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When should New England Patriots’ fans begin to worry?

By Lou Scataglia

Jul 30, 2022; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots senior football advisor Matt Patricia coaches quarterback Mac Jones (10) at the Patriots training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 30, 2022; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots senior football advisor Matt Patricia coaches quarterback Mac Jones (10) at the Patriots training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports /
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One of the biggest stories from Patriots’ training camp thus far has been the unspectacular offense. When should the fanbase begin to worry about this?

The New England Patriots have always been a team that can consistency put points on the board.

Outside of 2020 with Cam Newton under center, the team has typically finished in the top seven, at least, in points per game on offense.  They’ve done this with rock solid offensive lines, great running games, and ‘good enough’ offensive weapons.

2022 looks to be shaping up to be no different, right?  They have an offensive line that should rank in the top 10 in most categories; they’ve got a very good 1-2 punch at running back in Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson, and their weapons appear to be good enough, highlighted by Hunter Henry, DeVante Parker, and Jakobi Meyers.

In fact, with the virtual same offensive cast, the team was 6th in points per game last season, scoring at a pace of 27.2 points per contest.

Going into the 2022 season, the team does not appear to have named offensive or defensive coordinators.

We’ve been accustomed to Josh McDaniels being the OC and play caller of the New England Patriots.

However, he walked away from these duties to go and be the Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Not naming coordinators isn’t a huge development for the Patriots.  They usually do this on the defensive side of the ball, and the last time they didn’t name coordinators for either side was in 2010 when they went 14-2.

In 2010, they ranked first in points per game and eighth in points allowed per game.

They were also upset in the playoffs.  So, you’d figure with the same structure in 2022, and with the team not naming coordinators, we should expect another solid season from the Patriots.

Given what has come out of training camp pertaining to the offense, it hasn’t looked promising, and I’m wondering when the fanbase should begin to truly worry about this.

If Mac Jones and the offense can’t grow in year two together, the team isn’t likely to win more than 6 or 7 games.  We can confidently expect the defense to be among the league’s best yet again, but if the offense can’t get going, there will be real questions to be asked about the state of the franchise and the man under center.

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