New England Patriots rank poorly in red zone scoring efficiency

Through nine games, the New England Patriots are an impressive 7-2 this season. However, they have been struggling in one area of late.

So far this season, the New England Patriots have been able to weather the storm of a bit of a slow start. Not too many people expected them to be 2-2 after four games, but since then they have been the team that we expected.

After an impressive win over the Denver Broncos on the road, the Patriots have now won five straight games and are proving to be one of the best teams in the AFC.

While the Patriots have been rolling, they have had a few glaring issues this season. To start the season, it was the defense and offensive line that was really struggling. Even though the Patriots have made some major improvement in those two areas, they still haven’t been able to find the success that they would like to see in the red zone.

Recently, Pro Football Focus ranked the offenses in the NFL on their red zone efficiency. Despite being one of the best teams in the NFL, the Patriots came in ranked tied for 22^nd. Here’s what Pro Football Focus had to say.

"New England Patriots—17.6 percentRed zone passing scores: 14Red zone rushing scores: 7Given their offense it’s no surprise to learn that no team has run as many plays in the red zone as the New England Patriots, but it’s perhaps more surprising to see how relatively inefficient they have been at converting those into touchdowns. 14 passing scores is second in the league, while seven rushing touchdowns is tied for seventh, but this team has run 17 more plays from the red zone than any other side in the NFL."

Seeing the Patriots being pretty inefficient in the red zone is certainly surprising. As one of the best offenses in the NFL, the Patriots have left a lot of points on the board settling for field goals this season.

Recently, the Patriots were able to bring back tight end Martellus Bennett, who should be able to help in the red zone. While the Patriots do have a lot of weapons, they are a bit small at wide receiver. With the addition of Bennett, the Patriots will have another big body for Brady to throw to in the red zone along with Rob Gronkowski.

Next: Ranking the 10 greatest quarterbacks in franchise history

With the Patriots seemingly getting better and better each week, it should come as no surprise to see them improve in this area as well. Scoring touchdowns in the red zone is certainly an important thing in the NFL, as field goals could let other teams hang around.