Entering the 2023 season, the belief was that the New England Patriots offense would put a heavy emphasis on running the football to set up play-action opportunities. With their first 14 games in the book, however, that plan has not materialized as initially planned.
Compared to last year, the team’s play-action rate has increased only slightly from 18.4 percent in 2022 to 19.6 this season. There are several factors contributing to this, but even when New England dialed up play action the production has been lacking.
Between quarterbacks Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, the Patriots have completed only 60 of 92 pass attempts (65.