The New England Patriots offense has faced its fair share of criticism this season, and oftentimes for good reason. The unit of first-year coordinator Alex Van Pelt does not rank among the least productive in football by accident; performance consistency and personnel stability have been issues, while concerns about talent are a constant.
Nonetheless, the group is not stuck in the mud either. Inserting first-round rookie quarterback Drake Maye into the starting lineup has helped transform the offense, allowing it to average 6.5 more points per game while also moving from 28th (-0.161) to 23rd (-0.038) in EPA per play.
In addition, there also is evidence of the unit’s growth in the actual play on the field and the calls being made by Van Pelt. Take the following sequence from New England’s win over the Chicago Bears in Week 10:
Last play didn't count bc of Onwenu drifting upfield, but Alex Van Pelt started H2 with one of my favorite three-play stretches from the #Patriots this season
1. Pin-pull left with great blocking at the POA
2. Outside zone left
3. Fake OZ left and a bootleg completion to Boutte pic.twitter.com/fzN5mfJIpK— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 11, 2024
Adding some diversity in relatively standard calls, and the players (mostly) executing them is a promising sign for the Patriots offense. While not perfect by any means, and still in serious need of upgrades especially in the trenches, the unit as a whole appears to be buying what Van Pelt is selling.
Another example — maybe an even more fun one — is the creativity added through the introduction of trick(-ish) plays. Van Pelt has called several of those in the last few weeks, including a lateral from Keyshawn Boutte to Rhamondre Stevenson on a successful two-point play and a touchdown pass from Maye to left tackle-turned-tight end Vederian Lowe.
Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts saw three plays that can be classified at least as tricky, while cornerback Marcus Jones was also again used on offense.
The #Patriots ran 3 trick/tricky plays + used Marcus Jones as a decoy on two successful snaps vs Indy. Alex Van Pelt has dialed up at least 2 in 3 straight games, and at least 1 in 4 straight
KB's throw was rough, but most of the trick plays called lately worked to some degree pic.twitter.com/4wxdw7WECG
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) December 3, 2024
Van Pelt using unconventional play designs is nothing new. Last year, while he was working as offensive coordinator under head coach and play-caller Kevin Stefanski with the Cleveland Browns, his offense ran the third-most trick plays in football. This year’s unit may not be on the same trajectory, but that would be beside the point.
The introduction of trick plays and their regular usage is concrete proof of the Patriots offense’s development over the last few months: it is no longer focused primarily on running basic-level stuff like it did early in the regular season — even though the bread-and-butter plays are obviously still there — but actually has grown its scope.
Of course, that was always the natural way of things. Anything else than the unit showing some signs of progress would have been bad news for both the Van Pelt-led coaching staff on that side of the ball and the Patriots’ offensive personnel alike.
Still, in a season where positives are rare, that evolution certainly qualifies as such.
