'Offensively, there's no plan'
Dan Orlovsky probably is walking around the ESPN offices this week yelling “I told you so!” after seeing how the Patriots looked on Sunday.
The NFL quarterback-turned-ESPN analyst was hard on New England all offseason. Orlovsky forecast major struggles for Mac Jones and the Patriots offense following the departure of Josh McDaniels and the insertion of Matt Patricia as offensive play-caller.
Well, for Orlovsky, Sunday’s game at Hard Rock Stadium confirmed much of what he was worried about. The Patriots scored only seven points in a season-opening loss to the Miami Dolphins and suffered from multiple breakdowns in execution. Plus, the offense as a whole looked bland and unimaginative.
Orlovsky took the Patriots to task during Monday’s episode of “NFL Live” on ESPN.
“My biggest takeaway from this game is, I don’t know the last time I saw an organization as good as New England look so unprepared for a football game,” he said. “Offensively, there’s no plan, it looks like there’s no preparation. … They were in the same play three times during the first 11 offensive snaps. The quarterback’s getting to the line of scrimmage, the spacing of the pass game… There’s a play that, there’s a swing route to the back and there’s shallow cross and sit all within, like, seven yards of each other.
“That’s teams that we make fun of usually offensively. That’s not an organization that’s run that way. The quarterback has absolutely no answers with protections. He’s getting his head beat in because nobody’s on the same play. It was in the preseason… Now, I’m shocked the Patriots look this (dysfunctional) on offense.”
After watching the film a bit more closely, Orlovsky doubled down on his take.
Obviously, the Patriots were hoping for a better start after an offseason that saw their offense ridiculed and mocked from all angles.
They’ll look for better results this Sunday when they visit the 1-0 Pittsburgh Steelers, who likely will be without star edge rusher T.J. Watt.