The good, bad and baffling
For the Patriots, it’s nine weeks down. And nine weeks to go. That’s the beauty of having a bye week at the midway point of the season.
It’s also a great time for the Pats to do a little self-scouting with the hope of improving some of the trouble areas when they return.
At 5-4, the Pats currently sit in the basement of the AFC East. The Bills (6-2), Dolphins (6-3) and Jets (6-3) are above them, but there’s plenty of time for the Pats to make a move.
No doubt, Bill Belichick and his coaching staff spent a good part of the off week trying to figure out how to get better, and get themselves into the postseason race in the AFC.
The players also looked at film, and looked in the mirror, critiquing their respective performances.
That said, there was a lot to assess during the nine games played thus far, both good and bad.
Whether it was the offense, defense, or special teams, plenty of storylines emerged.
So with the team off, here’s some midseason superlatives to help pass a Sunday without Patriots football.
Best coaching decision: Moving Jonathan Jones from the slot to outside corner to help make up for the loss of J.C. Jackson.
With his speed and coverage skills, Jones has excelled out on the boundary, and capably handled whatever assignment he’s been given, whether that’s guarding the opposing team’s top receiver in man coverage, or within the realm of a zone.
He’s come away with two interceptions, one a pick-six against the Colts, and a forced fumble.
“Jon’s one of our best players,” Belichick said of Jones, who he moved to the outside midway through training camp. “He started out as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn, came in here and lit up things on special teams with his speed, his toughness, his intelligence. He’s a smart football player. Worked his way into a big role defensively.”
He sure did. He was a very good slot corner. Now, he’s turned into a very good outside corner and invaluable piece in the secondary.
Most baffling coaching decision:
Not giving Mac Jones an offensive guru. And not providing the offense with an experienced play caller.
While Belichick believes a good coach can coach any position, or perform any variety of roles, he overshot on this one.
Having two coaches with little to no experience dealing with the offense replace Josh Mcdaniels’ following his departure has been a disaster, especially when it comes to Jones.
While Matt Patricia has had some good moments calling plays, it’s hard to ignore what’s happened to Jones, their 2021 first-round pick and quarterback of the future.
He’s taken a step back, and then some, after a promising rookie season.
Some of it is on him, but not having an experienced play caller, much less a coach who’s dealt with a quarterback, has weighed heavily in his regression.
And he’s not alone. Like Jones, others have taken a step back.
Kendrick Bourne was poised for a big season, but he’s been nearly invisible. Tight end Hunter Henry is another who hasn’t been nearly as effective as last season.
Much of that has to go back to the play caller and coaches running the offense.
Best offensive player: Rhamondre Stevenson.
To this point, he’s essentially carried the offense both running the football, and catching it out of the backfield. He’s one player who hasn’t gone backwards. He’s in the middle of a breakout season.
After nine games, he has 618 yards rushing, with 4.8 yards per carry. He’s also pulled in 35 catches for 227 yards.
He’s gained many of those yards with a keen ability to force missed tackles.
And Belichick absolutely loves him.
“Mondre just gets better every day,” Belichick said earlier this month. “He’s one of the guys that I’ve coached that just shows continuous improvement almost every day he walks into the building. In every phase of the game.”
Jakobi Meyers, Mr. Dependable, gets honorable mention. He’s also gotten better.
Best defensive player: Matt Judon.
Like last year, he’s off to a great start. He’s been a force terrorizing opposing quarterbacks, as he leads the league with 11.5 sacks.
Right now, he’s a legitimate candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.
The trick for Judon will be maintaining his fast start, something he struggled to do a year ago. He worked hard during the offseason on his conditioning, taking up Pilates. The coaches have also been easing his workload slightly perhaps with an eye toward the second half of the season.
Fellow pass rusher Josh Uche says it’s no mystery who the best edge rusher on the planet is.
“This is one of the greatest I’ve ever seen in my life,” Uche said following last Sunday’s win over the Colts, “so it’s an honor to be able to learn from him and watch his game each and every day.”
Best rookie: Jack Jones.
The numbers halfway through tell the story. Nine games in, playing roughly 50 percent of the snaps, he’s had 24 tackles, two interceptions, one touchdown, five passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and one tipped field goal attempt.
The fourth-round pick has worked both on the outside and as a nickel back, and boosted the secondary with his presence.
Offensive lineman Cole Strange might have been the easy choice here having started every game, but he’s struggled mightily of late. Receiver Tyquan Thornton hasn’t really played enough for consideration.
Returner Marcus Jones, who’s been terrific giving the offense good field position, backup quarterback Bailey Zappe, who won two games with both Jones and Brian Hoyer out, and special teamer Brenden Schooler get honorable mention.
