The New England Patriots take on old friend Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders in an important game on both sides on Sunday.
The Patriots are fresh off two embarrassing losses, and with turmoil setting in Foxborough, people forget how frustrated Raiders fans might be with their team as well.
This game features two of the worst offenses in the entire league, but along with the offensive struggles, the Patriots also have a depleted defense and poor special teams unit. This game might not be pretty, and it will be a rock fight. But it is probably the most important game for Mac Jones and Bill Belichick with the Patriots, and McDaniels with the Raiders.
One could argue the team that loses this game will likely be fighting an uphill battle for their job at the end of the year. Let’s get into this week’s keys for the Patriots to end their two-game losing streak and get back into the win column.
Score a touchdown
This one seems like a no-brainer right? Well, the Patriots have yet to score a touchdown since Pharaoh Brown’s 58-yard touchdown against the New York Jets in Week 3. Some might even argue that touchdown was on a blown coverage by the Jets defense.
Even in that game, the Patriots failed to reach the red zone in the 15-10 victory over the Jets. So their last respectable drive came against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2.
In other words, it’s been a long time since the offense has put together a satisfying drive. This week, they’ll be going up against a soft coverage defense.
They should be able to get into the end zone this time around. Field goal kicking alone likely won’t get the job done.
Coaching and preparation needs to improve
The coaching and preperation has been really bad in 2023. There have been countless penalties and fixable fundamental mistakes that are piling up. Although the players are ultimately responsible for what they do on the field, the coaches have been allowing these issues to repeat.
The Patriots rank 28th in offensive DVOA, 12th in defensive DVOA and 32nd in special teams DVOA, while overall being 27th.
All of those things can be attributed to the personnel. But this is largely the same team as last year, and they weren’t nearly as bad. In fact, they were better in many key areas.
The penalties are adding up with the team having been penalized 32 times in five games, with an average of seven per game. That issue has remained a constant since 2021.
Prior to that, the Patriots were one of the least penalized teams in the entire NFL consistently since 2009. Penalties are one thing, but they compound on an offense that struggles to pick up five yards consistently.
It’s not just the flags, positional coaches have been non-competitive all season on offense, as each position group is piling up teachable mistakes without any correction.
This team has come out flat in each of the last three games and needs to find a way to get back to the Belichick-coached teams we are used to seeing. Right now, the head coach and all offensive coaches have been as brutal to watch as the players on the field.
Defense needs to lead the way
Although the mantra that defense wins championships is no longer prevalent in this day of football, defense needs to carry the torch this week against an offense arguably as bad as the Patriots have been in 2023.
Offense in the NFL is at an all-time high with the last three Super Bowls featuring offensive-minded head coaches on both sidelines.
In this game, the Patriots don’t need to score 35 points to win, although that would be refreshing for fans after the three-week dry spell on offense.
If the Patriots want to win Sunday’s game, they’ll need to control the clock and create turnovers with their defense. Their defense has historically been good at creating turnovers, but this year, they’re at the bottom-half of the league in that category.
J.C. Jackson coming back might help, but if the Patriots can generate a turnover or two, they should have a chance at bouncing back with a much-needed win on the road.
