Patriots Absolutely Have To Clean Up This Aspect Of Their Game In Super Bowl

If there was a weakness in the New England Patriots’ 14-3 regular season, it was unequivocally their historically low red zone touchdown percentage.

When the Patriots won 10 straight, pointing out this flaw felt like nitpicking. But on the verge of the biggest game of their lives, this is not a loose end they can afford to take into Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks having not tied up.

The Patriots ended the regular season with just a 55.07% red zone touchdown percentage. The team scored touchdowns on roughly half the drives that ended up inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Compare this to the Philadelphia Eagles’ league-leading 70.27%.

In the playoffs, however, this already low 55% fell to 33.3%.

New England was 0/3 in the red zone against the Los Angeles Chargers, 1/1 against the Houston Texans, and 1/2 against the Denver Broncos.

When compared to recent Super Bowl champions, the Patriots’ red zone percentage stands out like a sore thumb.

Last year’s Eagles scored on 75% of their playoff red zone chances. The Kansas City Chiefs were hitting at a higher than 80% clip in 2022. The last Patriots team to win it all was also above 75%.

I had to do a lot of number crunching to find a team that even landed in the same ballpark as the 2025 Patriots, and that was the 2011 New York Giants. Eli Manning’s Giants won the Super Bowl with a playoff red zone percentage of 46.7%.

Seattle has the No. 5-ranked red zone defense. They kept the San Francisco 49ers out of the red zone entirely in that 41-6 thrashing, but allowed the Los Angeles Rams to score on two of three trips in the NFC Championship Game.

I predict the Patriots are going to need to be around that same clip to have success on Sunday; they simply cannot afford to continue having to settle for three.