New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is not planning to make any major changes to the struggling offense.
The Patriots currently rank 25th in the league with 318.9 yards per game. They also rank 20th with 214 average passing yards per contest. The rushing attack has fared a bit better, as they rank in the middle of the pack with 104.9 rushing yards per game.
Despite improved rushing statistics, they rank 20th overall in scoring offense with 20.8 points per game. It’s safe to say that this New England offense could use a boost at times. Take last Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Bills for example. The offense struggled to move the football and only scored 10 points on the evening.
Even still, Belichick is not committing to any major changes. He remains confident in his offense and continues to stand by the unit.
“Every week, we’re trying to win,” Belichick said on The Greg Hill Show, as transcribed by Zack Cox of NESN.com. “So whatever that is, that’s what it is. Whatever plays we call this week are to try to win. Whatever plays we called last week, they were to try to win. Whatever plays we called the week before, that’s what that was. Or last year, or two years ago, or five years ago, or 20 years ago. You can like them or not like them or whatever — I get that. But whatever we’ve done, it’s been to try to be as productive as we can and to try to beat whichever team we were playing.
“So whether that’s conservative, not conservative, the same, different — whatever it is, that’s what the intent of all of it is. That’s what it always is, so that’s not going to change. What they’ll be, I don’t know, but it’s a combination of what they do, what we do, what we think we can do. Any idea can be a bad idea if you can’t execute it, so if you can execute it, then it’s potentially a good idea. If you can’t do it, then it’s not going to work. If your team physically can’t do whatever it is you’re trying to do for whatever reason, then it’s probably not a good idea. Find something that you think you can do and that’s a good way to attack your opponent, then probably it’s worth talking about.”
The Patriots have an uphill climb with back-to-back road meetings with the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders coming up on the schedule.
And then things get even harder with games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, and Miami Dolphins awaiting the team down the stretch. The Patriots currently sit just outside the playoff race with a 6-6 record.
Although the playoff climb would be difficult, it’s not impossible. The Patriots will need to make major changes on offense, however, and it may be too little, too late to do so.
