Patriots: Offensive explosion proves Josh McDaniels is learning from early-season mistakes

We know what you’re going to say.

“It was the Jets. There’s no reason to think Josh McDaniels isn’t going to revert back to his old ways when the Patriots play a more worthy opponent.”

That’s a valid rebuttal, but New England’s offense had a different kind of feel to it in Sunday’s rout of New York. There was creativity, swagger and execution, which have been hard to come by for the Patriots this season.

When the dust settled on the scoreboard, the Patriots put up 54 points. Say what you will about their competition, but the game McDaniels called is a clear indicator that he’s learning from his early-season mistakes.

Josh McDaniels breaking out of his shell is great news for the Patriots.

McDaniels is always opportunistic when it comes dialing up a trick play, and he called a beauty to get the Patriots on the board early in the first quarter.

Mac Jones threw what looked to be a screen for Kendrick Bourne. Right as the Jets’ defense swarmed to the football, Bourne connected with a WIDE open Nelson Agholor for the rare receiver-to-receiver touchdown.

McDaniels’ newfound ingenuity went beyond trick plays, though. From throwing different personnel groups at New York’s inexperienced defense, deploying a good mix of run and pass plays, ample misdirections, the Patriots’ longtime offensive coordinator pushed all the right buttons on Sunday.

For almost two months, nobody had any clue if the Patriots offense was capable of scoring more than 30 points. Jones came under criticism for not taking any risks and it it looked as though Bill Belichick’s record-setting free agent spending spree was all for naught.

For added context, the Patriots were passing over 80% of the time when they lined up in shotgun formation entering Week 7. We can’t recall exactly how many times McDaniels called runs from the shotgun, but he started each of New England’s first two drives with them.

That’s what we’re talking about!

The veteran OC caught a ton of heat after the Week 6 loss to Dallas for playing it safe in the second half after Randy Gregory’s strip sack of Jones, and deservedly so.

On Sunday, we saw a glimpse of what New England’s offense can be when McDaniels isn’t conservative.

He obviously isn’t gonna be able to take as many risks against better competition, but the Patriots’ long overdue offensive explosion was hopefully a sign of things to come, because this offense has the talent to compete with most teams when its play-caller isn’t holding them back.

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