Most un-belichick-like statistic:
Leading the league in turnovers with 17.
Ten have come via interception, and seven via fumble.
Add in the fact they have been called for 52 penalties, 13th in the league, and it’s a real head-scratcher how much they get in their own way.
Historically, Belichick’s teams have not been known for beating themselves. This team does quite often.
Most Belichick-like statistic: Being second in the league in takeaways.
They have 17, one behind the Philadelphia Eagles, with 11 picks, and six fumble recoveries.
To a degree, all of their ballhawking exploits have helped negate the turnovers at the other end.
Worst development: Mac Jones’ regression.
Quarterback is the most important position. Having Jones take a step back in practically every statistical category doesn’t bode well for the future.
Having new coaches and a new system hasn’t allowed for any kind of Year 2 leap by Jones.
Missing three weeks with a high ankle sprain also hasn’t helped his development.
Worst development II: Bourne’s disappearance.
Last season, his first with the Patriots, he had 55 catches for 800 yards with two TDS.
Nine games into the 2022 season, he has 14 catches for 167 yards with no touchdowns.
He’s one of their only explosive players, and, save for one play against Miami in the season opener, has pretty much been a non-factor.
Watching
Worst development III: Jake Bailey punt.
The Patriots are last in the league in net punt average.
Bailey used to be the king of hang time, and ball placement. He’s been neither this season. His high, long majestic bombs have been MIA.
Ditto his percentage of kicks inside the 20.
Best break: Jets defensive lineman John Franklin-myers being called for roughing the passer on a pick-six delivered by Mac Jones.
It was an absolute stroke of luck for Jones and the Patriots.
With no call, the Jets would have had a 17-3 lead at halftime thanks to Michael Carter taking his interception of Jones back 84 yards.
But because of the questionable call, which nullified the touchdown, the Pats avoided that disaster, and instead moved into position for a field goal, making it 10-6 at the half before going on to win the game.
Most reliable: Nick Folk.
The 38-year-old kicker has converted 90.5% of his field-goal attempts thus far this season (19 of 21) and all 20 of his extra points. The last two games alone, he went 9-for-9 on field goals.
Folk owns the NFL record for most consecutive field goals under 50 yards. That streak ended at 64 last month. The previous record was 56. He doesn’t boast the biggest leg, but always makes the kicks he’s supposed to make. That kind of reliability is priceless in the NFL.
Best under the radar player:
Michael Onwenu.
Granted, there isn’t much to brag about with the offensive line. But Onwenu has quietly turned into one of the best guards in the NFL.
The former Michigan standout has been highly graded all year, performing his job at an extremely high level each week.
Based on how he’s played thus far, he deserves Pro Bowl consideration.
Overperforming position group:
Cornerbacks.
This has been far from the doom and gloom that was forecast after losing Jackson in free agency, coupled with trading Stephon Gilmore last season.
Along with Jonathan Jones excelling out on the boundary, he’s had company. Jalen Mills is playing well opposite Jones. Same for rookie Jack Jones, who has seen quite a bit of time either spelling Mills, or subbing in when Jonathan Jones has been hurt.
Add in Myles Bryant, who has taken over for Jones in the slot, and the Patriots haven’t been quite the disaster at cornerback that many had predicted.
We’ll see what happens when the unit has to defend some elite receiving corps ahead, namely Buffalo, Minnesota, Miami and Cincinnati, but thus far, with Jon Jones having a more permanent role on the outside, and the emergence of Jack Jones, the Patriots have survived.
Underperforming position group:
Receivers.
While the Patriots don’t have an elite receiving corps along the lines of the Dolphins, it’s still a decent group.
It just hasn’t performed like one. While Meyers has been a stud, no one else has picked up the slack.
Meyers currently leads the team with 40 receptions, and that’s with missing two games. After that, it’s Devante Parker (15), Nelson Agholor (15), Kendrick Bourne (14) and Tyquan Thornton (9).
Too many of them aren’t getting open, or dropping catchable balls.
Best backup: Bailey Zappe.
The Patriots third-string quarterback, a 2022 fourth-round pick, had New England abuzz and all agog to see him under center during a threeweek window in October.
Zappe Fever gripped the Hub after the rookie nearly beat the Packers in Green Bay after coming on for injured Brian Hoyer, then producing back-to-back wins against the Lions and Browns.
If the Patriots go on to make the playoffs, look no further than Zappe getting the job done when called upon Weeks 5 and 6, and nearly pulling it off Week 4 against the Pack.
It unraveled a bit when he came on in relief of Jones Week 7 against the Bears, but Zappe still made everyone happy for a good chunk of time during the first half of the season.