Patriots: Is it time to question Josh McDaniels’ future in New England?

Despite mustering a comeback in the second half, the New England Patriots were largely uncompetitive against New Orleans on Sunday.

While most of the attention will be focused on the defense’s inability to get a stop late in the fourth quarter — the same thing happened in Week 1 — it was the offense that ultimately blew this game for the Patriots.

Up until the 9:22 mark in the fourth quarter, New England had just six points on the scoreboard. Mac Jones once again averaged fewer than six yards per pass and the running game was so dreadful that even Brandon Bolden got some carries.

Despite adding a handful of weapons in the offseason, the offense looks a lot like it did last season, when it finished 27th in points per game.

That falls on Josh McDaniels’ shoulders and it might be time to start questioning his future with the organization.

The Patriots offense has looked terrible and Josh McDaniels is to blame.

We can’t fault McDaniels for dropped passes that led to interceptions — looking at you, Jonnu Smith — but the longtime Patriots offensive coordinator was far from at his best on Sunday. His approach in short-yardage situations is still a trainwreck and he’s seemingly reluctant to open up the playbook for Jones.

We know Jones missed a couple of big throws early on, but the offense went into a shell after that. The Saints’ defense embraces the bend-don’t-break philosophy and McDaniels played right into their gameplan. They also blitzed a ton and were constantly pressuring Jones, but there were minimal adjustments made to get the ball out of the QB’s hands quicker.

Is it McDaniels’ fault that the offensive line got zero push in the running game and struggled to protect Jones? Is it his fault that receivers couldn’t get open until New Orleans went up 21-3 and stopped playing press coverage?

Obviously not, but that doesn’t take away from McDaniels’ inability to improvise. We gave him a clean slate after last season given the talent he was working with, but he’s made zero improvements despite the personnel upgrades.

What’s especially concerning is the Patriots’ red zone woes. Last year, they finished 24th with a 54.17% red zone efficiency (touchdown only). Through three games this season, they check in dead-last at 28.57%.

At this point, Patriots fans don’t even have to watch to know what’ll happen once the offense enters the red area: an unsuccessful run on first down followed by an incompletion or vice versa before a Nick Folk field goal. Rinse. Repeat.

We know there’s a lack of continuity on the offense and very few QBs light the world on fire as rookies, but there’s far too much talent on the Patriots’ offense for it to keep underperforming like this.

At some point, McDaniels has to be held accountable.

Patriots: James White carted off field after taking scary fall on sideline

New England Patriots running back James White was carted off the field on Sunday after taking a scary fall on the sidelines.