Patriots make it easy to question the offensive play-calling again in Week 7

Coming into this Week 7 matchup with the Jaguars, the Patriots were feeling good after a solid start from rookie quarterback Drake Maye despite losing to the Texans by double digits just one week ago. He brought a much-needed boost to an otherwise underperforming offense and was expected to continue that against what was presumed to be a beatable Jaguars team.

They looked on par to accomplish that early in the game, as they matched down the field on the first drive to score an easy touchdown. Maye was impressive, again, and the connection between him and DeMario Douglas was an exciting one to watch.

But it was quickly realized this wasn't going to be an easy day for new England once their defense stepped on the field.

The roster that was expected to be the better part of the team has been a liability through the first six games of the season for several reasons, injuries being one of the leading reasons. However, their lack of discipline, consistency, and bad tackling consistently puts them behind in games, and their efforts against the Jaguars have been nothing short of embarrassing.

Since the offense was finally able to score on an opening drive this season, they also went down to get a field goal to put them up 10-0. The defense has since allowed the Jaguars to score 22 unmatched points, and to make matters even worse, they start with the football after halftime.

That might be the least of their concerns if the play-calling is what continues to hold Maye back, however. The rookie can sling the football and proved he is comfortable making big plays, as witnessed against a tougher defense last week. That makes Alex Van Pelt's continued usage of the run game even more frustrating, no matter what the defense shows them.

Patriots fans are not reacting kindly to the offensive play-calling on top of the poor defense. Van Pelt has been under first for the last few weeks because of his questionable decisions, and that hasn't changed today with his insistence to run the football against the worst passing defense in the league.

It's so bad even Patriots reporters are calling it out.

It's just the latest example of why Van Pelt's job has been scrutinized, and it's becoming more of a problem as the weeks go on. There was hope that maybe things just weren't jiving with Jacoby Brissett under center and it would improve now that Maye has taken over.

But that hasn't been the case so far, and if it continues, it will prohibit the Patriots from doing much of anything positive on offense.

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