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The 2022 Patriots are in trouble. On offense, it became painfully obvious. By now, we’ve overanalyzed the problems with the coaching staff, play-calling and offense. After the Patriots’ dramatic, shocking and embarrassing loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, another issue arose – the coaching staff’s lack of confidence in quarterback Mack Jones.
You could see that on Sunday as the Patriots called offensive plays. After the game, Bill Belichick appeared to take a stab at Jones’ arm strength.
Asked why the Patriots didn’t try a Hail Mary on the last snap, Belichick said, “We couldn’t have thrown it that far.”
The Patriots were 55 yards short of the end zone. That’s the distance Jones typically trains during warm-ups. That’s also the distance he’s thrown before College in Alabama as.
During an appearance on WEEI’s ‘Greg Hill Show’ on Monday, Belichick was asked about his comments about Jones not reaching the end zone on the final play.
“I said it’s too far,” Belichick said. “It’s too far to take this game in this situation.”
The issues with Jones and the coaching staff go beyond this frame. The team’s game plan defied some logic Sunday when attacking the Raiders, who have struggled against quarterbacks this season.
Las Vegas entered this game ranked 29th in pass defense and 10th against the run. It felt like the plan would be simple – throw the ball. Instead, the Patriots relied heavily on a running game led by Ramondre Stevenson along with rookies Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris. The group was more productive, rushing for 206 yards on 31 carries. Stevenson was clearly the best player on offense, rushing for 172 yards and the team’s only touchdown.
It’s more believable that the Patriots avoided passing the ball because of Jones and his play. The quarterback had one of the worst games of his NFL career, completing 13-of-31 passes for 112 passing yards. He averaged a staggering 3.61 yards per punt attempt. Jones deserves the blame here. He threw two incomplete passes on the Patriots’ first drive. He beat Jonu Smith in the end zone on an infamous goal line drive where the Patriots failed to score from the 1-yard line.
Asked about Jones’ low production on Monday, Belichick said the Patriots should be better
“We just have to do a better job,” Belichick said. “We passed the ball well. In other games, our percentage was different. It’s not the standard, but in general, we just have to do a better job.”
Now three games in a row, Jones is showing signs of frustration. He was seen dropping bombs against Arizona and Minnesota in the previous two games. On Sunday, he looked flustered a few times as there were issues with the Patriots getting the play calls on time. This game featured multiple false starts, a delay of game penalty and a burned timeout when the team was 12 inches from the end zone. It was sloppy, and again, it came in Week 15 against one of the worst defenses in the NFL.
Jones’ outbursts appeared to be aimed at the Patriots’ coaching staff, specifically linebacker Matt Patricia. On Sunday, however, Jones’ performance left little faith in the quarterback’s abilities. He seemed confused, incoherent and off-kilter. Worst of all, the coaching staff didn’t seem to trust him to throw the ball — against one of the NFL’s worst secondaries.
The strained relationship between Jones and his coaching staff has led to an infuriatingly bad offense for the Patriots with no clear fix. Jones’ regression was the biggest storyline of the Patriots’ 2022 season. Much of the blame was directed at Belichick, the coaching staff he hired and the offense.
On Sunday, the coach seemed to place the blame elsewhere — his quarterback.
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