![]() ![]() Now if you’re like me, when you see “Neutral Pass Rates”, your eyes probably instinctively dart for the bottom, since the post-Brady Patriots aren’t exactly infamous for slinging the rock early and often. when as recently as last season they could’ve gone I-formation and ran it straight up the gut for 3 yards and a cloud of dust - they chose instead to let the QB go hunting. ![]() What’s promising is that in situations where the Patriots didn’t have to pass - i.e. But one stat emerged that just may indicate that this year’s much-maligned coaching staff is far more inclined to put the fate of this team in Mac’s hands than last season.Īll the usual yeah-buts apply it’s only one game, it could’ve been game plan, the Patriots got down early so multiple scores were needed, yada yada yada. Drops, guys looking out of sync, routes that made us ask “.who’s the intended target here, exactly?”. That season opener last weekend against the Dolphins ended up being discouraging for the Patriots offense in all the most discouraging ways. 3,801 passing yards and 22 TDs against only 13 INTs is cute let’s see what Mac can string together in Year 2. With all due respect to Bill Belichick’s undisguised love for a power run game, a team doesn’t win in 2022 without developing a quarterback that can send it and put points on the board in a hurry. 1 for this year with Mac Jones entering Year 2 of his career - then the hope had to be that Mac was ready to take more ownership of the offense and start really slinging it consistently. If the quarterback is all that matters - or, footballisms aside, probably priority No. In other words, by the end of the 2021 season, Mac was slinging it when he got the chances, and not-infrequently getting it, as opposed to the pew-pew-pew checkdowns and quick outs everyone seems to think he throws every play. Josh McDaniels and the gang appeared far more inclined to let McCorkle let it rip on the midrange stuff and even take some shots downfield.Ī fun bit of trivia: Mac Jones ended the 2021 regular season ranked 11th in Intended Air Yards, 12th in Average Depth of Target, and 12th in Completed Air Yards. Then things got better, to the extent that things can when your quarterback isn’t Justin Herbert, anyway. Remember those few weeks? Where the offense looked like a combination of Josh McDaniels’ favorite tosses and screens and the Jeff Fisher Special of run-run-pass? And Mac Jones was averaging almost exactly 250 passing yards a game through the first four games, but only had one win to show for it? When it looked like Jones already had downloaded the offense to his brain better than some of the skill guys that had been here for years? The promise was there, the skills were there, and the coaching staff just seemed to be obsessed with whatever the opposite of Sammy Hagar “I Can’t Drive 55” is. ![]() It’s easy to say that now, but after the first few games of the 2021 season, the feeling was generally that we had paid for a Corvette, but we were only using it to make a Dunkin’ Donuts run. It doesn’t matter if you’re an OG that sat on the frozen aluminum bleachers at Foxboro Stadium or if you’re not even old enough to buy a 6-pack yet, the one thing all Patriots fans know better than most that’s always held true throughout the decades is this: nothing else matters if you don’t have the quarterback.Īnd after Mac Jones’ rookie campaign last season, there’s plenty of reason to believe that the New England Patriots emerged from their devastating ~3 months of QB wilderness after the end of the 2020 season and found theirs. ![]()
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