Recent red-zone struggles involving Patriots' offense has Josh McDaniels feeling blue

On Sunday against the Jets, the Patriots were able to come away with a win, but sputtered in the red zone on a handful of occasions, a trend that’s continued to go in the wrong direction over the last few weeks.

Currently, the Patriots are 13th in the league when it comes to scoring inside the 20 with 24 touchdowns on 38 possessions — a rate of 63 percent. (For some perspective, Cincy is best in the league with a rate of 78 percent — 25 touchdowns on 32 possessions.) But that represents a significant drop-off from a month ago when the Patriots were clicking at 69 percent in the red zone (18 touchdowns on 26 possessions), seventh in the NFL.

So what's happening?


The Patriots are actually averaging more total yards per game now than a month ago (388.2 to 381.1 yards per contest). Even with a bruising approach Sunday against the Jets that saw them top 200 yards on the ground for the first time since 2014, the inability to finish off drives is noticeable.

There are a few reasons behind the struggles: one, Rob Gronkowski, who has been a dependable red-zone target in the past, has been off the field for most of the last month, and on Sunday against the Jets in his first game action since late October, he was blanketed by young safety Jamal Adams. Multiple throws in his direction inside the 20 on Sunday against New York yielded nothing.

Two, the Patriots are lacking when it comes to having a dependable short-yardage back. That’s not necessarily a shot at the likes of Sony Michel or James White, but an indicator they could use a hammer like LeGarrette Blount, especially at this time of year. Against the Jets, New England needed multiple opportunities on the ground on one drive from inside the five before eventually punching it in.

And three, a simple lack of execution. The Patriots aren’t doing what they need to do to come away with seven points instead of three. It was something Josh McDaniels pointed to Tuesday afternoon on a conference call with the media.

“That area of the field is always about execution and toughness, and we’ve had a few opportunities and just came up a little short on those, and certainly we stress that each week,” McDaniels said when asked about red-zone woes. “When we’re down there, at this time of the year, you have to make the most of every opportunity you have to score touchdowns. When we come away with field goals, you feel like it’s an empty trip sometimes.”

One other note: Tom Brady has been uncharacteristically off his game when it comes to red-zone passing this year. He missed some throws Sunday against the Jets (you could argue the missed connections to Gronkowski were as much his fault as the tight end or coverage). Through 11 games, he’s 28-for-57 (46 percent) for 214 yards and 12 touchdowns. Last year, he ended the season 56-fot-90 (58 percent) for 358 yards and a whopping 26 touchdowns. It’s unclear how much of that had to do with a healthy Gronkowski, but the difference is stark.

Whatever the case may be, McDaniels knows the offense won’t catch a break Sunday against the Vikings. Minnesota is best in the league when it comes to red-zone defense — opponents have scored touchdowns on 43 percent (16-for-37) of their opportunities.

“We’ve got to do a good job of really understanding what the game plan is, going out there and having a great week of practice and then being able to execute when we have our chances on Sunday night,” McDaniels said of preparing for the Vikings this week.

“This is as good a red-area defense as there is in the league. They’re very well-schooled at what they do, they’re physical and fast and there’s not a lot of margin for error,” he added. “We’re just going to have to work hard this week and know what we want to get done, and then try to go out there and execute it against a really good defense on Sunday.”