nfl analysts rightfully keep ripping into the patriots
Sometimes the truth hurts. As the Patriots languished through another uninspired offensive performance Sunday in their brutal last-second loss to the Raiders, FOX analyst Jonathan Vilma summed up New England’s offense thusly: it stinks.
“Your offense is the running game,” said Vilma late in the third quarter. “I get it: first round pick. You want Mac Jones to start to develop in the passing game. But that’s not who you are.”
It doesn’t get more insulting than that. Sure, Patriots fans may want to watch a competent NFL offense that consists of more than draws and screen plays. But that’s just not who they are.
So who are the Patriots? They're a team that constantly makes mistakes in big moments, with Jakobi Meyers’ failed lateral serving as the perfect symbolic capper to this miserable season. For the third straight week, Jones threw a temper tantrum on the field, blowing up multiple times during a horrible goal line sequence in which the Patriots took two timeouts and moved five yards backwards.
Their touchdown chance ended when Jonnu Smith was flagged for a false start on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Jones was hysterical leading up to the play, screaming and shouting when the Patriots called their second timeout of the drive because they couldn’t get the plays in fast enough.
Jones’ histrionics created a chaotic scene, and may have cost the Patriots a touchdown. Vilma called him out for it.
“I’m all for the passion and emotion from Mac Jones. But I would like to see is someone a little more ‘Steady Eddy’ at that quarterback position,” he said. “What I mean is, emotionally, be calm. Be cool, because it’s going to permeate through the rest of your offense. What you need is executing down here.”
The Patriots didn’t execute Sunday, and while Matt Patricia continues to be pilloried for his atrocious play-calling, Vilma wasn’t afraid to call out Jones for his misfires. On an incompletion intended for Meyers late in the second quarter, Vilma correctly pointed out the second-year passer’s throw was too high.
“This is one that Mac Jones has to fit in there,” said Vilma. “This wasn’t tight coverage at all.”
Jones’ inaccuracy and Patricia’s incompetence made for a woeful showing.
“This looks like the complete opposite of what we have seen from the Patriots. It’s lethargic. It’s not what the Patriots do,” said Vilma.
But in 2022, it is.