As of midday Tuesday, life improved for the entire Patriots offense. When news broke that the Cam Newton era in New England would be ending and the dawn of the Mac Jones era would commence, oxygen was breathed not only into the collective lungs of an expectant and hopeful fan base but into the entirety of the Patriots offense. Players, coaches, scheme and all.
I wish Cam Newton the best in his future NFL and life endeavors. We all should. The man worked hard and did his best to represent the Patriots well and despite his lackluster overall performance on the field, he did just that. However, now is not time to look back but rather to look forward, as Bill Belichick and the Patriots brass so obviously have.
Now it begins. Gladiators… I salute you.
Mac Jones may be a rookie but make no mistake, his presence under center immediately makes the Patriots offense, (the offense they want to run) better. The offense I’m referring to is the true Patriots offense. One we haven’t seen much of since 2017 to be frank. In 2018, Brady forced his will against all odds in Kansas City during that year’s AFC Championship game upset victory over the Chiefs. That performance however was really about Brady and his otherworldly late-game skill, experience and talent. The final regular-season game in Foxboro that same year, in a win over the-then upstart Buffalo Bills comes to mind as well, but after isolating that game and maybe the fleeting Brady to Antonio Brown 40-plus point slaughter versus Miami in September of that same season. The Patriots real offense has been otherwise long since missing in action.
Now after losing their field general (Brady) and too many great soldiers over these last two-plus years, the Patriots offense is MIA no longer. For it to reappear, two moves had to be made. First, pulling the plug on Newton and second, awarding Jones the job he was targeted to fill in April and subsequently earned in August. Those were the final pieces required to get the Patriots offensive engine to turn over. Is it perfect? No, but that engine will turn over with a cold start now and can function as it has been designed to since its inception.
Jones is the key and now all of the offensive pieces can work together and function in unison.
Let’s start with the running game.
It’s a threat all on its own with a strong lead back in Damien Harris, a powerful and fresh-legged rookie in Rhamondre Stevenson, arguably the best pass-catching back in all the NFL in James White and an electrifying chess piece in J.J. Taylor. On the surface, the Patriots running game would work, it’s a strong “running back room” as the NFL nomenclature lends. Add in a QB who can actually sell play-action like Jones though and the whole unit improves — dramatically. And make no mistake, Jones can sell it. Selling play-action was something I saw early in Brady’s career when he took over for Drew Bledsoe in 2001. He tucked, hid it and played it to perfection, something Bledsoe was decent at but never sold at an elite level like Brady. Once Brady took over, that aspect of his play was immediately noticeable. Jones has that same skill, the ability to sell play-action and in this offense, that matters.
Looking back, while the Patriots ran it well with the likes of Antowain Smith and JR Redmond in Brady’s early years, the Patriots are far stronger at the position now than they were then and it’s not close. Additionally, for all intents and purposes you’ve basically reacquired James White. Let’s be frank, Newton did White no favors. His airmailed screen passes not only put White in nearly uncatchable positions, but gave him ZERO room for yards after the catch. To be completely honest, like I wrote here last winter, I actually felt Newton was a risk to White’s general health.
The Patriots passing scheme
It started with and was created by their former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, then after being overly forced by Bill O’Brien was eventually perfected by Josh McDaniels. Label it however you like. The Patriots like to get their wide receivers and tight ends open quickly and have a quarterback who can make the reads and decisions with rapid intelligence to get the ball out quickly and accurately. Jones can do that.
This offensive theory and the scheme designed to excel within in it, has been the staple of the Patriots offensive success for two decades. There are only two years since 2001 when the scheme didn’t work. 2019, when Belichick decided not to give Brady any players who could get open quickly other than a 33-year-old Julian Edelman and 2020 when they didn’t have a quarterback who could make the reads, quick decisions or the throws. Now you have a quarterback that can and this offense can function as designed because of it. That’s why Jones won the job. He can do what they need him to do. Plain and simple.
Whether Jones is more Brady or Matt Cassell isn’t yet as relevant. What’s most relevant now is that he can do those three basic things (make the reads, quick decisions and the timely, accurate throws) that both those men could. Skills that his most recent predecessor, Newton simply no longer had. No need to make more out of the decision than that.
If you’re looking for comparisons I’ll give you one. Though the comparisons in skill set are comparable to what we grew to see and love in Brady, I would never go that far. It’s not fair to Jones or Brady for that matter. There is someone who does come to mind and it’s one of the six men drafted ahead of Brady in the 2000 draft. Chad Pennington.
Belichick and Weis were both disciples of Bill Parcells and Pennington was a Parcells pick.
Durability aside, Pennington was a smart and solid QB, very capable of running that same Parcells-Belichick-Weiss and now McDaniels scheme. Who knows if Jones has even 70% of Brady’s upside? If he has Pennington’s floor though, then that’s well worth the decision Belichick made this week.
The Patriots system is tailor made for Jones and his moment to ensure the whole of the Patriots offense is greater than the sum of its individual parts is upon him.
As such, balance has been restored to football in New England.
