Before the Baltimore Ravens beat up the New England Patriots on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 9, Tom Brady was leading the top-scoring offense in the NFL. There was some skepticism surrounding the unit. They had an easy schedule, and New England was handing it to their bad opponents.
But the narrative around New England shifted in that Week 9 loss.
The Patriots’ schedule has gotten challenging over the last few weeks, and in turn, their offense is skidding. For the first three quarters against the Houston Texans, the Patriots struggled mightily to move the ball, which was a continuation of the issues against the Eagles, the Cowboys and the Ravens. As the loss to the Texans wound down, Brady and New England began to put up points and yardage, but that was largely because of Houston’s relaxed (and perhaps way-too-casual) approach on defense.
Even with all their weaknesses, the Patriots (10-2) are still Super Bowl contenders. But their talent at pass-catcher seems to be lacking. At least, that has been the narrative over these last few weeks.
“We’re used to it, so it doesn’t really matter,” receiver Phillip Dorsett told Patriots Wire on Wednesday. “(It’s) business as usual. We understand. We get it. We’re used to it.”
Dorsett is no stranger to harsh criticism directed at the receiver group. Last season after four weeks, New England was thought to be in a dire situation at 2-2 with one of the least productive receiving groups in the NFL. But Julian Edelman returned from suspension and Rob Gronkowski began to play better. You may have heard: The Patriots went on to win a Super Bowl.
This year, Gronk isn’t coming back. And Edelman has been with them for the entire year, even if he is playing through injuries. New England isn’t likely to get a boost. If the Patriots offense is going to improve, the group will do so with what they have: Edelman, Dorsett, James White, Mohamed Sanu, Jakobi Meyers, N’Keal Harry and others.
“One thing my mom told me when I was a little kid: Things are never going as good as you think they are and they’re never as bad as you think they are,” Meyers said at his locker on Wednesday. “So as long as we just keep that mindset, we’ll be alright. … Losing doesn’t really sit too well around here. That’s what I learned pretty early. They tell you, losing is just not tolerated. So I just try to pick it back up and keep momentum going.”
Meyers took comfort in constructive criticism this week. The coaches broke down the Patriots loss into the fine details: a botched route assignment, poor technique on the break, bad use of leverage. Those little adjustments could be the difference between and win and a loss.
“The one thing we’re not satisfied about but not happy about is that it’s on us,” he said. “Things we’ve been doing have been results from our bad technique or fundamentals or things that can be fixed. … We control it. It’s our job to fix it. I think we’ve got a room full of motivated guys and we’re going to fix it.”
Meyers is among the Patriots with upside. New England knows what it has in Edelman and White — they’re excellent and reliable players. But when Houston doubled Edelman and put a cornerback on White, the Texans forced the Patriots to use their other skill players. And those players weren’t quite productive enough for a win. If the Patriots offense is going to turn a corner, they will see improved performances from Meyers, Harry and others like tight end Matt LaCosse. They’ve done very little so far, but could be bigger parts of the game plan going forward.
“We’ve got a lot of games left to plays and we’ll see how we do down the stretch,” LaCosse said. “It’s good to be out there. It’s good to be able to do multiple things for this offense. Whatever they ask me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.”
The Patriots are blocking out the noise, as usual. They’re trying to get better every day, as usual. And they’re unfazed by the criticism, as usual. It is unusual, however, for their offense to struggle so significantly at this time of year. Will they turn things around by the playoffs, as usual?
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