady and a decent running game.
What does this say about the team, offensively?
Does New England not have the personnel/players to succeed? Do the players get fatigued? Is Tom Brady not fully healthy? Why aren’t adjustments being made on New England’s side of the ball?
Well, the Pats are not short of talent, as previously mentioned, Welker and Moss are two of the most dangerous receivers in the NFL, Sam Aiken is developing into a solid third option, and the Pats have a viable running back in Laurence Maroney (8 TDs in 7 games).
Offensively, fatigue is never as much of an issue as it is on the defensive side of the ball, with all the opportunities for substitutions.
Tom Brady is clearly healthy, as he put up monster numbers against weaker teams such as the Buccaneers, and managed solid numbers against even the Colts. Is he at his 2007 form? Maybe not at this point, but he is certainly at a high enough level where he can be considered healthy.
So, this leaves the question, why doesn’t the team seem to make any offensive adjustments? Brady’s offenses have always had great offensive coordinators, with names such as Charlie Weis and Josh McDaniels. This year, with Bill O’Brien holding the reigns of the offense and mainly in charge of playcalling, there seems to be a problem.
Bill Belichick deserves some negativity, but it is O’Brien who is unable to make his unit better in the second half.
Against the Dolphins, not only were offensive adjustments not made, but the play calling was borderline horrific.
The fullback run with a yard to go inside the five during the second quarter was a poor idea. Morris never had the opportunity to build up speed to plow through the line of scrimmage, as he started just a couple of yards behind Brady. A simple running play would have been a better option for Morris, or a quarterback sneak with Brady.
Against the Colts, Kevin Faulk was stopped short on 4th down. O’Brien had the right idea, a quick slant to Welker or Faulk, but why have Kevin catch the ball on a quick out?
Instead of breaking out on his route, Faulk should have broken in. The linebacker covering Faulk, shown in the replay, was clearly a step out of position but had time to react, as the ball was in the air for a long enough period of time. Had Kevin broken inside at the same distance, the linebacker would have half as much time to react, and Faulk could have dived forwards and saved the game for New England.
The time the ball would have been in the air would have been shorter had Faulk cut up the middle, giving the linebacker less time to react.
Two examples of bad play calls by O’Brien, both in important situations.
I don’t think you need examples of situations where the Patriot offense looked flat in the second half. I can think of at least eight games (out of 12 the team has played) where the New England second half offense looked like the Browns’ offense.
Defensively, the Patriots are not an awful team.
They have an average defense. Unfortunately the defensive backs take a lot of heat, when it is the front seven who cannot generate pressure on quarterbacks and give wide outs all day to run their routes. Some heat is deserved, like Meriweather’s blown coverate in New Orleans, but some pressure they take is just unwarranted.
A perfect example came in the Dolphins game. Greg Camarillo had time to run a double move route, with Jonathan Wilhite in coverage. At the last second, Camarillo turned around in button hook fashion and caught the ball, with Wilhite right behind him.
Yes, Wilhite slightly stumbled, but after over 4-5 seconds in coverage, wide receivers inevitably get open.
Nevertheless, holding the Dolphins to 22 points should have been enough. However, the Patriot offense managed to run minimal time off the clock in their two possessions in the final few minutes (the defense was able to make two stops), and gave Miami the chance to win.
I never thought it would come to this, but it is the Patriots’ offense which is at fault.
Yes, the defense can play better, but the Patriots’ offense, with the lineup they have, should be able to put up massive numbers against Miami, and should be more than competitive in “shootouts”.
Matt Cassel torched the Dolphins, and Tom Brady is capable of doing the same (is there really any question of that). So, Bill O’Brien, if you want to keep your job, you need to think about strategies that put the stacked New England offense in a position to win. If not, then you will be changed.
Charlie Weis, anybody?
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Comments
With Dean Pees gone, a lot of fans want a new defensive coordinator as well, but if BB can focus on defense as opposed to both offense AND defense, then he can serve as a d coordinator AND head coach (being the defensive genius he is). I think in terms of personnel we need a DE, because a good pass rush can hide a shaky secondary, which I think will improve w/ the growth of guys like P. Chung and Darius Butler, who did show some cover skills. Also, people forget about terrence wheatley, our second rounder a few years back. He has demonstrated decent coverage abilities, but has had trouble keeping his wrist healthy.
ummmm so i didnt know where to post this… but I’m pretty sure the patriots didnt come into the season 66-1 on your cover story.