The Patriots’ offensive line is a mess — so why didn’t they address it this offseason?
In the weeks before it became readily apparent to a prime-time TV audience just how bad this New England Patriots offensive line is, the franchise's new decision-makers insisted the concerns of media and fans who watched the unit struggle in training camp were overblown.
"We're excited about our offensive line group," executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said a few weeks before the season.
The Patriots took a short victory lap after a Week 1 win in Cincinnati even though the pass protection in that game ranked among the NFL 's worst — and even while internally knowing the group had struggled enough to give them pause about playing prized rookie quarterback Drake Maye .
"I've been saying it for a long time: I think the whole offensive line conversation has been overblown," coach Jerod Mayo said after the season opener. "Every game, every preseason game, those guys have done a good job moving bodies and establishing toughness on the line of scrimmage. ... I'm not really too concerned with the offensive line. Those guys are going to get better every week."
But now, three weeks into the season and on the heels of a 24-3 drumming from the New York Jets , there are no longer any illusions about this front five. The Patriots have the worst pass protection in the NFL, and because of that, it's hard to have a functioning offense.
The New England line has allowed pressure on 46 percent of its dropbacks, according to TruMedia. That's the worst rate in the NFL and the 16th-worst three-game start since at least 2006, the first year the statistic was tracked.
It has made starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett look like a sacrificial lamb, forced to trot onto the field with the unenviable task of getting crushed by opposing pass rushers. Meanwhile, the Patriots are simply buying time until things are eventually — hopefully! — sturdy enough for Maye to take the reins.
What's worse for the Patriots is that it's not just one weak link on the offensive line. Thursday night, they played seven offensive linemen, and every single one allowed a pressure, per Pro Football Focus. Four of the five starters (all but left guard Michael Jordan , who left early due to injury) surrendered at least three pressures apiece. The unit allowed seven sacks (five on Brissett and two on Maye on the final drive). It was a total breakdown across the board for an offensive line that Patriots brass insisted was going to be fine.
There's no bigger indictment on Wolf and Mayo's plan for this season than the lack of attention they paid to meaningfully addressing their offensive line.
Two years ago, this group watched Bill Belichick try to patch over the issues on the O-line, hoping journeymen like Riley Reiff and Calvin Anderson would be good enough to field a decent unit. He figured they'd coach up the group they had, find a front five that made sense and the pieces would fall into place.
That's one of the reasons Belichick is no longer the Patriots coach.
Then this new regime repeated his mistake. Even when everyone paying attention knew the Patriots needed offensive line help, they opted to sign journeymen who had struggled elsewhere, Vederian Lowe and Chukwuma Okorafor . The former has been bad and injured. The latter has left the team to ponder his future .
Then, in the draft, they waited on an offensive lineman until the third round. Even then, they chose a right tackle, Caedan Wallace , whom they wanted to move to left tackle. Wallace made his NFL debut Thursday night and was promptly the Patriots' lowest-graded offensive player, according to Pro Football Focus, before he, too, left with an injury.
"Well, I thought the offensive line today had a hard time," Mayo said Thursday night. "There were times earlier in the game where the pockets looked pretty clean, but as the game wore on, similar to last week, (it) started falling apart as far as the protection. ... I'll also say we had some injuries up front but, you know, the next man has to be ready to go."
. Until he doesn't.Some of the struggles for the offensive line can be attributed to the attrition it's experienced in just three weeks. Sidy Sow has missed all three games due to a preseason ankle injury. Okorafor left the team. Lowe started at left tackle, then got hurt, which led to Wallace playing. Then he got hurt.
All of that compounds the issues the Patriots already have and could be a fair excuse for the team's struggles. Yet so much of this was predictable.
It didn't have to be this way. The Patriots could've drafted an offensive lineman earlier — either by trading up for someone like Tyler Guyton or trading back in the second round for someone like Patrick Paul . Or they could've signed a proven veteran free agent on a short-term deal, someone like Tyron Smith , who went to the Jets.
Instead, they rolled with the veterans they had and sit at 1-2 preparing to head to San Francisco with the league's worst pass protection. And it's not clear how the group is going to get dramatically better anytime fast. But it's also hard to imagine the pass protection being any worse.
"We just got beat pretty handily, and I'd say right now everything is of concern," Mayo said Thursday night. "The offensive line, you want those guys to be able to go out there as a unit and jell together. But whether it's through injury or through whatever it is, we just haven't found the right combination."
(Photo: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)
