What do the Patriots need on offense in 2023?
2022 was a strange year for the offensive progression of the New England Patriots.
After Josh McDaniels’ departure at the beginning of the season, Patriots and Bill Belichick tried a new system under Joe Judge and Matt Patricia sharing the offensive coordinator role which ended to be a chaos of a decision which led to a volatile performance of last year’s promising QB Mac Jones and in the end resulted Patriots to miss the playoffs and finish 3rd in AFC East.
Their offense last year was one of the most disappointing in recent memory, as it seemed like the team chemistry wasn’t there from the get-go. After finishing sixth in the NFL in points scored in 2021, the Patriots regressed significantly in 2022, ranking 17th in the league.
The only thing went well for the Patriots this season, which was in a worse situation than expected from an offensive point of view, was a defensive squad that got better every week.
New England’s offensive problems have a multitude of causes. In his second season, quarterback Mac Jones made a step back. Jones, who was dealing with an injury for some time throughout the season, passed for 2,997 yards, 14 touchdown passes, and 11 pickoffs.
The Patriots combined for only 358 receptions for 3,815 yards and 19 passing touchdowns, he also had trouble connecting to his wide receivers consistently as the wide receiver position was hurt and inconsistent because of various reasons such as injuries and bad performances individually. Here is the breakdown of receiving yards of Patriots for the 2022 season:
Besides the wide receiver and receiving struggles, Patriots’ running game was also ineffective. The Patriots rushed for only 1,812 yards in 2022 with 12 touchdowns. Their inconsistency was showing in the red zone for both passing and running game.
Rhamondre Stevenson was the leading rusher for the New England Patriots with 1,040 yards, which makes him the latest 1,000 yards rusher since 2016. Below shows the breakdown of the rushing yards for the 2022 season for New England Patriots ;
The Patriots’ offensive struggles were a major reason the team missed the playoffs in 2022. The Patriots hope that their offense can improve in 2023, but they will need to address several areas if they want to return to the playoffs in 2023.
The AFC East became one of the key divisions where the Pat’ opponents got stronger this offseason, with big additions such as QB Aaron Rodgers to NY Jets, CB Jalen Ramsey to Miami Dolphins, and the Buffalo Bills continue to keep hold of their stars and add to them.
But New England had a good offseason of their own, with moves including
- JuJu Smith-Schuster, a proven playmaker who can give the Patriots a more explosive passing game.
- Mike Gesicki, a versatile tight end who can catch passes, block, and run routes.
- James Robinson is a talented running back who can give the Patriots a more balanced offense.
- Riley Reiff is a veteran offensive tackle who can provide experience and stability to the Patriots’ offensive line.
- Kayshon Boutte is a promising WR where his stock in the draft dropped because of his injury. however, he is a playmaker and with consistent improvement he can shine as a star in the locker room.
However, even though Patriots made some significant moves, it is important to have the team chemistry and continuity like they had with Brady, Edelman, Gronkowski era. Here are some specific areas where the Patriots need to improve their offense in 2023:
- Mac Jones needs to take another step forward in his development. He needs to be more consistent and accurate, and he needs to cut down on his interceptions.
- The Patriots need to get more production out of their wide receivers. They need to get their receivers open more often, and they need to get them the ball in the end zone.
- The Patriots need to improve their running game. They need to create more running lanes for Stevenson and Kevin Harris, and they need to get more production out of their running game in the red zone.
- The Patriots need to improve their offensive line. They need to protect Jones better, and they need to create more running lanes for Stevenson and Kevin Harris.
The Patriots’ offseason moves were focused on improving their offense, adding several new weapons for Mac Jones, including Smith-Schuster, Gesicki, and Boutte. They also added some depth to their offensive line with the signing of Reiff. They added some talented players, but they also lost some key contributors, such as Damien Harris and Jakobi Meyers. It remains to be seen how these moves will pay off in the 2023 season.
Besides all these additions, Patriots were missing a key and successful veteran player who can lead the locker room and help Mac Jones elevate his game to another level. One of the biggest and off-season rumours has been around the successful veteran WR DeAndre Hopkins.
After the season with the beginning of the offseason, everyone started wondering what the five-time Pro Bowler DeAndre Hopkins’s next move will be. After only playing 9 games in 2022 season with an injury, DeAndre Hopkins finished the season with 717 receiving yards and 3 TDs.
Since his decision to take a new step in his career, Patriots became one of the leading landing spots for Hopkins however, in April when asked star receiver made a gesture with his body that he is not willing to join the New England Patriots which the video can be seen below;
Since then, AFC rival Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots have become two favourite teams to gain Hopkins as the receiver went onto visit Patriots twice in a week and both teams hosted the receiver to decide.
The Pats might have the slight advantage as the star receiver is more accustomed to the offensive play calling of Bill O’Brien from his time in Houston and the veteran play caller is reuniting with his QB from Alabama where Jones helped him to understand the offense of Crimson Tide.
It is reported that the Tennessee Titans are the favourite as they have the more aggressive offer at the moment however, both teams are expected to increase their bids in order to settle the move before the start of their training camps which is due to start in three weeks.
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