Back in late October, the New England Patriots were sitting at 2-4. I wrote about how they still had a chance to push for the playoffs. They had come off an overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys in week 6. They had shown the talent, and the ability, to stay within reach of winning football games, and since then, the New England Patriots have won seven straight games, and sit atop the entire AFC.
Let’s Start With Mac Jones’ Improvement
Mac Jones has continued to grow more and more comfortable in the NFL. In the first six games of the 2021 season, Jones had thrown seven touchdowns, and six interceptions. During the Patriots seven game win streak, Jones has thrown nine touchdowns, and just two interceptions. He has cut down on a lot of the classic rookie mistakes.
A big issue of mine with the team early on in the season, was their caution with letting Mac Jones be himself. Starting with Week 6, Jones’ yards per attempt have on average been higher. He had a season high Y/A in Week 6 vs Dallas (10.90 Y/A). He has had just two games with his Y/A under 7.5 during this win streak, one coming in the Monday night win in Buffalo in which he threw the ball just three times.
Jones has had his two best quarterback ratings in the past four weeks, 142.1 and 123.2. He has seen his two highest completion percentages in Weeks 10 and 11, his only two games over 80% competion.
Jones and his teammates have become more comfortable within Josh McDaniels’ offense. And McDaniels has begun to open the playbook up for Mac.
Big Money Offense
The Patriots went out this past offseason and spent record amounts of money. Coach Bill Belichick knew exactly what he wanted to improve for this season, and it is starting to pay off.
The tight end duo of Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry had a really slow start. But from Week 4, before the start of the win streak, Henry has caught seven touchdowns. He has made himself a strong red zone target for Mac Jones following a slow start.
Jonnu Smith has taken the backseat as the TE2, he has just one touchdown on the season coming in Week 4. Smith has been used quite often as an extra blocker. He has yet to haul in more than three passes in any game during this win streak, but he is becoming more versatile as they will run the ball with him. His ability to run in the open field makes him a real threat in the run-after- catch aspect of the game.
No Patriots wide receiver has gone for 100+ receiving yards this season. Both Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers have reached 90+ yards twice each this season. The Big money they spent on Bourne and Nelson Agholor has not been a waste despite the lack of big numbers. The three receivers have hauled in nine combined touchdowns on the year.
No one receiver on the team has dominated or established themselves as a #1 receiver on the team. They have a team first mentality and they are not focused on their individual stats.
They are not focused on themselves scoring, but succeeding as a unit. That has been great for them as well as Mac Jones. Jones does not feel the need to get one player the ball a certain number of times in a game. He is just finding who is open, and moving the offense down the field.
Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson
In my article earlier in the season, I mentioned ball security as a key to the Patriots success. Losing James White early in the season, Harris and Stevenson have stepped up big time. In the first five weeks, they lost a total of three fumbles.
Damien Harris has taken over as the go to running back on this team, he has rushed for six touchdowns during this seven game win streak. He is averaging about 63 yards on the ground per game this season.
Stevenson has been phenomenal in this stretch, he has just one game under 5 Y/A in the past six weeks. The rookie has proven to be a hard tackle, the 230 pound running back has been a physical force on the ground game. He has become a great 2nd running back to take the load off of Damien Harris.
The Patriots run game has made the offense flow extremely smooth, they allow defenses to not focus solely on Mac Jones and the passing attack.
Elite Patriots Defense
Behind JC Jackson and Matthew Judon this tough Patriots defense has been holding opposing teams in check. JC Jackson has been an elite shutdown corner, with seven interceptions this season, and 17 passes defended, he is in line for a pro bowl appearance.
Judon has shown that he is one of Belichicks best free agent signings in his entire New England tenure. He has 12.5 sacks in just 13 games so far. By far the best pass rusher the Patriots have had since Chandler Jones.
They have a +10 turnover ratio this season, ranking 3rd in the NFL, are allowing the least points per game of all teams in the league (14.5), third least yards per game (310), 5th in sacks (32), and tied for 1st in interceptions (19).
They are dominating in all aspects of defense in 2021. A classic Belichick defense, and that has been huge for the teams success. Coach knows his strengths and how to take advantage of them.
Patriots Playoff Picture
Sitting in first place of both the AFC East and the entire AFC, the Patriots are the hottest team in the NFL right now. They head into Week 14 with their bye week. They could not be in a better position to reach the postseason.
With the season nearing the final stretch, the Patriots could not have a better time for their bye week. Damien Harris was shaken up on Monday night, this gives him as well as the rest of the team a chance to heal up before the final four games.
The New England Patriots have a real chance to win out the rest of the season, they will play the Colts, Bills, Jaguars, and Dolphins to end the season. The Bills and Colts games will be tough, the Dolphins always give the Pats trouble, but the Jaguars should be an easy win. It won’t be easy, but the Patriots will not back down from a challenge.
To all of those celebrating the Patriots not making the playoffs last season, they’re back.
Follow us on Twitter
Check out our Shop