Mike Dussault

Tough critique from Bedard, but I think the pieces are in place to turn it around. Nothing is clicking right now, but with guys finally getting healthy that can change in a hurry. Still, rough reading below…

Everyone, especially the rabid fans in New England, wants to know what’s wrong with the Patriots’ offense. After watching film this week, here’s my quick synopsis: they stink. All of them. It’s not just the receivers. It’s not just the pass or run blocking. It’s not just Tom Brady’s inaccuracy. It’s a combination of everything. Basically, there isn’t one thing they do well. It looks like the Patriots coaches think that as well, because the game plan against the Dolphins last Sunday was bare bones. The Pats won, 27-17, but there wasn’t a whole lot of motion or variety. They stuck to a few basic runs, a handful of different pass concepts.

The Patriots looked like they were saying, “We aren’t doing anything well at this point, so let’s dial it back and start from the basics.” The problem is, they couldn’t even execute that game plan. The first half was one of the worst performances I’ve seen in some time from the Patriots’ offensive line, both run and pass. Left guard Logan Mankins, normally the stalwart, struggled mightily in all phases of the game. He might be toughing out some sort of lower body injury. That said, the run blocking was much cleaner in the fourth quarter, so that may be something to build off of. Although I have no clue why the Patriots aren’t playing Stevan Ridley more. He’s by far their best running back. It’s not even close.