Patriots experienced unprecedented offensive disarray under Bill Belichick in 2022 season, report says

The the return of Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the New England Patriots will come after one of the most dysfunctional seasons of the Bill Belichick era, according to the Boston Herald. The team’s 18.2 offensive points per game were the worst since freshman year under Belichick in 2000, while his third down and red zone offense were both the worst in Belichick’s 23 seasons as coach -leader of the Patriots.

2022 Patriots Attack

* Worst of the Bill Belichick era (since 2000)

O’Brien enjoyed great success leading the Patriots’ offense as a point guard in 2011 when the team reached the Super Bowl, and so did Matt Patricia and Joe Judge – Belichick’s two longtime coaches. who led the offense in 2022 – he’s an example of the 70-year-old head coach’s living embodiment of DJ Khaled and Drake’s hit ‘No New Friends’.

O’Brien’s primary task is to jump-start the development of 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year finalist Mac Jones, who stepped back in 2022 under Patricia and Judge. He finished his sophomore season with walk count: a 65.2 percent completion rate with 2,997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions to go along with an 84.8 passer rating.

It turns out the relationship between Patricia and Judge, two coaches who had never coached the offense full-time, and their players was even worse than the numbers on the field, according to the Boston Herald.

It started at OTAs in the spring when Jones told the media that he and Judge would “teach each other” — the first of several comments that didn’t go down well throughout the franchise. Once the season got under way, the lack of attacking cohesion wasn’t just evident on the pitch; it also permeated the coaching staff.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” a source told the Herald.

The judge, whose official title was offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach, was quickly criticized, according to the report. Belichick tore it up in practice, and Judge was the target of several profanity-infused rants from Jones, some of which made the headlines throughout the season. Jones just didn’t trust Judge as a positional coach.

One of the problems was the near elimination of New England’s offense that had been led in the previous 22 seasons. The base offense installed by the Patriots contrasted sharply with previous seasons. Under Patricia and Judge, the Pats began combining a scaled-down version of the playbook that former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left behind with parts of Sean McVay’s Rams plan. The Patriots intended to emphasize the outfield runs already in their playbook and install play-action passes from McVay’s offense, among other moves and formations.

Play-action usually helps a quarterback because it freezes the defense for a split second, simplifies the number of plays in a progression, and usually induces a quick decision from the quarterback. Jones’ numbers indicated that was true: He had the 14th-best passer rating in the NFL in 2022 when using play-action (104.0) and ninth-worst when not using play. -share (80.7).

Still, the Patriots executed play-action concepts on only 11% of their offensive plays, the fifth-lowest rate in the NFL. This change would have alarmed those who felt concerned about the reduction in the volume of games. A source told the Herald that a typical training camp practice under McDaniels included dozens of setup pages for running games, passing games and protection programs. Those numbers were halved with Patricia and Judge.

“A lot of guys were worried because when we were in the middle of camp we were wondering what the plan was for our attack. Because we didn’t put in enough setup,” a source told the Herald. “We had some protection, some base plays, but our passing game didn’t have much.”

Players explained to the media throughout training camp that the goal was to simplify the attack in order to play faster, but that ended up causing more problems as situations arose in games where the Patriots were unprepared. Additionally, Patricia revamped pass protection from a number-based system to a word-based system, according to NBC Sports Boston. The new verbiage created confusion among offensive linemen and put Jones under constant pressure during the pre-season, which led to him developing bad habits that followed him throughout the campaign. .

Other season lows include the Patriots using a pre-planned rotation between Jones, after a sprained ankle, and rookie Bailey Zappe, against the Chicago Bears in Week 7. It was a decision who confused players and gave a poor offensive performance in a 33-14 rout on “Monday Night Football”.

Then there was wide receiver Kendrick Bourne who basically called out Patricia’s conservative play after the team’s 24-10 home loss Thursday night to the Buffalo Bills in Week 13. Bourne told reporters after the game the Patriots needed to “plan better” and be a more aggressive offensive offense.

With O’Brien back, Patriots fans are hoping for a sense of normalcy in 2023. That will be vital for Jones as he tries to definitively prove he’s the future of the franchise at quarterback.