There’s certainly enough blame to go around in Foxboro these days.
The Patriots’ offense has been bad recently, and that trend continued Sunday in New England’s 23-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium. As a result, almost everyone — head coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady, the wide receivers, the running backs and the offensive line — has been criticized to some extent, especially by those relishing the organization’s apparent downfall.
On Monday, Boomer Esiason put Josh McDaniels on the spot, suggesting the Patriots offensive coordinator needs to do more as New England continues to work through its recent inability to consistently score points.
“This is on Josh McDaniels,” Esiason, a former NFL quarterback-turned-analyst, said on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” as transcribed by WEEI.com. “Josh has to figure out a way to put guys in the best possible positions and not allow teams to take Julian Edelman away. The other thing here also, remember this offensive line hasn’t been great. Tom for years has stood back there at times and had the luxury of holding the ball for 4.5-5 seconds. I don’t feel like that is the case now. I feel like with the injuries and the changes at left tackle, the problems at center, there are some gaping holes in pass protection that are also collapsing around him.”
Things should get easier for New England’s offense in Week 15, as the Patriots travel to Cincinnati for a matchup with the lowly Bengals. Esiason isn’t expecting a total cakewalk, though, for the Bengals could pose some problems for the Patriots’ shaky offensive line.
“Here’s the other thing about playing Cincinnati this week: They do have a number of what I would call good quality older players on the defensive line. Once they sniff out there’s a problem with the offensive line of the opposing team, they may raise their level of their game,” Esiason said. “(Patriots offensive line coach) Dante Scarnecchia has to go back to work with his group, as well. This a collective thing. I would say there’s a lot of frustration. I would say there’s some miscommunication and there’s not the great pass protection Tom has been afforded the last four or five years.”
All told, the Patriots are 10-3 despite suffering back-to-back losses to the Chiefs and Houston Texans. While New England’s offensive regression undoubtedly is alarming, there’s still time for the Patriots to right the ship before entering the postseason.
