Concerns Growing Over New England Patriots Offense

The New England Patriots are generating a lot of uneasiness as the preseason comes to a close. After repeated struggles throughout training camp and joint practices, the team played the Las Vegas Raiders in their final dress rehearsal before the regular season. The results were... not good.

I’ve watched this multiple times and I still don’t understand pic.twitter.com/k4VHY02pCh
— alex (@highlghtheaven) August 27, 2022

Last preseason, Mac Jones finished 36/52 (69%) for 388 yards with a TD and 97.3 passer rating. That was mainly against backups with backups.

This preseason, Mac Jones finishes 13/21 (62%) for 132 yards with an interception and a 60 rating. That's against backups with starters.
— Mark Daniels (@MarkDanielsPJ) August 27, 2022

Reports of troubling play have dogged the Patriots all off-season, particularly given the team's decision to place former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and special teams coach Joe Judge in charge of the offensive side of the ball. Lately, the Patriots decision to shift to a more zone-heavy run scheme has also drawn criticism. This week's ugly effort against the Raiders did little to quell worries among fans.

Coming off a year in which Mac Jones led all rookies in passing yards and touchdowns and the Patriots offense finished sixth in scoring, maybe the Patriots can afford to regress a little bit. But the Buffalo Bills are defending AFC East champions, and the Miami Dolphins (who beat the Patriots twice last year) appear to be taking a step forward. Being the third-best team in your division is not a recipe for success in the NFL.