REPAIR DESPITE IMPROVEMENTS

OFFENSE Game plan

Personnel breakdown: 51% of snaps in 12 personnel, 41% of snaps in 11 personnel, 4% snaps in 21 personnel, 2% in 13 personnel, 2% in 23 personnel.***

Personnel production: 5 yards/play in 12 personnel, 3.1 yards/play in 11 personnel, 10 yards/play in 21 personnel, 8 yards/ play in 13 personnel, 7 yards/play in 23 personnel.

First-down down play-calls: 65% pass (2.3 yards per play), 35% run (6.1 yards per play)

Play-action rate: 16.2%

Player stats

Broken tackles: WR Kendrick Bourne 3, RB Rhamondre Stevenson 2, RB Ezekiel Elliott, TE Pharaoh Brown

Pressure allowed: LG Atonio Mafi 3 (sack, 2 hurries), RT Vederian Lowe 2 (1/2 sack, hurry), Team 2 (2 hurries), C David Andrews (1/2 sack)

Run stuffs allowed: Lowe Penalties: TE Hunter Henry (holding), LG Atonio Mafi (holding) LT Trent Brown (ineligible man downfield), RT Vederian Lowe (false start), RG Sidy Sow (false start), QB Mac Jones (delay of game), Team (illegal shift)

Drops: WR DeVante Parker, RB Rhamondre Stevenson

Notes

Let’s start with the good: the Patriots ended their longest touchdown drought, streak of unanswered points allowed and scoreless stretch of the Belichick era Sunday.

The Pats also rose from ranking dead last in pass offense and rush offense by Expected Points Added (EPA) to 31st in both categories after the game.

Back to reality. The Patriots started and finished the game with offensive penalties: Vederian Lowe’s false start, Trent Brown’s ineligible man downfield, Atonio Mafi’s hold and a delay of game. Flat-out inexcusable.

Bill O’Brien also set his offense back with a curious play-calling. Despite facing one of the NFL’s worst run defenses by every metric, O’Brien called passes on 75% of first-down plays in the first half. The Pats averaged 2.5 yards on those plays and scored three plays in the entire half.

Then, to open the second half, O’Brien called four straight first-down runs for a total of 36 yards, and the Patriots chugged to their first touchdown since late September.

The Pats mined success with downhill, man-blocked run schemes. Stevenson and Elliott finally enjoyed real rushing lanes, but also ran with great pad level and power, as seen on Elliott’s 2-yard touchdown.

A reminder: all of the Patriots’ playmakers need space created for them more than most. According to PFF, only four

Pats have broken tackles since their Week 3: Stevenson, Elliott, Kendrick Bourne and Pharaoh Brown. Elliott and Brown were both added in August.

As for Bourne, he was spectacular. He broke tackles, ran sharp routes and gained extra yards in the open field. Bourne had seven touches over the Patriots’ second touchdown drive, one even he admitted took too long.

That series also benefited from new life thanks to a Maxx Crosby roughing the passer penalty. Though it’s worth noting Las Vegas survived a would-be, 74-yard Elliott touchdown because of a questionable holding call on Hunter Henry in the first quarter.

Henry saw just three total targets. That’s far too low for arguably the best pass-catcher on the team.

Ultimately, the Pats couldn’t throw well enough from spread personnel or in obvious passing situations. Working from three-receiver sets, they averaged 3.1 yards per play, took two sacks, including the safety, and threw a pick.

The Raiders blitzed just three times all afternoon, sitting back in basic zone coverages and allowing their front four to hunt Jones. That speaks directly to a defense’s lack of confidence in an opponent’s ability to throw against them.

When Las Vegas played man-to-man, the Pats completed a single pass: Mike Gesicki’s low, 15-yard grab that cut the field grass and may not have survived a review.

Gesicki was the only receiver or tight end out side of Bourne to collect multiple catches. Former second-round pick Tyquan Thornton finished with two targets and one catch in his season debut.

However, the Patriots may have found something with Thornton executing the presnap “burst” motion popularized by the Dolphins this season.

In the fourth quarter, Thornton sprinted across the formation with his 4.2 speed, then turned upfield at the snap, a la Miami star Tyreek Hill. His speed and motion helped create a window for Jones to hit Bourne for an easy 6-yard gain.

The Malik Cunningham experiment proved much ado about nothing. The undrafted rookie played six offensive snaps, including three under center. Those plays consisted of an option run he handed off that he should’ve kept, a sack and Elliott’s direct-snap touchdown where he aligned out wide.

Based on Sunday’s tape, it’s difficult to see Cunningham replacing Jones for significant stretches in the near future, though the Patriots may soon (or already do) have nothing to lose.

Left tackle Trent Brown posted a clean sheet, as did right guard Sidy Sow (excluding his brutally-timed false start in the fourth quarter.)

Left guard Atonio Mafi and right tackle Vederian Lowe should both be considered candidates for the bench. It’s impossible for an offense to function with two positions serving as revolving for extended stretches. Not only have Mafi and Lowe surrendered the most pressure of the Patriots’ O-linemen, they also rank among the worst run-blockers.