New England’s offseason offensive vision comes to focus in rout of the Jets

This spring was a season of transition for the New England Patriots, marked by new faces on both sides of the football. With the acquisitions made on both offense and defense, it seemed that the organization had a clear vision for their future in a post-Tom Brady world, particularly on offense.

On Sunday against the New York Jets, that vision perhaps finally came into focus.

The Patriots impressed on both sides of the football in a 54-13 rout of their AFC East rivals, improving to 3-4 on the young season and keeping the idea of playoffs alive for fans.

That vision that was laid back in the spring? Perhaps a return to the start of the Brady Era, with an offensive attack that ran through the running game and the ball-control passing game. We saw that in action on Sunday, as the Patriots took care of business against the Jets.

The ball-control offensive attack

(Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports)

Of course, the move that garnered the most attention for the Patriots this offseason came at the quarterback position. The team, as you know by now, not only made the decision to draft Mac Jones with their selection in the first round, but they moved ahead with the rookie as their starter back in Week 1, releasing veteran quarterback Cam Newton prior to the final day of roster cuts.

Entering Sunday, Jones had perhaps the best resume of the five first-round quarterbacks, having completed 71.1% of his passes for 1,472 yards and seven touchdowns, along with six interceptions. When examining his efficiency, you can see how Jones has perhaps separated himself from the rest of the rookie passers:

(Data and graph courtesy of RBSDM.com)

But Jones was not the only addition on offense, as the team added a pair of tight end in Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, as well as additions at wide receiver in Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor. Behind what was expected to be a very good offensive line, the pieces were in place for a solid running game and a ball control passing game.

That view perhaps was crystalized by the performance on Sunday. One of the first bits of evidence was this touchdown run from Damien Harris:

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1452325101559599112

Harris takes the delayed handoff and, spotting a cutback opportunity to the right side, knifes through the lane for a 32-yard gain. But on the replay angle, you can see how the blocking on the right side, from guard Shaq Mason and tackle Michael Onwenu, set the stage for the huge gain.

When you think of the Patriots offense during the early Brady years, you probably think of the screen game. Brady and the New England offense were so skilled at implementing the screen game, particularly through the running backs.

So this touchdown to running back Brandon Bolden, on a screen play, probably took many Patriots fans back to the early 2000s:

After faking a handoff to Jakobi Meyers, Jones simply swings the football to the outside to Bolden. The design of the play calls for a convoy of blockers in front of the running back, but Bolden gets to the edge on his own, and cuts into the end zone for the touchdown to give New England a 17-point lead.

Of course, the two other big moves on offense this offseason were the signings of Smith and Henry. Tight end had been a black hole for the Patriots since losing Rob Gronkowski to retirement, so to try and replace the lack of production at the position the organization went out and signed the top two players at the position. It has been Henry in recent weeks who has provided the most production, developing a relationship with the rookie quarterback.

That was on display on this short touchdown before halftime:

Jones, taking advantage of the leverage and positioning of the underneath defenders, simply flips the football towards the back line of the end zone. Henry finishes the play with a tremendous catch in the end zone for the touchdown.

When the game was over, the stat sheet perhaps told the story best. New England as a team had 32 carries for 148 yards and four touchdowns, two from Harris and two from J.J. Taylor. At one point late in the second half the Patriots were averaging over six yards per rushing attempt, and while that number dipped as they started to kneel on the ball to work the clock, you can be sure offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels loved to see those numbers.

And then there was what he saw from his rookie quarterback.

The rookie quarterback

(David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports)

But what about the rookie quarterback in particular?

A few weeks ago, the Patriots throttled the Jets at MetLife Stadium, 25-6. But that was a win largely on the backs of the Patriots defense, as that unit intercepted rookie quarterback Zach Wilson four times during the game.

In fact, after the game there were questions in New England about their own rookie passer. Jones, in the win back in Week 2, completed 22 of 30 passes for just 186 yards and was kept out of the end zone. The concern in New England? What many considered to be a fear of attacking downfield.

We saw a bit more from Jones in terms of attacking downfield, and over the middle, in the victory over the Jets. Early in the second quarter the Patriots faced a 3rd and 10, and Jones looked to Meyers over the middle on the deep crossing route to move the chains:

Then in the second half, there was this throw targeting Agholor on the Bang-8 post route:

Jones delivers this throw on time and in rhythm, allowing Agholor to catch, secure and make the first defender miss.

Then Jones connected with Henry, perhaps his favorite target, for a big gain to set up Harris’ second touchdown run of the day:

In recent weeks, the Patriots have been attacking over the middle off play-action, dating back to their win in Houston over the Texans. That was on display here as Jones looks to his tight end working from right to left.

Finally, if you think back to all the pre-draft coverage, one of the knocks on Jones was a lack of athleticism, particularly when contrasted with the other quarterbacks taken in the first round. Now, Jones is still not to be confused with the rest of the class as a runner, but he showed some wheels of his own on this scramble to move the chains on a 3rd and long situation:

When all was said and done, the rookie had perhaps his best day as an NFL passer, finishing Sunday by completing 24 of 36 passes for 307 yards, the two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the first time Jones topped the 300-yard mark as an NFL quarterback.

He also got to finish the day on the sidelines, as Brian Hoyer came on in relief late in the game with the contest not in doubt.

Now, Jones is not exactly lighting things up as a rookie passer, akin to what we saw from Justin Herbert a season ago. But what the Patriots are seeing each week is a young quarterback improving each time he takes the field. When it comes to young quarterbacks and development, that is often times a best-case scenario. And it also might illustrate that quarterback development often looks more like what we are seeing from this rookie class, and not what we saw from Herbert a year ago. Yes, the Los Angeles Chargers QB might have spoiled us.

Absent a magical rookie year like we saw from Herbert, what you want to see is a young quarterback who is improving each week, as he learns what life is like playing on Sundays, and not Saturdays.

That seems to be playing out each week in New England.

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